What do you say to yourself to stop a binge

mmmartje
mmmartje Posts: 26 Member
in Motivation and Support
About two months ago I started trying to lose 10 pounds. I've actually lost a lot of weight last year, after years of feeling self concious about my belly and trying to change how I felt about my body. I decided to cut out the middle man and just to change my body instead. With great succes, at first. I lost a lot of weight but also had been suffering from problems with my bowels which contributed to my weight loss. Perhaps I lost too fast and lost my period. So I gained some back, always treating food as emotional medicine rather than nutrition.
Losing weight this time, feels good, like I'm accomplishing something but every week there is at least one day where I feel like I should totally blow it and go on a binge. And afterwards I feel terrible, both psysically and emotionally. My question is, why can't I learn from this? I know it will not make me feel better in ANY way, so why do I continue to binge?!
Does anyone have experience with this? How can I break this cycle, what do I tell myself so can believe that large amounts of foods (mainly fat and sugar) are not going to make me feel good?

Replies

  • bokodasu
    bokodasu Posts: 629 Member
    A book I found really helpful for breaking bad mental ruts (and I apologize for the really stupid title, it really is better than it sounds) is "10 Days to Self Esteem" by David Burns. It's basically a workbook for doing CBT on yourself. And it's surprisingly way more effective than it is difficult.

    Good luck.
  • jackiesaurus
    jackiesaurus Posts: 42 Member
    I find that if I eat super healthy breakfasts and lunches (at least work days and most weekends) I find that I crave less sugar and processed foods. I eat nuts, hard boiled eggs, fruit, sandwiches or salads, oatmeal, yogurt, cereal&milk, or even a small portion of left overs during the week for breakfasts and lunches. When it comes to dinner/eating out on the weekend I crave bigger meals and less healthy stuff and I let myself have small portions of the worse stuff or larger portions of something a little healthier. I find that when I eat right after I work out I'm more likely to eat more, but make healthier choices.

    I also don't keep cookies or other easily grab-and-stuff-myself stuff in the house. I love to bake, but if I bake cookies I eat one or two, let my boyfriend choose how many he wants to keep and take the rest to work or tell him to bring them over to our friend's house. Boyfriend also hides his chips and crackers from me or keeps him in the car. Less impulse eating for sure!

    And you probably feel you "deserve" the binge. If you allow yourself smaller treats more frequently, you'll be less tempted to binge. Or if you still want to binge, make a deal with yourself that you can binge after a trip to the gym - most of the time you wont want to after working out, and if you do, you HAVE earned a little bit of it.
  • Melissa11412
    Melissa11412 Posts: 145 Member
    A book I found really helpful for breaking bad mental ruts (and I apologize for the really stupid title, it really is better than it sounds) is "10 Days to Self Esteem" by David Burns. It's basically a workbook for doing CBT on yourself. And it's surprisingly way more effective than it is difficult.

    Good luck.


    I actually use the Android CBT app diary....when i felt a binge coming on (when i was really angry/stressed) i journaled instead in the CBT diary. I promised myself I would do it. If I still felt like bingeing afterwards, i was free to do so. It was something about writing it all down....the uncomfortable feelings, the powerlessness, the agitation etc....then writing down the solution that took the power out of doing the binge. it helps me a lot and i love that app.
  • Cherry_star
    Cherry_star Posts: 40 Member
    Really great topic, thanks for posting. I have no off switch and when I binge, I binge a HUGE amount of very bad food, I just keep going and going with it like I cannot get enough. Because of this inability to know when I've had enough or I am full, the thing for me is will power to resist it in the first place and forgiveness of myself if I do binge. It's just a binge. It doesn't mean I've wrecked my diet, just hit a bump in the road, and I can get back on the diet again instead of abandoning it.

    Things that help for me have been drinking plenty of water. If I need something sweet, then I maybe have a Pepsi Max. If the craving is bad, I brush my teeth, sounds strange, but weirdly helps. And if I really need a sugar hit, then I have one, but in moderation.

    Good luck x
  • clairegogogo
    clairegogogo Posts: 215
    I say to myself "Face your stuff, don't stuff your face."
  • mmmartje
    mmmartje Posts: 26 Member
    Thanks for your great responses! I feel like just talking about it has been therapeutic. I've never really acknowledged my binges before, but on MFP they're simply so visible that there's no way around them. I already don't keep anything unhealthy in the house. I've actually gone so far as to throw away my margarine and sugar (because I would actually binge on those too! extreme, i know) but there's always something to binge on, even if it's not specifically binge worthy food.
    Exploring this topic a little I think they actually come from both a healthy and an unhealhy place, which is my desire to 'take care of myself', thereby giving in to hedonic pleasures and forgoing long term goals. Which, of course, is not really taking care of myself at all. I like the idea of using something like CBT to come up with an actual solution to whatever it is that creates the necessity to binge in the first place.
    I'll try to find ways to feel good that don't make me feel bad immediatly afterwards.
  • mmmartje
    mmmartje Posts: 26 Member
    That's a great quote by the way, I'll have to remember that :smile:
  • candiceprov31
    candiceprov31 Posts: 21 Member
    I pray :) and crochet :) Today is day 15 binge free (which is a record for me!)
  • Ed98043
    Ed98043 Posts: 1,333 Member
    I have always found that the more restrictive my diet is, the more likely I am to binge. It's like hunger just chips away at the wall of willpower and after a week or two finally knocks it down. It's been much easier now that I've gotten away from the 1200 calorie a day trap and eat closer to my BMR. The occasional cheat meal helps, too.
  • Emtabo01
    Emtabo01 Posts: 672
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/12145-50-day-binge-free-challenge

    There's a group on here that's a 50 day challenge to be binge free, it's a question each day you make it, just one more way to keep yourself accountable. Join anytime, we're all on different days.

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