Need to hear from former bingers/food addicts

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!!

I was where you are. Half a box of cookies? Haha I ate the whole box. And half a camembert. Then I had McDonald's for lunch (large meal, thank you, and a cheeseburger as well). I'd buy half a pound of salami and eat it in two days, if that. Then after dinner I had 3 bars of chocolate (a third of one big bar). Sometimes more. I wasn't exercising though so it showed.

This site has actually helped a lot. I log everything before I eat it, then check what I have left for the day. I know I don't want to be hungry all day by eating too many calories in the morning, so I try to save the not so healthy extras for after dinner, if I have calories left. Often by then I'm not hungry for them anymore, but if I am, it's my reward for being good all day.

Protein bars and shakes have helped a lot. I love shakeology. If I feel a chocolate craving coming, I'll have that instead. The quest protein bars are healthier than most and help my sweet cravings as well. I have one every morning for breakfast. I still eat cheese, but I get the low fat stuff, and I only eat one serving at a time.

I don't buy junk food (ok, I lie, my kids still occasionally have some so we have some in the house, but I buy things I don't tend to binge on usually). I exercise to burn off a bit more, and to give me extra calories if I am hungry and have to go over my goal.

I started over 2 months ago now and it's been easier than I thought - I was really motivated and disgusted by food when I started though (after so much binging during the Holidays). I think it's really the key - you have to be motivated and ready for a lifestyle change when you start, and not think of it as a diet.

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.

This is a process I'm still working through, but sometimes you just have to shrug off the mistake and go about your day. You can either continue eating at the next meal as if the mess-up (whatever it was) didn't happen, or you can acknowledge that mess-up and get in an extra workout to burn it off or eat a little lighter at the next meal to accommodate the calories. In the end, what you really can't afford to do is throw in the towel. Not only will you wake up the next day with a carb hangover or water retention from all the salt, but you'll also feel bad about yourself.

Second thing: I'm leery of anything that gets too much into shaming territory. I do think it's important to log ALL your calories, but if the logging binges becomes more of a way to make you feel bad about yourself, you might need a different strategy altogether. I spent 20+ years hating my body. Literally hating it. Doing everything I could to shame myself into thinness. In the end, none of it worked, and i just kept gaining weight. What finally clicked? When I realized that I needed to start loving myself and my body. It doesn't look the way I want it to, but wow, the things it can do! Once I started loving my body, it became easier to focus on fueling it the right way and exercising it to keep it strong and healthy.

Take it for what it's worth.

I'm only at the beginning of my journey (again!).
I have portion control issues. Mine are carby things like noodles, rice, etc...
I journal my food (log) which I hate because I have to be accountable for the food I put in my mouth.
I do try to keep trigger foods (like nuts) out of the house.
I buy treats in portion controlled sizes (like Skinny Cow Ice Cream sandwiches) and keep things like chips, etc out of the house.

I have starting planning my suppers (my time of day when I want to eat everything in sight). I do make things like pasta, but I mix them in with other foods so that I can't just eat that. I also make less of it so that there are no/less leftovers.

I'm trying to find other, healthier options that I would like to eat.
And come here, make friends, get support, talk to your doctor to make sure there are no other issues (thyroid, etc.. like me which makes it harder - very slow metabolism).

And don't starve yourself, have small snacks so that you don't feel starving.
Feel free to friend me if that helps.

This happens to me sometimes at stressful times in life (ironic, considering that the body's natural response to stress should be to not eat, rather than overeat). What helped me the most was to do something with my hands, like knitting, sewing, or even just writing...it seems that once I found an outlet for my nervous energy, I could stave off the comfort eating.

Dont have that much ice cream, or whatever else you binge on, in the house. Get the tiny single serving ice creams and limit yourself to one a day. If you can't each just one, don't buy more than one. If you're not the one buying the groceries then you're screwed lol Gonna have to dig deep and just tell yourself NO. Stop treating yourself like a spoiled child. Of course you may want to eat everything in your house but tell yourself NO and get as far away from the kitchen as possible. This is how I overcame a lot of my overeating.