Need to hear from former bingers/food addicts

SnazzyTraveller

Ok, for starters I probably used the wrong term in the title because I don't know exactly the definition of "a binger" or what makes someone a food addict.

All I know is as much as seeing the pictures of success many have had with losing weight, I really need to hear about how people have changed their mindset.

Currently I can (and do) consume up to a litre of ice cream a day, or I'll chow down half a box of chocolate cookies easily. I realize how much of a problem this is, and I'm scared of what the sugar and fat will do to my insides in the near and far future. Not even referring to just my pant size, but my mental and cardiovascular health.

I would love for people to tell me how did they change from living to eat to eating to live. It's been over a month now and I'm tired of this reckless eating.

CLFrancois

I didn't want to read this post and not comment.
At least you are not in denial and are ready to change.

SnazzyTraveller

Thanks. I am soooo ready for a long-term change...

Mummyadams

Well your in the right place. First of all, don't buy the foods that you find so easy to binge on. Secondly, get a good work out in and when you reach for these foods, remember the pain and sweat of that work out and ask yourself 'is it really worth it'. Don't fall into the trap of telling yourself you deserve it becuase you had such a good work out.
If you feel like binging, brush your teeth or go for a walk or do anything contructive to take your mind off your craving.
Are you working out? If so, what do you do?

Celeigh12

Therapy was really helpful for me. My therapist taught me that it was never about the food. I was eating to fill something in my heart that was never going to be filled with ice cream. I highly recommend talking with someone. They can help you develop new coping mechanisms and get to the root of why you binge. Good luck! :flowerforyou:

SnazzyTraveller

Are you working out? If so, what do you do?

I love to run. Ideally I'll run five days a week for about an hour. Also I do some circuit training (Jillian Michael type)

Maybe when school calms down and I get back to running I'll be in better spirits. Doesn't exercise and food/eating/sugar release serotonin making you feel satisfied?

SnazzyTraveller

Therapy was really helpful for me. My therapist taught me that it was never about the food. I was eating to fill something in my heart that was never going to be filled with ice cream. I highly recommend talking with someone. They can help you develop new coping mechanisms and get to the root of why you binge. Good luck! :flowerforyou:

Thank you. Maybe I'll try the counselor at my uni

blbower2

I used to do that a lot, mainly late at night after I moved away from my family for the first time. I used food to comfort me; I felt like I had no one arond to talk to, but ice cream, cookies, and rich casseroles were always there for me. Like the poster above me, I also highly recommend talking with someone. If you're a writer, I recommend doing just that--write it all down, get it out, then read back over it and really be honest with yourself. This was the most helpful thing to me; I tracked my calories and exercise, and also kept a journal of how I was feeling. You really have to get to the root of WHY you are eating in order to change it...once you figure that out, the rest falls into place.

luvmynook

I've been known to binge eat..................I make sure not to have the food that I would Binge on and I too brush/floss my teeth as soon as I'm done eating dinner as a way of preventing a binge in the evening.

For me personally, I can't just have one piece of candy.....................so I don't start eating it at all. One piece leads to 2 and so on!

Find something else that you enjoy doing and do that when you feel like binging...........I grab my nook and start walking on my treadmill as a leisurely pace.

emsthethininme

I used to struggle with this so much... what worked for me was, I started measuring what I ate really carefully. Like I would see that a serving of ice cream is 1/2 a cup, so I'd measure out 1/2 a cup, log it here, and eat that. Then if I wanted more, I could have it, but I had to measure it and log it. 99% of the time, that extra second it took to decide to go get the measuring cup and open my food diary back up was the second I needed to remember that I didn't really need seconds. I figured the 1% that it was worth it got balanced out.

I think just log your snacks *before* you eat them so you can see how many calories it has... then enjoy the portion you have. I always get into trouble when I eat first and then log... I always eat so much more than I would have if I'd logged first!

I don't know if that will work for anyone else... it just so happened that I started really enjoying the whole process. It's like a game to me. I suppose my food obsession shifted into a calorie-counting obsession a little bit, but it feels a lot better.

Ascolti_la_musica

Buy smaller portions, and prelog your food for the day. This has been very effective for me.

If I NEED ice cream, I can go buy either a pint or a single serve portion. I stick it in the freezer, and cheer myself on for putting it away. Then I log it first thing in the morning, planning the rest of my food around it. High carb and fat, so I get a chicken breast instead of coconut peanut butter sandwich for lunch.

I have a Snickers egg in my desk that I look at several times a day, just so I can cheer myself for not eating it. One morning, I will log it and see if I can hold off until after dinner. No problem if I give in early- I allowed for it- but YAY me if I can wait.

Basically, I make a game of it where I am always the winner.

If I go full out binge, I work out extra hard the next week, maybe let my net calories dip into the 1100s for a few days, and balance it out over a week. You can't work off a binge in a day, but you can always salvage the week.

