Any other binge eaters out there?

scoobysnacks90
scoobysnacks90 Posts: 12
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,

I was just wondering whether there were any others on here who struggle with binge eating disrupting their healthy eating plans. I have been finding it difficult to stop myself from binge eating when i'm home alone or feeling low. If there's anyone else on here who feels like they need support i'd love to make some new friends so we can support each other and get our eating under control.

Please feel free to add me or send a message if you wanna share experiences :)
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Replies

  • jodiegauv91
    jodiegauv91 Posts: 20
    unfortunately yes.... it's tough to keep control and my original solution was to constantly be around other people, keeping busy all the time. I'm now starting to be able to spend time at home alone, not doing anything in particular, without craving food :)
  • scoobysnacks90
    scoobysnacks90 Posts: 12
    Its great that you're getting back to a point where you dont have to worry about it so much I hope i can get back to that point soon too! I try being busy and surrounded by people too but there are always those times when i sit at home alone and all i can think about is all the food in the cupboards or how easy it would be to order a takeaway even though ive just eaten.
  • mransom1970
    mransom1970 Posts: 26 Member
    I have the same issues! Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
  • Whitezombiegirl
    Whitezombiegirl Posts: 1,042 Member
    *raises hand*. I get in the mood for junk and then have to eat it all till its gone (so there is none left to tempt me). I should just throw it out or try to buy less in the first place. I tried geting small amounts in to ration myself with but ended up eating it all in one go. i usually binge around ovulation and PMS times so I monitor my cycle closely.

    Suggestion is to record the binges - date, time, what was going on, mental state, position in your cycle - and see if there is a correlation. It may help you prevent or be ready for a binge.
  • AbbeyTaylor87
    AbbeyTaylor87 Posts: 5 Member
    Hi, I chronically starve and then binge =( I got my weight down to 114lbs and then binged for the best part of 2 months, putting me at an all time high of 123lbs. Absolutely gutted and disgusted with myself!! I do however seem to be getting this under control (for the past few days at least, although being a chronic binger, this is quite an achievement). I have moved back in with parents recently and their cupboards are constantly stocked with biscuits and these are my trigger. I have accepted that I must try and forget they are around and tell myself I have no right to eat them. This has helped considerably. I am also reading "Stop Bingeing" which has given me an insight into why I binge when I do and how I should deal with these situations. Good luck to you both with stopping bingeing!! and If you find something that helps you out, please advise, as no doubt I will be looking for strength again soon =\ xx
  • Booobarella
    Booobarella Posts: 34
    Ooooooooohoooohooohoooo yes!!
    I am a terrible binge eater. At particular times of the month, my body demands chocolate and anything with carbs in it.
    I was really tough on myself and I have gone cold turkey on them, but over the last 3 months I have had one or 2 slip ups. Don't dwell on it, if you binge, don't write the whole day or week off, just get back on the wagon ASAP and keep going.
    The biggest tip I can give is to drink a glass of water when you get that intense craving feeling. I often carry a bottle around with me, I actually have a few in every room.
    Don't deny yourself the occasional treat. Just eat it in a sensible portion and you will be fine.
  • oldbutnotover
    oldbutnotover Posts: 13 Member
    I think binge eating may have someting to do with soothing ourselves. So learning some other ways of soothing ourselves when we are anxious or lonely or whatever is probably the key. Unfortunately, my alternative to binge eating is drinking red wine. Sometimes I wonder if some of us are so damaged that there are really no healthy ways to deal with the problem?
  • Cordy_in_CT
    Cordy_in_CT Posts: 134 Member
    bump for later
  • gingersnapx00
    gingersnapx00 Posts: 68
    YES! I generally eat healthy and then BAM...something stressful happens and I'm binging on pizza and sweets. I hate it! That instant dopamine release when you eat chocolate just soothes me and makes me feel better. However I just don't eat a few...but lots of it til I'm sick. Then the guilt happens and whatever progress I had made has gone to hell in a hand basket. So I try not to buy trigger foods and when I need chocolate, buy a single serving that way there is no more to eat. This was a learned behavior I began as a young child and have been struggling since.
  • scoobysnacks90
    scoobysnacks90 Posts: 12
    I feel like i can overcome this already just talking about this with other people! I find one of the only things that helps me is not getting the foods in that I binge on but ive just moved in with my boyfriend and he constantly has all these foods that make my mouth water. Also by keeping myself busy its much easier to ignore my urges and exercise is a great way of making me feel like i dont want to binge because ive done so much to lose weight its not worth the risk.
  • Kristan_Forsey
    Kristan_Forsey Posts: 103 Member
    I totally understand where you are coming from. Sometimes I get through it by pure will power, other times I chug a couple of glasses of water really quick to fill my stomach so I physically can't eat.
  • Whitezombiegirl
    Whitezombiegirl Posts: 1,042 Member
    One more consideration: what is the state of your digestion before the binge? I know for myself and my sister that when our digestion is off, especially when we are (TMI) constipated we reach for food, treat-type food. It seems we get confused between different types of uncomfortablesness in the gut and treat it all as hunger. We know we do this but its hard to tell ourselves that we are not actually hungry and take a laxitive/softener instead, then wait it out.
  • Whitezombiegirl
    Whitezombiegirl Posts: 1,042 Member
    That instant dopamine release when you eat chocolate just soothes me and makes me feel better. However I just don't eat a few...but lots of it til I'm sick. .

