Any Binge Eaters Found A Way To Keep Their Triggers Around?

Graelwyn75
Graelwyn75 Posts: 4,404 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Just curious if the only approach to trigger foods is to remove them entirely from the environment?
I ask because I keep bringing in foods I tend to not be able to limit myself with, in hopes that one day it will somehow click and I will be able to be 'normal' and just have a portion and stop and carry on. I feel as if simply banning them from my environment, is somehow admitting I am weak and a failure for not being able to control myself like other people can.

Note, I am not overweight remotely, but I do not wish to spend the rest of my life having days long episodes of binging on all the sugar.

Even a knowledge of what too much in one go can do to the body, does not seem to stop once I start eating this stuff.
I sometimes can manage 3-4 days ignoring the food but eventually, an evening will come where for some unknown reason, my mind just stops caring and I eat a load of the food (recently, it has been chocolate mini eggs).

So, has anyone who had issues with not being able to moderate their eating of certain foods, found a foolproof way to learn to eat 'normally' ? The irony is, I am so controlled and controlling in other aspects of my life, and a perfectionist in many ways, and without these foods in my environment, I keep a pretty damn healthy diet, free of most processed foods. But bring in anything like oatmeal, bread, chocolate, cookies, cereal, popcorn anything containing sugar and fat/grain, and one portion triggers an intense urge to have more.

Replies

  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
    I can't eat wheat, will not eat wheat in any form even if my favorite food is in front of me, and bread WAS my biggest trigger. However my motivation is a digestive system that works, instead of being sick all the time. In general, even as a person who has recovered from an ED, I minimize the triggers in my life, including not keeping certain foods around. I would rather go out and have a serving of ice cream than keep it in my freezer.

    I don't care if I'm "normal" or not. I care that I'm not binging, purging, starving, or habitually overexercising.
  • taylorckt1
    taylorckt1 Posts: 263 Member
    Initially, I think/beleive it is imperative to keep triggers out of the environment...over time, some of us will have enough self control to be able to have those things around and not partake but is a process...this journey is not just a physical one, we all have some emotional/psychological things to deal with as well and until we do, we won't be able to have those trigger foods around and not dive in...

    I am not a mental health professional by any means but I am speaking from personal experience.
  • SoozeE512
    SoozeE512 Posts: 439 Member
    White bread, milk chocolate, and just about any cookies are triggers for me too....as well as many other sweets and baked goods.

    I only buy whole grain bread and dark chocolate because I enjoy them but they don't trigger me to want to eat more.

    I try to avoid cookies for the most part but allow myself to splurge from time to time. I find it's easier to avoid binging if I don't bring the trigger foods into my home...my biggest problem is when my family brings the trigger foods home or when there are trigger foods placed out at work for anyone to have. In my mind, I tell myself that I don't want them or don't need them or that I'll just eat a little and stop...sometimes I'm able to convince myself, but not always.

    I don't know that there's really a foolproof way to avoid triggers (if there is, I've yet to find out about it!) and I don't think there's any "normal" way to be. Everyone is different and needs to find what works best for them.
  • taylorckt1
    taylorckt1 Posts: 263 Member
    Just curious if the only approach to trigger foods is to remove them entirely from the environment?
    I ask because I keep bringing in foods I tend to not be able to limit myself with, in hopes that one day it will somehow click and I will be able to be 'normal' and just have a portion and stop and carry on. I feel as if simply banning them from my environment, is somehow admitting I am weak and a failure for not being able to control myself like other people can.

    Note, I am not overweight remotely, but I do not wish to spend the rest of my life having days long episodes of binging on all the sugar.

    Even a knowledge of what too much in one go can do to the body, does not seem to stop once I start eating this stuff.
    I sometimes can manage 3-4 days ignoring the food but eventually, an evening will come where for some unknown reason, my mind just stops caring and I eat a load of the food (recently, it has been chocolate mini eggs).

    So, has anyone who had issues with not being able to moderate their eating of certain foods, found a foolproof way to learn to eat 'normally' ? The irony is, I am so controlled and controlling in other aspects of my life, and a perfectionist in many ways, and without these foods in my environment, I keep a pretty damn healthy diet, free of most processed foods. But bring in anything like oatmeal, bread, chocolate, cookies, cereal, popcorn anything containing sugar and fat/grain, and one portion triggers an intense urge to have more.

    You also have to educate yourself on what certain things do to the body - you bing/crave these things and can't stop because that's what they are made to make you do - sugar physiologically makes you crave sugar as does wheat based products.
  • Natihilator
    Natihilator Posts: 1,778 Member
    No, they are trigger foods for a reason.