SnazzyTraveller

For me personally, I can't just have one piece of candy.....................so I don't start eating it at all. One piece leads to 2 and so on!

This is just how I am. I can't seem to eat anything in moderation (mostly referring to sweets or crunchy salts).

What do you think about cutting out extra sugar entirely? Would attempting to go cold turkey just be a major mistake and cause me to go radically downhill do you think?

amyplaysflute

I used to love to eat giant portions. I knew that I was full but I kept eating anyway and dealt with the consequences later. What worked for me was just trying to get under my calorie goal every day. I started out eating around 1520 calories. This was not easy. It definitely showed me that I needed to cut out calorie dense junk food and find something that would keep me full. In the beginning it was a struggle to stay under my goal because I was so used to eating enormous amounts.

But then my stomach shrank! I got used to eating a reasonable amount of food and now I get full much faster. The exercise and specific health foods came later. For me the added calories that I get to eat after working out is a great motivator.

It seems like you have gotten the first step down.. admitting you have a problem haha. So now just try your hardest and focus on calorie goals. You will learn what foods and what schedule works for you. Don't keep junk food in the house. And keep busy so you're not sitting around snacking all day.

Best of luck!

SnazzyTraveller

I used to struggle with this so much... what worked for me was, I started measuring what I ate really carefully. Like I would see that a serving of ice cream is 1/2 a cup, so I'd measure out 1/2 a cup, log it here, and eat that. Then if I wanted more, I could have it, but I had to measure it and log it. 99% of the time, that extra second it took to decide to go get the measuring cup and open my food diary back up was the second I needed to remember that I didn't really need seconds. I figured the 1% that it was worth it got balanced out.

I think just log your snacks *before* you eat them so you can see how many calories it has... then enjoy the portion you have. I always get into trouble when I eat first and then log... I always eat so much more than I would have if I'd logged first!

I don't know if that will work for anyone else... it just so happened that I started really enjoying the whole process. It's like a game to me. I suppose my food obsession shifted into a calorie-counting obsession a little bit, but it feels a lot better.

Thank you for the ideas! It is so so nice to know I'm not the only one struggling with this. I don't know if its severity but it seems much more possible to overcome whatever it is knowing I'm not alone.


Thanks to everyone else for their advice too. {I was really hoping this post wouldn't get lost because I really needed your kind words}

Turtlesallthewaydown

I still do occasionally eat more than I want to so my advice is really not a cure.

I stopped buying the foods I would binge on. For awhile I had to keep nothing but fruit and veg and lean meat on hand. I still only buy a bag of chips or cookies on days when I know they are going to be consumed in one sitting and I try to be at peace with that and get back on track the next day. Accepting and forgiving the rare binge eating episode makes it easier to get over and avoid. The episodes are fewer and far in between when I accept and forgive versus when I would rant and rave against myself.

I would force myself to do other things when the need to binge would strike. If this means doing the bathroom grout with a toothbrush then that is what I would throw my focus at until the need to stuff myself would pass.

I keep a 'fat' picture on the fridge and look at it before I take second or third helpings of something.

Drink several glasses of water and then go to sleep. This is good for late night binge urges because my stomach feels full before I go to sleep.

I also saw a doctor and found out my thyroid was not working. I would excuse my eating because I thought "No amount of hard work takes the weight off, so who cares what I eat?" but now I know with medicine and hard work (theoretically) I can lose weight it is just very, very difficult.


I had little to no food at times when I was a child so I feel like binging was my way of trying to negate the food anxiety I used to suffer from. I was always scared about where my next meal would come from so when I got into foster care and got fed regularly, I overate. I went from a very thin, skeletal child to a very plump child quickly. No one was kind about this transformation. I started extreme food restriction in my early teens to alleviate the pressure that gaining weight had put on me.
Then I slipped back to overeating in my 20's when I couldn't keep up with restricting anymore.

To this day I have to have a full fridge and pantry or I get very anxious. Going to the grocery store and loading up a cart makes me feel amazing because I can provide. No one in my house goes hungry and that makes me feel successful. Spending money on food gives me a sense of being a good person and eating the food gives me more comfort so binging is really a coping mechanism I grasped when no other help was available. Unfortunately it became more harm than solution. I still have all those terrible feelings and want to smother them with food. I'm trying not to and more and more I'm succeeding.

Food issues are awfully complex so I hope I gave you a new perspective. Everyone who binges does it to fill some kind of need and not everyone's reason will be the same. Not everyone will know why they do it, but figuring out why you do helps you overcome it. Spend some time with your feelings and see what you come up with.

luvmynook

For me personally, I can't just have one piece of candy.....................so I don't start eating it at all. One piece leads to 2 and so on!

This is just how I am. I can't seem to eat anything in moderation (mostly referring to sweets or crunchy salts).

