binge eating

christine918

Ok, so here's the deal, I have been "binge eating" at nite before I go to bed. I'm not sure what to do to stop the madness, but I will till you I love sweets, and they absolutely sabotage me! I have gained 10lbs since Christmas. Any Ideas would be greately appereciated!

kiffypooh

Are you feeling deprived throughout the day? I tend to binge if I really want something I won't give in to, then I eat everything else BUT that. I find hot chocolate helps with my sweet tooth and fills me up. Also, I tried to give up diet soda at the beginning of the year (I LOVE my diet coke) and during those few weeks I realized that I wasn't craving sweets as much. I came to the conclusion that those studies that say diet soda makes you eat more because it increases your brains desire for sweets.

stevemcknight

This has so been my problem forever. I'll eat just silly amounts of chips, chocolate and ice cream. Since I never buy that crap at the grocery, when I binge, I'll actually have to drive to a gas station at night to load up on that stuff. I by no means have this beat, but a couple things seem to help. When I feel it coming on:

Visualize the amount of exercise it takes to burn off a thousand calories (not to mention that it's mostly all fat calories)

Step on the scale. Just actually doing that can be a wake up call.

Brush your teeth and take a hard look in the mirror. This is one of the best things I do when I feel it coming.

I know that my binges are almost always brought on by either boredom or when I'm bummed out. Get on these boards or the Beachbody boards and read. Post. Talk to people to help their problems, you'll find when you work to motivate others, you actually get more motivated yourself!

Hope it helps out. I've had B.E.D. for several years, and while I seem to usually have it under control, it never totally goes away.


Steve

kiffypooh

This has so been my problem forever. I'll eat just silly amounts of chips, chocolate and ice cream. Since I never buy that crap at the grocery, when I binge, I'll actually have to drive to a gas station at night to load up on that stuff. I by no means have this beat, but a couple things seem to help. When I feel it coming on:

Visualize the amount of exercise it takes to burn off a thousand calories (not to mention that it's mostly all fat calories)

Step on the scale. Just actually doing that can be a wake up call.

Brush your teeth and take a hard look in the mirror. This is one of the best things I do when I feel it coming.

I know that my binges are almost always brought on by either boredom or when I'm bummed out. Get on these boards or the Beachbody boards and read. Post. Talk to people to help their problems, you'll find when you work to motivate others, you actually get more motivated yourself!

Hope it helps out. I've had B.E.D. for several years, and while I seem to usually have it under control, it never totally goes away.


Steve

VERY good point on the motivating others. When I started falling off the wagon a few months back motivating my friends really helped me get back on track.

I also forgot to add, I don't keep junk in my house. My hubby doesn't like it and my daughter will be raised knowing "mommy can't have that stuff in the house". I just don't buy it and once my daughter is in bed I can't go anywhere (my hubby works nights) so I'm stuck with what we've got!

lula28

Binge eating at night has been a big problem for me recently too. Sometimes I feel like it's so hard to get out of that destructive cycle. It's also hard to figure out what brings it on and how to STOP before it starts. I REALLY appreciate all of these suggestions...and that we have a place to come talk to people with similar experiences!

sportsqueen32

I also binge eat late night. Well I just snack. I know why I do it and it's basically because I work nights 3x a week and on those nights my schedule for eating is totally out of whack, so when I get home at 11:00 I want a snack. The last meal I have eaten is usually between 6 and 6:30pm so after working the past 4 hrs I am hungry. What I used to do was pick up something sweet to snack on from work and bring it home or stop at DD and get my coffee and a donut. Now I only snack on dry cereal be it SpecialK or Fiber One. I also use this snack time to read my book. It really is the only way I can wind down enough to get tired. I no longer stop by DD for a Great One anymore. Now I come home and make a cup of coffee or tea in my Keurig. Like right now I am dying for a snack of cereal buy I have already gone over my calories (-57) for the day. What to do...What to do!!! Working a mixed schedule is very hard when trying to eat healthy. On Thursday night I never got a chance to eat dinner as I am a retail manager and if it's busy then I am busy. My job does not entitle me to a punch out sit down and eat dinner break, sometimes it takes me 45minutes to an hr to eat a salad if its busy. So of course on Thursday night I came home from work and had a decent size bowl of Capn Crunch ( the one non healthy cereal that I have in the house no doubt). It made me feel guilty but I was starving at this point and a salad was just not in the works at that time...LOL....Oh well retail management sux for the healthy wannabes!!!

