How do you control binge eating?

I was like this too. I SAY EAT! I don't eat three meals a day. I eat lots of little meals, it makes it seem like you get to eat a lot more food which makes the binges not as bad. Also, slow down when you eat I know its hard but savor every bite. Eat at the table, turn off the tv and computer, and concentrate on the food. (after all we all love food). I know you heard this before but drink water even when your not thirsty. Find something else to do when you get hungry like watching a movie or like me I knit blankets if my hands are too busy they can't be throwing food in my face. Good luck the first week is very hard but you can do this your already heading in the right direction by setting goals.

Foods high in fiber & protein will help you feel satisfied. Do a search for these threads. You'll get some really great suggestions. Off the top of my head, my first go to food to satisfy hunger would be a baked sweet potato, steamed broccoli, oatmeal, baked chicken breast, salmon, plain Greek yogurt, a can of tuna, low fat string cheese.

As far as the binging, if you find a secret, please let me know. All I can say to this is that when I have my mind made up to binge, God Himself couldn't stop me. So yes, in my opinion, it is strictly 100% mind over matter.

Eat 6-7 little meals a day, increase the protein and decrease the carbs with high GI. They make you feel more hungry than you were before eating most of them. Carbs that make you feel hungry- alcohol, fructose,caffeine, sugar, glucose, seasonings. Food that make you feel full is proteins,fats, fibers, water, carbs with low GI.

for GI check http://www.glycemicindex.com/

Also try to drink at least 2-2.5 litres of water a day and start doing exercise.

i have this problem too, mostly because i smoke trees but its binging nonetheless. I have to force myself to drink water to get thru it. I also find that a handful of nuts, I prefer almonds or walnuts, help A LOT! Throw in fruit like an orange, pear, grapes or whatever you like and it takes it mostly away. Im not a big raw veggie eater. someone said keep boneless skinless chicken around, i could totally see that working too. The other part of it is mental and for that I pretty much dare myself not to eat more, like its a goal or an accomplishment. I feel so much better after the craving has passed and I didnt munchie away a million calories. I know some ppl will just tell me to quit smoking, believe me, no one really wants that, serenity now. So I continue to find ways to get thru the munchies. doesnt always work but practice makes perfect right, or damn good enough! This is strictly regarding binge eating, other than that, your body will get used to taking in less calories. Good luck and welcome!

With a restrictive diet and lots of fat. It took less then a month following a LCHF diet.

http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

A few little things helped me with the bingeing:

1) I committed to honest logging and opened my food diary so that I knew I had an "audience" to what I ate. I find it harder to binge if it isn't a secret. I also weigh and measure things so my eating is more purposeful and truthful.

2) I added friends with healthy habits that I admire and I read their food diaries for ideas.

3) I eat three small meals to leave me lots of calories for snacking. If I can spread my snacks out through the day and feel like I'm grazing (although it's not quite the same I guess since I track it all), then I don't feel so deprived and I don't get the urge to eat the whole pantry nearly as often.

4) I make a conscious effort to eat more protein-rich foods and spread them out throughout the day so that I'm more satieted. I'm a work in progress on this one since I don't tend to gravitate toward proteinous foods. My favourites, though, are salmon, greek yogurt, sliced almonds, hemp hearts, quinoa, hummus, hard-boiled eggs (I'll eat one every day - either with breakfast or in a wrap at lunch), and chicken (I'm getting a little obvious here I suppose). For the chicken I'll sometimes get a rotisserie chicken at the beginning of a week, toss the skin, shred it and keep it in a container in my fridge. I'll then use it in wraps, soups, or just for a snack.

5) Stay hydrated.

That's what's working for me so far .

I love this

IMO in the absence of an eating disorder, binge eating can be attributed to: too low calories, too low carbohydrates (without going in to keto), or feelings of deprivation , or any combination of the above.

1) Don't deprive yourself of 'bad' foods or whole food groups. Allow treats in moderation, within the limits of your macro and calorie limits.