What do you think about cutting out extra sugar entirely? Would attempting to go cold turkey just be a major mistake and cause me to go radically downhill do you think?


I try to avoid all sweets since moderation is almost impossible for me.................it actually makes my life much easier if I stay clear of my trigger foods!

The first few day's will be hard, but it gets easier every day. Before long you won't even think about it!

Inshape13

I can say that I am not tortally over binge eating, but it is getting fewer and farther between having a major binge day. Over the last year I really took a deep look at the pattern behind the binges and noticed two things-If I do not eat enough protein and feel like I am starving that will lead to a binge(I eat protein at 5 small meals a day now) and if I am stressed and turn to good ole favorites that contain wheat or are highly processed, it is all downhill from there(Ritz, brownies, honey bunches of oats are all major trigger foods for me). Not sure why certain foods set me off, but they ALWAYS do.....brownies.

Going cold turkey on sugar can 100% backfire because if you take away all that your body has been accustomed to at once, after a while the cravings will get horrendous......at least that is what happened to me.

The major things that helped me to get the binging under control was to break "habits of eating" which led to binging late at night and to really remind myself how much working out it takes to burn off food by adding it up along the way during a binge. Keeping stress low and not depriving yourself, but finding suitable low calorie alternatives should help.

Good luck and best wishes!

elyelyse

I've got something less obvious, that has really worked for me.

I didn't binge so much as i just compulsively overate... very large portions of everything, and constant grazing throughout the day. I was NEVER satisfied. No matter how much I ate, even when my stomach was full i was never satisfied. I am sure part of it was boredom and emotional eating, but I swear I was actually HUNGRY.

For ME, a big part of the solution was making sure I was getting the nutrition I needed from my food. Protein is obvious we all know that one. Carbs and fat? lol yeah no problem there. but what about all the vitamins and minerals that you get from eating a variety of fruits and veggies? I ate veggies before sure, but mostly the same few basics (peas, corn, potatoes, the occasional salad). When I realized that different types of veggies have different nutrients I started mixing it up, eating tons of different veggies and I found my appetite became much more manageable. Some of it probably has to do also, with the volume of veggies one can consume for very little calories, so I get to have that full belly feeling, but now, I actually feel satiated after meals. I'm not wondering what's for desert before I've even finished preparing dinner.

I feel very strongly that I experience less hunger now because my body is no longer craving those missing nutrients. I mistakenly thought I was craving ice cream when really I needed more cauliflower lol.

SnazzyTraveller

I keep a 'fat' picture on the fridge and look at it before I take second or third helpings of something.

Drink several glasses of water and then go to sleep. This is good for late night binge urges because my stomach feels full before I go to sleep.

Food issues are awfully complex so I hope I gave you a new perspective. Everyone who binges does it to fill some kind of need and not everyone's reason will be the same. Not everyone will know why they do it, but figuring out why you do helps you overcome it. Spend some time with your feelings and see what you come up with.

Great advice. I think I should take several hours to do some deep thinking and organize my life.

alanlmarshall

What has really worked for me is intermittent fasting. It's not for everyone, but you might look into it.

moonbutt

there are 12 step recover programs for food addiction. for me, i have had to continue to accept that i can't eat "trigger foods"
refined sugars and flours and reduce my fruits and certain carbs.
along with this on a daily basis i ask God to help me

SnazzyTraveller

there are 12 step recover programs for food addiction. for me, i have had to continue to accept that i can't eat "trigger foods"
refined sugars and flours and reduce my fruits and certain carbs.
along with this on a daily basis i ask God to help me

They say anything is possible with God...

Arlyn514

First, you did the very best thing to join here. The people are sooooo supportive. I am totally in awe of your courage. The best mindset is to log-in EVERYDAY whether you are good or bad, BE HONEST, with yourself and others. You will NOT be judged for not being perfect. Welcome and don't be afraid to ask for help. You are on the road to a lifestyle change.

anaboneana

well, if you're a true binger, i suggest going to see a psychologist/psychiatrist. that's what i've had to do. then again, i've been back and forth with eating disorders - anorexia --> bulimia --> BED/COE. seeing someone truly was the ignition for the start of my journey back to health.

some of the things that we've gone over have been: accountability - track EVERYTHING you eat (the good, the bad, the ugly - if you overeat, figure out why you might have done so. were you sad/stressed/lonely/tired/bored/etc? did you just really want something and were refusing to let yourself have it, triggering a binge?), don't weigh yourself everyday, make breaking the binge/starve cycle the priority over weight loss (you won't lose weight if you're struggling against yourself), learn to -really really- enjoy food - don't deprive yourself but don't overdo it --> learn appropriate portions. it's ok to have ice cream. it's okay to have a cookie. but it's not ok to have a gallon of ice cream or an entire box of cookies - it's about reasoning with yourself and allowing yourself to not hate food but respect it as nourishment for your sacred body. spend time with your food --> it's amazing how much more you might enjoy something if you spend time and effort making it from scratch

also, as someone before me mentioned, the 12-step OA approach is good. look for an OA meeting - they're very nice and helpful if you're an emotional eater

also, i've enjoyed a few books: Brain over Binge, Intuitive Eating, and Women Food and God

moonbutt

anything IS possible with God.