BrendaLee

Sweets are the devil! Over Christmas, I put on 20 of the 45 pounds I had lost- and it was all sweets. I find if I can avoid them completely, I'm much better off. Once I give in to the temptation, I'm going all out, and there's no stopping me. lol

I've found that if I have fiber (like Metamucil) before my meals- I get full faster, and don't get hungry as quickly. Protein and fats are also important in helping you feel satiated.

Late night binges are the downfall of a lot of us. Make sure you have a good, filling dinner, and a decent late night snack. Peanut butter (protein & fat) on toast (fiber) is good for night time snacks.
__

A lot of this weight loss stuff is psychological. Right now, the thought that's getting me back on track is- summer's coming. Christmas is out of the way, it's well past the new year, and I only have a few precious months before summer hits.

spritie

I had this problem for ages, and while occasionally it resurfaces with dry cereal at 3am I've pretty much got it under control now. The things that help/helped me were

making sure your hydrated, the whole hunger/thirst confusion thing brought it on for me a few time

eating seadily throughout the day, and realising that if i was going to be coming home in the early hours of the morning, i would be hungry, so bringing a snack to have while i was out that would stop me from being hungry, or planning and prepreparing what I could eat so that it fit into what I was doing

exercise also helps, even something as gentle as yoga so it doesn't disrupt sleep patterns, distracts you and incrases body temperatue which makes you feel less like eating

making sure you get enough sleep, as lack of energy due to fatigue can trigger


i suppose you need to find out what your triggers are, hunger, boredom, fatigue, thirst and then find ways to overcome them

good luck.

Boo28

for most people, boredom starts this. I used to binge at night and just stopped one day when i realised that i never want to when my mind is hooked on something
Now i dont mean the TV or video games
If you go bowling or the cinema, or a snooker hall, anything like this really, just go out at night (not drinking or eating) and you'll concer it in no time

Rob

kwardklinck

I really don't eat that many sweets anymore. Usually a yogurt, diet soda, a piece of fruit, or a cup of coffee with yummy tasting creamer will do it. Sometimes I find when I feel hungry, I'm actually thirsty. Try drinking a bottle of cold water and see if the hunger goes away. The other thing you really need to do is spread your food out throughout the day so you don't run out of cals 4 hours before bed. The cereal is healthier than most things you can snack on but you need to make allowances for it in your daily cals.

christine918

Thank you guys for the input. I usually don't eat at night because I am hungry, I just feel the need to constantly be snacking for some reason. It could be because I quit smoking about 3 years ago. I have found that since then, I snack alot more. I think I'm gonna be like Brenda and not be able to have sweets at all. It seems that once I get started there is no stopping me. Its kinda like a drug addict or an alocholic, but with food. So, today is a new day and I am gonna try my very best to get back on track! Thank you so much for support and motivation.

dewdrop

See my brief advice to sdwelk11 (things I learned here or elsewhere) in

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/80619-no-late-night-junk-snacking-feb-8-14

and feel free to challenge yourself and join us this week (link on the 2nd page of thechallenge).

kwardklinck

Carrots are a good snack. You get the chewing/ oral thing and there's not very many cals in them.

laughingcamel

I really have a problem and maybe you guys can help. Every time I binge eat I feel so horrible and abnormal (which is why this group helps) and vow to never do it again. Problem is that the next time I have that urge, nothing gets in my way. People talk about doing a distracting activity and waiting... well I've waited for up to an hour and that urge doesn't go away until I eat whatever it is my mouth can already taste inside of it.

Does anyone else have this tick??! It's like the undeniable urge to eat whatever it is your mind wants to eat. It has nothing to do with physiological hunger - it's all emotional. And you have no idea when the urge will subside - sometimes it's not until AFTER the bag of granola, 5 chocolate chip cookies and two bowls of cereal. And sometimes, like today, a small plate of nuts and raisins will suffice (that is, until after already consuming 4 luna bars in one day).

How can I kill this itch without food??
Sometimes I wish I were addicted to something that didn't make me fat (then again, any addiction is horrible, and food is probably as good as it gets as far as addictions go).

trudyu

I have a couple of tricks that work for me... see if they work for you.

1. Dark Chocolate Hersey kisses - I have about 2 or 3 kisses, and I suck on them or try to eat them slowly. They are so rich that it helps with my sweet chocolate craving tooth. I put the bag up - I only grab 2 or 3 - that is the hardest part.

2. I make a pitcher of Crystal light and add 1 cup of OJ (must say not from concentrate) I use the brand "Simply Orange". This drink is delicious and it has a little bit of natural sugar in it that helps to keep your blood sugar level even. Keeping you less likely to binge.

3. I use sugarless gum and fruity (cherry passion or Orange) tic tacs to help keep the cravings for sweets in check. I feel like I am having candy but with alot less calories/fat.