2) If you're going to cut carbs (which I personally don't think is necessary), find an appropriate level to make you feel OK. Too low, and you're going to crave carbs all the time. Go in to ketosis if you want to be that low.

3) Too low calories and you'll always get binge-y. Set your calories appropriately, no more than TDEE-20%. Low Cal = yo-yo.

Binge on salad.

I don't exclude any foods (whenever I have done that, I just end up thinking about them more)
Some foods I will eat the whole packet of ( like any kinds of biscuits and cakes) so if I want something like that I just buy a single one.
I make sure I don't go shopping when hungry, otherwise I make bad food choices.
I don't do really low calorie diets.
I found that including more protein on my lunch made me less hungry for things out of the office snack machine.

Hi, Breathing. Welcome to myfitnesspal. In the past I had a similar problem. I would not eat much during the day then as soon as I got home from work I would stuff my face until I went to bed! If I tried to be 'good' during the day and have a small breakfast, snack, etc, I found that I was starving for food all day and I would have huge cravings all day long because my metabolism had been woken up from sleep. I have been on PGX for about 6 months and I take it faithfully. If you have not heard of it, basically it is a fiber supplement that causes you to feel full and causes your body to absorb surgars more slowly.It took a bit to get used to, but I slowly built up to 3 caps before breakfast, 3 caps before lunch, 3 caps before dinner and 3 caps in the evening (I found I needed the extra dose in the evening 'cause that is my hardest time). The benefits that have come have been more than I expected. I don't have the sugar highs and lows, I don't have huge cravings, I can eat normal, regular small portions from morning until night like a normal human being! I don't ever feel starving or bloated or stuffed. And this might be too much information, but I used to go from constipation to diarrhea and now I just have healthy, regular bm's. PGX does cost quite a bit, but for me it is worth it because type II diabetes runs in my family and with my habits, I would have been headed there for sure. So it is a bit of a commitment and I know it is probably not for everyone. Not sure if this helps but it sure helped me.

What's worked for me is focusing on nutrient dense foods that keeping me feeling full longer. I also eat throughout the day...it's more like 5 smaller meals than 3 meals per day. I'm also eating a lot more protein than I used to, which has replaced my previous high carb/high fat (not all good fats) diet. I'm taking the zone diet approach currently (40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fats) and it's working well for me. I'm also doing a 1 Lb per week deficit...anything more than that, and I'd be having those hunger pangs and would be binging all of the time.

What has helped me keep from binging is to find something I can do to have the tastes I like, and still maintain my calories...

For example, I have two things that I used to binge on - soda (sometimes up to 10 to 15 twenty ounce bottles a day), and potato chips (you know that bag you get for $4.99 at the supermarket? The family size one? Yea, I'd eat one of those in about 40 minutes - something like 15 or so servings).

What I do for the soda is I allow myself one per day (two if it's just been really crappy - or I have to work a double, but always work off the extra one the next day in cardio). This keeps me from binging on the soda because I know that I will get it. There have actually been days I've gone without and was not a complete crab!

For the chips, I discovered I could get sliced almonds, roast them in my frying pan with a little clarified butter, salt them a little, and voila, a cup of them is the same amount of calories as one serving of those chips I loved so much, and tastes better! You can probably make them with different spices too if you like the spiced chips that taste like different things (Jalepeno, Ranch, etc...).

Hope this helped! Good luck!

nevermind.

What works for me......
Avoid sugar (the refined stuff, not fruit). Soda, a bit of cake, chocolate, jam, etc stimulates my appetite.
Keep occupied, mentally or physically. If I am idle my mind wants to know what is in the fridge or pantry.
Exercise, going for a 30 - 60 minute power walk/run at the time of day that you are likely to binge will keep you on the rails.
Increasing protein in my diet worked for me as it did for so many others who have mentioned it here.
What works for you.... You have to try a few things and see what works for you.
e.g. some say they eat many small meals throughout the day and it works for them. It doesn't work for me, but it may work for you and is worth a go.
Main thing is don't give up just because you binged once in a while (or for any other reason).
Be tenacious and eventually you will find your niche.