How do I stop a binge once it's started?

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  • TxHamJello
    TxHamJello Posts: 31
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    How about - make smaller batches?
  • amelia_atlantic
    amelia_atlantic Posts: 926 Member
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    I saw this on Pinterest and I've tried it.

    Every time you feel a binge coming on (or you've already started); count to 100 and take a sip of water in between in number.

    Also, change your surroundings. I find I binge in front of the tv. So I get up and do something else. Break the trance!
  • katy_trail
    katy_trail Posts: 1,992 Member
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    Willpower is not very powerful. You should not rely on it to resist chronic challenges like overreating. Work on your environment and habits instead.

    I want to get this tattooed somewhere.

    There are theories that will power actually is limited. So when we tap our resources for recurrent problems that we can deal with by other means we're wasting our own precious supply.

    If i relied on will power alone i would have quit after a few days.
  • pzinzn
    pzinzn Posts: 8 Member
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    As a trick for still getting the home-made cookies you like, maybe try making a batch of cookies, and freezing the dough. Then when you want a cookie, only bake one or two. If you still want more later, you'd have to take out the dough again, scrape off enough for the other cookie(s) and then wait for them to bake. The extra work and time is often enough of a deterrent for me.
  • eatcleanNtraindirty
    eatcleanNtraindirty Posts: 444 Member
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    Stop. Have a glass of water and brush your teeth/mouth. I find that the aftertaste of delicious treats makes me want more.

    Yeah brush your teeth! That usually stops me. Or just look yourself in the mirror and slap yourself around a bit! You're perception is your reality... start using positive language when you speak as well as when you THINK! Think to yourself, "No I don't WANT anymore, I don't NEED anymore. This is it. I'm putting it away and going to go do XYZ around the house."
  • cailinlowe
    cailinlowe Posts: 161 Member
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    its like an addiction. you need to have someone, like a "sponsor" that you can call when you start feeling like bingeing so that they can help talk you down.
  • newcs
    newcs Posts: 717 Member
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    Some things that work for me (most of the time):

    Make a cup of tea. It keeps me busy for about 10min which can sometimes be enough to snap me out of it
    Log what I've eaten. Seeing it hit the red is a reality check and sometimes stops me.
    Drink a large glass of water. I'm not a huge fan of water but this usually makes me not really feel like eating after.
    Make sure I'm not going under on calories for multiple days. I've found this works ok for a day or two and anything more than that leads to a binge.
    Eat a really filling food instead. Popcorn is my go to. I put salt and spray a little olive oil on it and usually get sick of chewing before I eat any disastrous amount of calories.
    Go workout instead. Even if I go back to eating after, at least I burned some calories.
  • slim_photographer
    slim_photographer Posts: 310 Member
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    by definition you can't stop a binge. If you would, then it wouldn't be a binge.
    You may have to adjust your expectations here. I don't think you can't have both, the baking and the restrain to not eat them all.
    We all have to give up on something for something greater. e.g. your health, a hard body, etc.

    If I was to tell you that if you gave up baking and cookies then your would have the body and the health you always wanted, what would you do?
    If you hesitate then learn to embrace the binges and the overweight associated with them.
    Once you start you won't be stopped so don't start, so don't make the cookies.
    If baking and eating cookies provide you with comfort, energy, satisfaction, a hobby, then think about this: can you find all of that in other activities, calorie burning activities maybe.
    I've been there many times. We all go through this but sometimes we have to ask the hard questions.
    I hope this tough love helps.
  • squatsandlipgloss
    squatsandlipgloss Posts: 595 Member
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    Prevention is always better of course. I make sure I don't have *kitten* laying around. If I want to binge on apples and oranges, I won't feel so bad :P

    But when it did happen, I would start talking to myself, out loud. Tell myself to just stop, that I am being ridiculous. Helped for me.
  • Akimajuktuq
    Akimajuktuq Posts: 3,037 Member
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    I had binge eating disorder and have discovered that it is a phsiological problem, not psychological. "Moderation" is not something that everyone can practice, but it sure sounds nice in theory. I choose not to moderate foods that make me sick, but eliminate them. It's the only way that works for me.

    You can stop your binge this instant, and from now on, by removing the carb heavy, processed food items. For awhile just eat healthy fat and protein and the need to binge will disappear. You may still "over-eat" for a few days out of habit/malnutrition, but your body will eventually stop pushing you to eat more because it will finally be getting the nutrients that it needs.