i've been eating clean for 4 weeks with the help of a naturopath doctor. a miracle. prior to this i could sit down and eat a whole cake and it still wasn't enough. it will never be enough.
my body already has less inflammation. the binges were slowly killing me, overloading my liver and thyroid.
i haven't felt this good inside and out in years. it is hard work.

SnazzyTraveller

anything IS possibly with God.

i've been eating clean for 4 weeks with the help of a naturopath doctor. a miracle. prior to this i could sit down and eat a whole cake and it still wasn't enough. it will never be enough.
my body already has less inflammation. the binges were slowly killing me, overloading my liver and thyroid.
i haven't felt this good inside and out in years. it is hard work.

Wow. Sounds amazing, congratulations! I want to do the same

asnnbrg

Former bulimic here still struggling with eating issues.

That said ...

1. If it's not in the house, you can't binge on it. Don't buy junk food, sweets, salty snacks, etc. if you know you'll be tempted.
2. If you do have a craving for something, make it yourself. If you are willing to get the ingredients, prepare it and cook/bake it, then go ahead and enjoy some. By saving your "splurge" for the really good homemade stuff (as opposed to a cheap cardboard-y packet of cookies), you'll enjoy it more. But don't overindulge! Separate into individual serving sizes and freeze, OR take it to work and share it with everyone.
3. Learn new ways to "reward" yourself. "I worked out; I have earned this!" can become about a cute new skirt or a facial rather than a pint of ice cream.

Hope some of that helps.

Spindigo1

I agree with a lot of the people above. If I buy chips or candy I do so fully understanding that I'm going to eat the whole thing. Logging an entire bag of chips feels pretty terrible, so I just don't buy the chips.

I bought my gf a foodlocker (google it) so that she can have junk in the house and neither one of us has to worry about me binge eating it.

Jaggedlilpunk

Ok, for starters I probably used the wrong term in the title because I don't know exactly the definition of "a binger" or what makes someone a food addict.

All I know is as much as seeing the pictures of success many have had with losing weight, I really need to hear about how people have changed their mindset.

Currently I can (and do) consume up to a litre of ice cream a day, or I'll chow down half a box of chocolate cookies easily. I realize how much of a problem this is, and I'm scared of what the sugar and fat will do to my insides in the near and far future. Not even referring to just my pant size, but my mental and cardiovascular health.

I would love for people to tell me how did they change from living to eat to eating to live. It's been over a month now and I'm tired of this reckless eating.

I completely understand. I am having the same issues. Been on MFP for a few weeks now and CANNOT get my eating under control. I'll be fine all day, then I have ONE bad thing and it's like I stop caring and eat everything in sight. A friend of mine recommended logging binges so I can actually see my destructive behavior. I've been giving that a try...but it may be helpful to have some more friends on here with similar issues. Feel free to add me...maybe we can work together.

Jennwith2ns

I used to be a major binge eater and am currently on week 3. First of all, the not keeping junk in my house doesn't apply because my husband eats it so I buy it for him. However I do buy him junk I don't actually like to eat, like popsicles and beef jerky. I drink a lot of water which helps. One day during my 2nd week I was about 2 seconds from eating everything in my fridge with the typical "I NEED it" mentality and really had to force myself to workout. It helped a little but not completely, so I just went to bed early. I think the trick is finding what works for YOU. Everyone is different. Gradually changing what you eat and how much you eat also helps a lot. Going "cold turkey" and completely changing everything in one day is unrealistic and never works for me.

libertygirlfla

I used to struggle with this so much... what worked for me was, I started measuring what I ate really carefully. Like I would see that a serving of ice cream is 1/2 a cup, so I'd measure out 1/2 a cup, log it here, and eat that. Then if I wanted more, I could have it, but I had to measure it and log it. 99% of the time, that extra second it took to decide to go get the measuring cup and open my food diary back up was the second I needed to remember that I didn't really need seconds. I figured the 1% that it was worth it got balanced out.

I think just log your snacks *before* you eat them so you can see how many calories it has... then enjoy the portion you have. I always get into trouble when I eat first and then log... I always eat so much more than I would have if I'd logged first!

I don't know if that will work for anyone else... it just so happened that I started really enjoying the whole process. It's like a game to me. I suppose my food obsession shifted into a calorie-counting obsession a little bit, but it feels a lot better.

^^^^^This 100% works for me. LOG, LOG, LOG!!