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

Just stop~

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.

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.

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.

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.

i think bingeing is a bad idea, i'm all for having one cookie or chocolate here or there but you will never lose any weight if you binge. i agree with people that say only make a few cookies at a time, if you think you really need to bake, or freezing the cookies. the thing about weightloss is that you have to change your lifestyle which means giving up certain foods, do you have any recipes for healthy cookies?? i make breakfast muffins they are healthy and it means i still get to bake, i freeze half and i have one a day.
try not to cut out foods that you enjoy completely otherwise you will get the urge to binge, but always include all your foods in your diary because if you do binge it will open up your eyes and you will see what you are doing to yourself. good luck with your weight loss journey, sorry bout the essay :happy:

This is more generic advice on avoiding snacking in the first place (based on my own experience), but much can be adapted to curtailing in-progress binges.

1. Watch less TV. Do activities that involve your hands. It's hard to shoot hoops and eat at the same time. If the binge has started, remove yourself from the kitchen and go do something active.

2. Limit the amount of snack food in the house at any given moment, have your spouse hide your car keys in the evening (prime binge time) so you can't get more unless you walk to the store.

3. Make the treats you have on hand less accessible. By this I don't mean put them on a high shelf, but rather make them something that has to be made, not just grabbed. I snack on PB2 and crackers. The act of mixing up the PB2 slows me down, makes me think about what I'm doing, and makes me less likely to reach for more.

4. Make the treats something that take a little longer to eat. Maximum time and enjoyment per calorie can make 200 calories feel like a binge, and satisfy cravings more.

So far, I've given up alcohol because I had far too many hungover epiphanies leading me to conclude it was just hindering my weight loss and causing me to binge. I was never a heavy drinker, but when I did drink, I always always snacked and ate things that were not planned. It's been close to a month for me that I haven't drank and my binges have gone down exponentially.

Also, had to give up my favorite treat, cookies. Oh an chips, ice cream, and granola. All some of the most amazing things I've tasted but they trigger a part of me that is destructive to the rest of me.

So anyways, many many learning experiences aka binges needed to happen for me to realize I just have to do my best to prevent them from happening rather than try to control them when I'm on edge.

If baking is one of your triggers, find a way to eliminate it or do it purely for the craft and not the food. Good luck!

Put the fork down...think about what you're doing. LEARN from it and don't make the same mistake again.

Stop. Have a glass of water and brush your teeth/mouth. I find that the aftertaste of delicious treats makes me want more.

^^ THIS!! Brush your teeth or chew some strong mint gum to get the sweet taste out of your mouth. Or, like someone else posted, throw it in the trash. My daughter made mini cupcakes and I was allowing myself one a day (~50 calories). But then she left for the weekend. I know my propensity to binge, so I threw them in the trash and immediately took the trash out!

I WILL not bake without someone else in the house... it keeps me from eating it all and licking the bowl.... I also tell myself "I don't eat this crap, it makes me feel like ish." I also verbally say "I don't metabolize sugar well" ALL THE TIME... it might be a load of crap... But its starting to turn into reality, I rarely binge now, it WILL happen every once in a while. Forgive and move on.... Good Luck! You got this!! You don't even like that crap! :happy:

I love baking too! I'm trying not to do it at all, unless it's for somebody else and I can take it to their house, eat just one and leave it there. But that's not easy! And if you can't have just one then don't go there. I'm trying to put that creative cooking energy into other stuff, like finding and cooking healthy food that I love and feels like a treat. This won't work if you feel deprived!

It sounds silly, but the other night when I was binging on dinosours I gave the bag to my boyfriend and got him to hide it from me. When I wanted one after dinner, he would only let me have just one. Sometimes it's extremely hard to make the conscious choice to put down the snacks and walk away. I'm not afraid to admit that my willpower isn't always as strong as it should be, so sometimes a little help from an outside source is necessary!

I agree with what's been said. I mean, you still want to enjoy yummy food, so take 3 bites and ONLY 3 bites, then walk away. Brush your teeth, destroy the food with like Windex or something before you throw it in the trash OR box it up and put it out of sight and get busy doing something. Go outside for a walk, go check the mail, just keep your mind busy on something other than the food.

Figure out what "triggers" your binge and try to remove that from your life for a period of time that is longer than 2 weeks but shorter than "forever", because swearing off something "forever" never works.

For me, I was slipping hard the past few weeks on bingeing-- mostly just me, but it was also aggravated by smoking weed-- and though I didn't gain much weight back I knew I would if I didn't change FAST. So I'm making a pact with myself (and have posted about it quite vocally so that all my MFPals know that I'm doing this and can hold me accountable) to give up fast food and smoking pot for a month.

I also agree with those who say simply do not buy the foods you're likely to binge on. If I decide I REALLY want ice cream, I go get a single scoop cone from Baskin-Robbins. It's far less cost-efficient than buying a whole gallon, but it stops me from creeping back to the freezer and pigging out. Buying in bulk is a recipe for disaster when it comes to binge-eaters, so just don't do it!!