    Yup- its like a few makes you feel better- so loads wil make you feel great! But thats not what happens. Been there.
  • Elizaj85
    Elizaj85 Posts: 158 Member
    I am a binge eater one of my earliest horrifying moments is being very little (my mother said I was 5) eating all the sugar out of the sugar bowl in one hit, it got a lot worse the older I got. I take one day at a time, I'm fighting and at the moment I seem to be winning would love to both support and be supported with other suffers. together one day at time we'll all win! :-)
    Have an amazing day lovelies xx<3 xx

    P.s please anyone feel free to add always looking to support and be supportive by others who've been through similar x
  • jodiegauv91
    jodiegauv91 Posts: 20
    When I'm home and I feel like I am not going to be able to avoid it, I get out of there as fast as I can ! Usually a good run helps me, especially because afterwards I don't feel like "wasting" the effort I just put into the run on eating empty calories.
    Also I used to give up and once I started a binge, I'd do it all the way until I felt like I was sick. Even if you give in to an urge (which is definitely ok!!), if you manage to stop and think "OK, that's enough", you'll feel proud and take another step towards getting better.
  • diadojikohei
    diadojikohei Posts: 732 Member
    Oh yes! Me!
    Unfortunately I have a mother who binges and an aunt who binges. I grew up with my aunt saying, ''I ate so much I was sick in the night'' It wasn't until I was in my 20's that I realised what she was doing.

    We don't talk about it, my aunt is smaller than a UK 8 but insists on buying size 12 (UK) clothes.
    I know I binge, but seeing it from my only two female relatives is quite sobering.

    I've sort of got it under control.
    Chocolate binge- I would have coffee when I chocolate binged, so I cut out coffee and hardly eat chocolate now.
    Crisps is a bad one two, so I dont buy crisps.
    If I have an alcoholic drink during the day I get the munchies and just pig out.
    My biggest problem is my Wednesday night gaming night! I have to say ''Keep the snacks away from me!''
  • loztredders
    loztredders Posts: 142
    Yup, fellow Binger here too, usually at the weekends, 4000 cals this Sunday in fact. Feel free to add me as a friend. I managed to break the habit for months and months and I need to get back there!
  • Candy_monster
    Candy_monster Posts: 59
    I'm a binge eater too :(

