Binge eating. 2 steps foward; 1 step back

I used to struggle with binge eating but i found a very simple way to over come it. not have any junk food in my house. i drink tons of water and when im bored; im starting to go outside and excersize. i snack on grapes and apples like crazy and when im craving chips or cookies i eat them but only one or too. if your craving something salty or sweet find a fruit or veggie that will accommodate.

I went through four months of binge eating and managed to put on ten pounds. I would say try changing something on your binge eating days. Even if you eat like crazy, make sure to work out like you did on a good day. It might throw a wrench in your brain's plans.

On your 'good' days, are you depriving yourself of things you really want to eat? If you are, then on your good days, add one thing that you love to eat and treat yourself to it. You want to establish a life-long habit, and if you can break yourself of the cycle of good versus bad days, you will feel much happier.

Hey Icey, I've also had this problem. It's been more of a daily thing for me -- I wake up motivated, and by 3 or 4 I feeling like I'm starving and give up and go nuts. What a cycle! It helps to know there's a supportive person out there who understands. Why don't we make a group devoted to staying on track and motivate one another? I'd love to have a group of people I can check in with daily and say 'hey, I am really having a tough time, need some encouragement' and also encourage others. Would this help you??

This is me right here, for the last month or so. I'm okay every morning but come every afternoon, or right after dinner, I am hungry and I start eating everything. Then once I have gone over my allotted calories I decide just to go on a full on binge. It's a vicious cycle that I'm trying to break. I've done good for 2 days. I wish I could say more, but 2 is better than none.

OA.org telephone meetings have helped me greatly. They are sometimes lame but they keep me on track.

Hey Icey, I've also had this problem. It's been more of a daily thing for me -- I wake up motivated, and by 3 or 4 I feeling like I'm starving and give up and go nuts. What a cycle! It helps to know there's a supportive person out there who understands. Why don't we make a group devoted to staying on track and motivate one another? I'd love to have a group of people I can check in with daily and say 'hey, I am really having a tough time, need some encouragement' and also encourage others. Would this help you??

I've been thinking this too....i've been really bad lately....and by lately i mean for months. my weight has stayed with in 10lbs up and down because of all this binging. i do it when i'm mad, angry, bored, rewards....i can't seem to stop. I've been 30-40lbs from goal since december now....i'd really like to get there.

I think you will find lots who can relate to you, but not too many with any answers! I also have this problem. I will exercise twice a day, stay on track, eat well, feel good... and then I will get a craving, or my hubby will eat something good, and I feel sorry for myself and give in. I will go up 5-10 lbs in 2 days and totally ruin all I did in the week before that, and just cannot get anywhere. Over the course of the last year and half, I have put back on 30 lbs... UGH!!!! I hate it too and find it very hard to break the cycle. I cannot give in and have a little of something, because then I will have to go hog out on it. I am posting to "understand" and hope to get notice if someone has any good ideas for fixing it. I have tried "not dieting" too to break the restriction part of wanting to binge, and it did not work for me either. I am 30-40 lbs overweight and feel like I am 200 lbs overweight.

I've had this problem a lot. But I have noticed, if I don't eat a satisfying/filling breakfast & lunch then I end up snacking like crazy and often go for the wrong foods, so I have to focus on eating fulfilling meals. This website has helped me though, because I have to own it up. I think that is why I gained so much weight is the binge eating.

I am a binge eater too. I had lost 47 pounds but I got shin splints and it pissed me off so I binge ate myself up 17 pounds. Now I'm losing again. Stress and emotional stuff doesn't help. I am so glad I finally broke the bad cycle. I bought a Fitbit that helps to motivate me. I wish you the best of luck. I think many people on MFP are binge eaters. That's why we are all here. I feel it's a life long battle. I know it will be for me. Just do the best you can. Find some way to motivate yourself. Find an exercise that you really don't mind doing. Good luck!! :flowerforyou:

I too have this problem too. Eat well all week long, then the week comes and shoves a beer and tooo much food down your throat-all by your own choice! I do have some good days though. Some times I will try and stick to the same or nearly the same eating schedule that I do at work. And I will also work out on saturdays. So that helps. I try to keep busy too. That keeps me distracted and not bored. Clean the garage, the house, do some yard work, or go to the beach!

Oh yeah, you're not alone. I was just down in the dumps about the very same thing. Monday-Thursday I do great. I eat only the calories I'm supposed to, and exercise daily. But by the time the weekend rolls around I find myself slacking. My biggest obstacle is alcohol. My friends like to go out on the weekends and when I go with them I drink. There are LOTS of calories in beer. I'm trying to find a way to get motivated again.

I guess a couple of questions need to be asked to actually look at this. First one would be, do you have your daily calorie goal set properly, either through the 10%-20% below TDEE or set by MFP? Basically, are you set up to eat the proper amount of calories a day to begin with? Second, when you binge, are you eating well above your maintenance calories, or at your maintenance calories, or are you still below? Are you allowing yourself "treats" during the week that you have planned within your calorie range and, if you're watching your macros, within your macro range?

Are you getting enough of the basics like carbs, proteins, fats? I know my wife was doing a rather low carb plan with a cheat day on Saturday. She went nuts on Saturdays and still dropped pounds, but over the course of several weeks she started noticing that by Thursday of the week she was ready to eat handfuls of jelly filled donuts dipped in a bowl of frosted fruity pebbles covered in chocolate milk. It was driving her nuts. Her nutritionist said to start increasing her carbs a little bit each day, nothing much, just a handful of dried fruit or something until she found a balance.

Also, I think of this a lot like quitting smoking, sometimes you have to find something to keep yourself busy long enough to bust through those intense cravings. Sometimes people help, sometimes you just want to see them take a really long walk off a very short pier. Finding a new or old hobby, researching, walking, something..anything to get your mind off eating or smoking or whatever it takes to help.

Main thing is, don't give up. EVER. When you give up, you give in, then when you give in, you feel like a failure, your self esteem drops lower, you ride that low for a while until one day you determine to try again, then you fail again because you haven't changed anything from the last time, then the cycle starts all over again. Might as well end the cycle now, and break through onto new ground...stick with he plan and be who you really want to be sooner rather than later.