    My explanation is way over-simplified but it works.
  • spacechick365
    spacechick365 Posts: 26 Member
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    When you make your cookies and cakes, make them smaller than usual. Like bite size cookies vs full size. That way when you eat 3-5 cookies, it isn't as bad as eating 3-5 full size cookies. Also, When you eat them, put them n a plate and sit down in another room with them. You can then enjoy them and have to make a physcal effort to go and get more.
  • BreeNJesse
    BreeNJesse Posts: 150 Member
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    Just stop~
  • matt2442
    matt2442 Posts: 1,259 Member
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  • Selunca
    Selunca Posts: 208 Member
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    I try and get whatever the taste is out of my mouth by rinsing with water, or eating something small to over power it (Cherry tomatoes work great, and it only takes one to wash the sugary taste of something else from your mouth) or brush my teeth. :)
  • CaptainHNNNGGG
    CaptainHNNNGGG Posts: 205 Member
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    Its not as simple as just stopping or you wouldn't have started in the first place. You need to be monk to shutoff the internal dialog once it gets going and cravings is all you can hear.

    I think the best thing is just not let 1 bad day turn into 2 bad days. Once its over just move on.. if you have a lot of regrets you are just going to get depressed and binge again.
  • Lrdoflamancha
    Lrdoflamancha Posts: 1,280 Member
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    Just stop~

    I can't tell you how much this answer helped me. I have been battling binge eating for decades. Wow "just stop" why didn't I think of that. .... Thank you so much.
  • backpacker44
    backpacker44 Posts: 160 Member
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    Stop. Have a glass of water and brush your teeth/mouth. I find that the aftertaste of delicious treats makes me want more.
    That's exactly what I was going to say. If I've eaten something salty, I want something sweet. If I have had something sweet, I want something salty.. It's a vicious cycle. So I brush my teeth, and I want nothing after something minty.

    I will also force myself to chug a full glass of water which will fill my stomach and make me feel so full that if anything else enters my stomach I will feel sick.
  • backpacker44
    backpacker44 Posts: 160 Member
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    Also, go weigh yourself. Chances are if you've eaten a bunch already, you will be up maybe a few pounds just from the weight of the food/drink and it will freak you out in to stopping.

    I also will add up the calories I know I've eaten in that binge, usually it's a wake up call, and will make me stop. Last night I was eating hummus with chips and figured out that if I had 20 tbsp's (not at all what I had) but it was so good that if I had kept going it would have been 800 calories, PLUS the chips. so I put it down and stopped eating.
  • dymaxxion
    dymaxxion Posts: 9 Member
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    I love baking treats for my friends and they've come to expect them. Some of my friends know that I'm trying to better myself but still want warm cookies. I bake after a meal, so I am less likely to "taste" the batter or want to shove a parade of cookies down my throat. I allow myself one cookie (and log it!) and then deliver the cookies so they're far, far away!

    Binges happen, but when I understand the trigger (being hungry, denying myself, alcohol) they become easier to prevent in the future. I've found that logging everything and making notes in my diary has helped to make my binges further and further apart.
  • squirrelzzrule22
    squirrelzzrule22 Posts: 640 Member
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    Its not as simple as just stopping or you wouldn't have started in the first place. You need to be monk to shutoff the internal dialog once it gets going and cravings is all you can hear.

    I think the best thing is just not let 1 bad day turn into 2 bad days. Once its over just move on.. if you have a lot of regrets you are just going to get depressed and binge again.

    I really agree with this....the people who say you have to STOP baking or apply all these little tricks to stop from munching on cookies....I mean I'm nto saying those things don't work for people btu to me the idea of living the REST OF MY LIFE having to live with all these absolutes- ABSOLUTELY no baking, throw out everything, etc...that just doesn't seem right or happy!

    I see thin, healthy people "binge" on junk too. Every woman knows once in a while you're going to want a billion cookies or to lick a crapload of frosting when you're baking for an event. The point is, if your normal, daily life is at the appropriate calorie level and your other habits are healthy than these binge-y occasions will not make you fat! So let the binge happen, don't beat yourself up, and move on. Log it so that you KNOW they are only happening on occasion and I highly doubt that a single "binge" will effect your weight. And honestly, when you make a food taboo (at least for me) it makes you more likely to binge and have that awful guilty feeling.

    Note- this advice probably would not apply to someone with a bonafied binging disorder who literally consumes thousands upon thousands of calories until they are sick due to their disorder. I'm speaking more to dieters who are craving treats and making themselves feel guilty about an overindulgence.

    Lose weight, be happy, don't beat yourself up and you'll probably feel those emotional prompts to "punish" yourself through binging slowly dissipate.

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