    It's when i'm home alone and trying to study, I plan for the binges and restrict beforehand though, although sometimes my binges are just too big :S
  • FJMilner
    FJMilner Posts: 407
    Me!! Im in a bit of a state with it at the moment, I feel completely out of control and am really starting to hate myself for it. I don't know how to break the cycle but at the moment am going to have a break from calorie counting full stop. Im hoping that by eating relatively healthy food (which I do for the main part of my diet) but not restricting anything and only eating when Im actually hungry will help. Not sure if it will change my binging but Im on day 2 and already starting to feel a little better. Had a comfort eating session last night but nowhere near what I would normally eat and Im also starting to find out my trigger foods....feel free to friend request me because I could definitely do with friends in the same situation, it makes me feel alone and a little bit broken xx
  • lilpoindexter
    lilpoindexter Posts: 1,122 Member
    Get all the crap food out of your house. Don't even have that in there. Your boyfriend will give you some dirty looks, but after a few weeks, he will realize you are serious, and the junk will disappear. You can eat a whole container of strawberries, and be at something ridiculous like 100 calories
  • newhabit
    newhabit Posts: 426 Member
    it is somethign i have struggled with an i'm trying to win the battle!
  • Mom_24
    Mom_24 Posts: 7
    I have started taking an antacid (Xantac), and it seems to cut down on the uncomfortableness that seems to trigger me. I think I may have been getting the acid feeling (from overproduction) confused with hunger, and then eating to make that discomfort go away, which it wouldn't, and then I would continue eating, and around it would go. Make sense? I take it twice a day, every 12 hours, and it seems to really help me with that gnawing feeling.
  • leslie0422
    leslie0422 Posts: 108 Member
    I have the same issue. Especially in the evenings. I can be really good all day long but then once the kids are in bed and I'm winding down, I can feel the snack foods calling my name. I keep a few snacks in the house for my kids and sometimes I just cannot resist them.
  • diadojikohei
    diadojikohei Posts: 732 Member
    Get all the crap food out of your house. Don't even have that in there. Your boyfriend will give you some dirty looks, but after a few weeks, he will realize you are serious, and the junk will disappear. You can eat a whole container of strawberries, and be at something ridiculous like 100 calories
    Unfortunately this is still binge eating! I have eaten a whole water melon in one binge! It's about educating yourself to eat in moderation! I speak as a fellow bing-er and it is not a criticism.
  • etajr
    etajr Posts: 49
    When I get in that mood.... There is nothing to stop me from chowing down 5000 calories..It is a real disaster when I do it. Of course then the next day a feel like crap..
  • valerieknox
    valerieknox Posts: 45 Member
    I definitely have a tendency to binge. It's impossible for me to have unhealthy food at home. Even white bread is tricky. I've kind of accepted that I love eating. I feel like I have to eat something sweet after dinner for example. But since I only have fruits and tasty teas at home as sweet things, that's what I binge on. I also eat a lot of raw food cakes. They're high in calories, but at least they're also full of important nutrition, and it's filling in a different way that normal cakes. So just buy lots of nice teas (I have one with caramel flavour that I sweeten with artificial sweetener), grapes, gala apples. frozen berries. My solution is far from perfect, but at least it's healthier to binge on apples than on brownies/crisps/etc.
  • mfkn_Titanium
    mfkn_Titanium Posts: 131
    Just want to say - it's not a binge if you only ate like 400 calories. ZOMG. "I just binged on a chocolate bar, what do I do?"

    I see sooo many young girls on here saying they "binged" and their entire day calorie count is like 1400-1500. That's not a binge - that's your body telling you TO FEED IT! (I consider a binge something like 1500-2000+ cals above and beyond what you NEED to function).
  • Jacwhite22
    Jacwhite22 Posts: 7,010 Member
    Just want to say - it's not a binge if you only ate like 400 calories. ZOMG. "I just binged on a chocolate bar, what do I do?"

    I see sooo many young girls on here saying they "binged" and their entire day calorie count is like 1400-1500. That's not a binge - that's your body telling you TO FEED IT! (I consider a binge something like 1500-2000+ cals above and beyond what you NEED to function).

    This. Like when I ate a 4k dinner this past weekend.
  • caraiselite
    caraiselite Posts: 2,631 Member
    yes. you can search on mfp for binge eating and get lots of threads.
  • _Wits_
    _Wits_ Posts: 1,286 Member
    I have recently decided to call myself a "recovering binge eater". I have cut back on binging so much in the last couple months compared to where I was a year ago.... When I say "I still binge" I feel like I'm allowing it to happen. I've had to retrain my brain to know when to stop...to know what triggers bring it on...to think "I don't need this and I deserve better than this".

    I've literally put down food, put on my shoes, grabbed my keys and walked right out the door and headed to a store when I catch myself binging. If I can't leave my house, I start cleaning. Once you start it is harder to stop but ...it's doable. And if you happen to choke down 2000k cals binging, forgive yourself and move on. The less guilt you carry, the easier it is to overcome.

    Even if I find myself on the floor crying and pissed off because I'm fighting with the inner fatty to stop eating...if I win and can get back up and move on with the day, that is a success and moving in the right direction.

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