    Keeping them around doesn't magically transform the situation, and not keeping them around isn't a sign of weakness or failure. It's a sign of knowing yourself and what works for you. If you have a history on bingeing on a certain food, try and only keep 1 or 2 single-serving portions of said food around if you absolutely must have it in your house.
  • kneasles
    kneasles Posts: 23 Member
    It's too tempting to have certain "foods" in the house. I don't deny myself most things, but try to make sure if I do have it it's when I'm with other people that way I'm less likely to binge. If I do buy something to bring home, I try to buy a small package that way I can't overdo it. I'm not talking about 100 calorie packs. I stopped fooling myself about those. It's like trying to have only one potato chip. Hope this helps.
  • msleanlegs
    msleanlegs Posts: 188 Member
    Some of my old trigger foods are still in the house because my family isn't dieting. The #1 thing that helps me not to go hog wild on that junk is to keep an abundance of healthy foods in the house. (Ones that I actually enjoy eating, lol.)
  • AA1ex
    AA1ex Posts: 223 Member
    Well at least you know that is your problem so kudos. What helped me ( I would eat a gallon of ice cream within an hour or 2) is since I can't control myself when I start, I needed to control it before hand. At the store I started buying the half gallons and in a few months it went to a pint then the little 1/2 cup servings (or whatever they are from ben and jerry's) and now I can barely stand it bc it can be too sweet. I now eat cantaloupe like I did the ice cream. I also had issues with buying fun size candy in the big bags but eat the whole bag so I went to just the regular sized candy at the registers then that craving eventully faded now I only eat candy if I go to the movies but my husband and I try to get a good meal in us before we go so we aren't tempted. Oh and something my mom got me for xmas was a pig chip clip that oinks at me so it keeps me in line alot! Hope some of this helped.
  • shosho420
    shosho420 Posts: 220 Member
    I COULD have these things in my house and not eat them, but I see the temptation as being easily avoidable by not filling my shelves with that stuff in the first place.
  • laurenbrooke79
    laurenbrooke79 Posts: 27 Member
    I used to binge EVERY single night. Cereal and nuts. It was like I went into a mode where i just couldn't stop and in the morning I would always feel sick. In my head I just decided i had to stop. I chose not to eat cereal for 2 months and at the end of it surprizingly I stoped craving it, weird. Also I did the Military Diet, its only 7 days, but somehow in those 7 days my brain stopped having those crazy modes. As soon as I feel full now, my brain doesnt want anymore food. Before, I could have been stuffed to the max and my brain would want more more more. I can now have the trigger foods around and they don't even bother me. I sometimes actually like them around because It reminds me that I am in control, not that stupid food addiction.
  • m1311
    m1311 Posts: 103 Member
    I'm about to post a partial review of a book called "Fat Chance." If you read it (the book, not the review!), you will understand why these foods call to you.

    I just have to figure out where to post the review!
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
    I'm excited that I can look at fashion magazines now, enjoy them, and not feel like I have to look like the images that I see. So it is possible that at some point something that was a trigger won't be a trigger any more. But until and unless that happens, there's no shame in making your life easier.
  • Graelwyn75
    Graelwyn75 Posts: 4,404 Member
    Thanks for the replies, people, and sorry for the delay in reading them, I posted then went to the gym right after.
    I am reassured that some of you do not consider it weakness to need to 'ban' certain foods from the home. I suppose, it is hard because my family and my bf, can all keep things about and eat in moderation, and tend to find it odd that I cannot do this.
    I do tend to view it as totally negative I need to keep food away from myself now, especially as a former anorexic, to have lost that self control, and now have to force it on myself. A trainer once told me that you can never be totally 'normal' in terms of eating once you have had an eating disorder. I am finding it hard to accept this is true.
  • Graelwyn75
    Graelwyn75 Posts: 4,404 Member
    Just curious if the only approach to trigger foods is to remove them entirely from the environment?
    I ask because I keep bringing in foods I tend to not be able to limit myself with, in hopes that one day it will somehow click and I will be able to be 'normal' and just have a portion and stop and carry on. I feel as if simply banning them from my environment, is somehow admitting I am weak and a failure for not being able to control myself like other people can.

    Note, I am not overweight remotely, but I do not wish to spend the rest of my life having days long episodes of binging on all the sugar.

