Binge eating is a major problem & I'm trying to overcome it?

I have the same problem! I start out great every morning them after lunch I totally blow it. I hope someone has some tips for us!

Increase your protein in the AM.
Eat smaller amounts through out the day - 5 smaller meals.
Take a multi-vitamin to deter cravings.

I used to feel this way about food, so I get it. You can try many different things and see what works for you.
1200 is very low...I would try 1400 and see how you feel.

Also something that helped me was having coffee for breakfast, and saving my calories for later in the day, when i LOVE to eat.
It has worked very well for me. Snacking at night used to be my downfall and I always felt guilty. Now I dont.

Do you listen to podcasts? There are "Overeaters Anonymous" podcasts I've gotten really in to. I used to suffer from an eating disorder, and it covers some good pointers for people who have issues with food mentally. I personally like listening to the success stories (usually a 40 min talk from one member, that goes over why they have succeeded and where they came from), there's at least one person in there that I feel anyone who even remotely has some sort of eating 'disorder' can relate to. (There are talks from compulsive over-eaters (aka, binge eating), bulimics, anorexics, restrictive eaters etc).

I have no idea if this will be right for you, but all I know is that it helps me in knowing there are people who have gone through similar issues.

Good luck!

I used to feel this way about food, so I get it. You can try many different things and see what works for you.
1200 is very low...I would try 1400 and see how you feel.

Also something that helped me was having coffee for breakfast, and saving my calories for later in the day, when i LOVE to eat.
It has worked very well for me. Snacking at night used to be my downfall and I always felt guilty. Now I dont.

I still have issues with bingeing, but it's a few times a month rather than every day now. There are days when I do what Cransktr suggested and just have coffee in the morning (with protein powder added), and some days I wake up famished and eat a big, protein-laden breakfast. Both of these things have helped me take control over urges to binge. One thing that is an absolute MUST for me to avoid binges is to stay physically active and to plan, plan, plan my food. If I have to overthink it I end up thinking about food constantly and set myself up for a fall. When I plan ahead, I'm on autopilot, I stayed fueled and satisfied, and the urge either doesn't come or doesn't feel so overwhelming.

ETA: I have kept careful track over the past year as to when I get the strongest urges to binge. That happens when I am feeling very drained of energy, either from lack of good sleep or from over-exercising/training. Just something else to consider.

This sounds like a problem similar to mine. I know on the days when I eat high amounts of protein I am not as likely to go back for more. My doctor just informed me that I have the beginnings of diabetes. My desire to binge usually falls about 30-45 minutes after a simple carb heavy meal. You may want to make sure the calories are coming from food that is not spiking your blood sugar. Just an idea, not a doctor.

I think you probably should talk to a doctor about your relationship with food because on the 4th January you said this..."Let myself down eat by eating pudding and big dinner! Feel guilty, won't be doing that again especially after working out so hard in the morning!"

Your dinner was only 414 calories for some veggies with noodles which is not much at all and your pudding was only 20 grams of Christmas cake at 73 calories! That should not make you feel guilty!!! That is quite a normal if not smallish amount to eat.

What crankster said also is true, you need to be eating more everyday so up your calories and you may not feel like bingeing because you aren't so hungry. Good luck!

Looking over your diary, it doesn't look like you binge all the time, either that, or you're not logging everything you eat.

The goal is to stay as close to your goals as possible 90% of the time. Don't try to avoid foods that you think are bad because you are now on a "diet". Restricting yourself just makes you really want what you can't have. Buy a little, what you can eat in one setting, not a whole bag and try and tell yourself you'll just have "one". I love poptarts, but I don't like 400 cals for a snack, so now I munch on the Special K Pastry Crisps which are like the baby brothers to a full grown poptart. Same thing only smaller and 100 cals...satisfies the want for a poptart.

I will occasionally look at my wife on a workout night, tell her to we are going to skip the gym and go get a pizza and veg out in front of the TV. Sometimes you need a night like that. And it's NOT going to ruin anything. It's just a night. It's just being a normal person with normal cravings and having some fun in life.

It's going to take time, it's going to be this way for the rest of your life, adjust so that you can maintain this for the rest of your life. If you have to lose a little less a week so that you can maintain a calorie deficit, then so be it. Exercise more to increase your deficit and so you will look SO AWESOME when you reach the look and weight you want.

You've probably heard this a million times, but get rid of the junk food! Get rid of the cake,and crisps and stuff and load on fruit, veggies, and I personally find this very helpful, unsweetened tea with lemon, lemonade and chewing gum. They have little or no calories, but you can chew/drink them for a long time...hope this helps and you can add me as a friend, I'm more than happy to provide support

Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is an addiction and your best hope is to treat it very seriously.

Substance abuse researchers say that the brain adaptions that result from regularly eating so-called hyperpalatable foods – foods that layer salt, fat, and sweet flavors, proven to increase consumption – are likely to be more difficult to change than those from cocaine or alcohol because they involve many more neural pathways. Almost 90 percent of the dopamine receptors in the vental tegmental area (VTA) of the brain are activated in response to food cues.

Brand-new research also shows direct evidence of lasting and fundamental injuries to a part of the brain that helps us regulate our food intake, the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus. Within three days of being placed on a high-fat diet, a rat’s hypothalamus (the area of the brain that responds to the hormones that signal hunger and satiety, pair and maternal bonding and certain social behavior) shows increased inflammation; within a week, researchers see evidence of permanent scarring and neuron injury in an area of the brain crucial for weight control. Brain scans of obese men and women show this exact pattern as well.

The good news -- and there IS good news -- is that a program of foods high in dopamine- and serotonin-boosting chemicals, along with numerous brain-amping activities (from simple exercise to listening to music) can regrow those receptors and bring the confidence of fulfillment and health. There is lots of low-cost help available to you, from 12-step programs to the latest research in the science of food addiction to exercise to free meditation classes in your area. Just believe and continue to reach out.