    Even a knowledge of what too much in one go can do to the body, does not seem to stop once I start eating this stuff.
    I sometimes can manage 3-4 days ignoring the food but eventually, an evening will come where for some unknown reason, my mind just stops caring and I eat a load of the food (recently, it has been chocolate mini eggs).

    So, has anyone who had issues with not being able to moderate their eating of certain foods, found a foolproof way to learn to eat 'normally' ? The irony is, I am so controlled and controlling in other aspects of my life, and a perfectionist in many ways, and without these foods in my environment, I keep a pretty damn healthy diet, free of most processed foods. But bring in anything like oatmeal, bread, chocolate, cookies, cereal, popcorn anything containing sugar and fat/grain, and one portion triggers an intense urge to have more.

    You also have to educate yourself on what certain things do to the body - you bing/crave these things and can't stop because that's what they are made to make you do - sugar physiologically makes you crave sugar as does wheat based products.

    Yes, it is just some people seem to be able to take it or leave it, have a bit and stop. Others not so. I wonder if it is due to some chemical differences between individuals or... ? Even as a child, I was the same.
  • walkingtough
    walkingtough Posts: 1 Member
    What is the Military Diet?
  • Graelwyn75
    Graelwyn75 Posts: 4,404 Member
    I'm about to post a partial review of a book called "Fat Chance." If you read it (the book, not the review!), you will understand why these foods call to you.

    I just have to figure out where to post the review!

    I would be interested to read that.
    I do know a lot of these mass marketed foods contain certain things that trigger certain physiological responses and a desire for more in a lot of people. I guess I am feeding into that industry by allowing myself to be controlled by their foods, rather than the other way around.
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
    I suppose, it is hard because my family and my bf, can all keep things about and eat in moderation, and tend to find it odd that I cannot do this.

    I make my husband keep his junk food on a shelf that is way above my reach and my eye level, though he has a lot less junk food than he used to, now that he has started to prefer the things that I eat. That may not be enough for you, and you should feel fine about needing to keep triggers out of the house, entirely.

    Does your family and bf know that you've struggled with an eating disorder? I know that not everyone is supportive. However, to put it in perspective, few families would expect an alcoholic to keep a liquor cabinet. Your triggers are every bit as threatening to your health and well being as alcohol is to someone who has struggled through alcohol abuse.
  • dietkat
    dietkat Posts: 17
    I've struggled with the same question myself over the years-- it seems like it shouldn't be *that* hard to eat normally with trigger foods, since other folks can manage.

    Then I realized that a LOT of healthy people I know don't keep certain foods in their homes for that exact reason. They're not people I consider to have food issues of any sort; they just recognize that if they have a bag of M&Ms in the house, they will eat the bag of M&Ms in the next 24 hours. No shame, just knowing themselves well enough that they won't buy it to keep it in the house. Some people have more trigger foods than others. No shame.
  • Graelwyn75
    Graelwyn75 Posts: 4,404 Member
    I've struggled with the same question myself over the years-- it seems like it shouldn't be *that* hard to eat normally with trigger foods, since other folks can manage.

    Then I realized that a LOT of healthy people I know don't keep certain foods in their homes for that exact reason. They're not people I consider to have food issues of any sort; they just recognize that if they have a bag of M&Ms in the house, they will eat the bag of M&Ms in the next 24 hours. No shame, just knowing themselves well enough that they won't buy it to keep it in the house. Some people have more trigger foods than others. No shame.

    Reassuring to know. I always wonder how many people who have never needed to diet, or had an eating disorder, have to keep certain foods out of their home. I also wonder how many people keep such foods in their home on a constant basis anyway? Maybe I have a warped view of how the 'other half' live, so to speak, assuming they all keep cookies and chocolate and ice cream in their home on a constant basis.
  • TheKoren
    TheKoren Posts: 20 Member
    Ice cream is a bad one for me, too. It is permanently banned from my house. My fiance and kids don't need it any more than I do, at least not in the house, on hand at any time.

    Someone else suggested this and it's what works here too - if you want your goodies as an occasional treat, GO OUT and eat a single serving of it...then it doesn't come into your home, violate your "safe" zone and you don't start associating the food with other things (TV, computer, etc.) and undo all the hard work you put into breaking that habit in the first place.

    Plus, if you have to get dressed and go to the store for it, it might not be quite as appealing as it would be if it was just sitting on your counter waiting for you.

    There is nothing weak about keeping your home a junk-free zone. I don't know if I will ever be able to live comfortably with ice cream in the house again, but who says I have to? Good Luck!

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