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What to do after a big binge?

fit_crow
fit_crow Posts: 17 Member
in Social Groups
So, today was going really well, despite spending the whole day at an amusement park. I thought I was going to be able to handle the less than ideal food situation with ease. Then somehow everything fell apart.

I can say, that for the first time ever, I tracked my food intake after a day of binging. It was scary, but I did it. I ate almost 3000 calories, and I have a way too full stomach. It all becomes so compulsive... I don't enjoy it. I'm not eating for emotional reasons either, I don't know why this happens.

But I digress. Tomorrow is not going to be any better food options wise, since I am going to a Renaissance Festival. I'll try of course. I'm just really stressed about all of it, and I had been doing so so well for a week. This is why I've gained 20 pounds in less than a year.

If anyone has advice on where to go from here, I would really appreciate it.

Replies

  • danni_elizabeth
    danni_elizabeth Posts: 16
    I hear ya! I'll go an entire day eating really well. I'll feel so proud of myself. But then, all of a sudden at night, I just have to eat. It seems that I cannot stop myself. I won't even be hungry, but I just start stuffing the food in! I am sabotoging myself and I don't know how to stop!
    I wish I had some advice or a success story to give you. But I'm hoping there is someone with something to say that might help us both!
  • anna_louise90
    anna_louise90 Posts: 86 Member
    I had a binge the other day, ate everything in the house before 9am! I learnt from some very helpful members of this group to try to forgive yourself and eat normally after, maybe even tell yourself you needed those extra calories! Its slow progress, but you will change habits eventually. If you can also figure out why you eat, that will help - I realised I'm a stress eater, so I have gone through a pack of gum every day and will prob do so until after my exams to avoid more binges!
  • nikky731
    nikky731 Posts: 65 Member
    I was also wondering what to do the next day....I binged last night and when I got on the scale this morning I was up by 2 pounds-and that's all I've lost so far in the past 3 weeks!! The binging sucks because it ruins my whole week of good eating. I guess the best thing to do is just get back to clean good eating, and work extra hard while working out.... ugh. :o(
  • 98777
    98777 Posts: 108 Member
    I don't know if this will help you, but why not tell yourself you will only eat when you are hungry?

    For example, allow yourself to eat whatever it is that you want, then give it a while to settle so that you are not hungry anymore. Then, in deciding whether or not to get more, ask yourself, 'Am I hungry right now?' If the answer is no, don't get anything else. You don't need it. There will always be tomorrow to get that food that you wanted now. Save it for tomorrow, or the next day, or the rest of your life, so that you won't overeat and you will lose weight. If you need to, tell someone else who is supportive of your problem, "I am not hungry anymore but I am getting the urge to overeat. Don't let me get anything else." You can do this until you have more personal control.

    Or, if the answer to the hunger question is 'no' but you can't stop yourself from binging, say out loud to yourself, "I am no longer hungry, but I am going to get this anyway." This might help you to be able to rationally intervene and say, "Wait a minute-What! I can't get this! This makes no sense!"

    You said your problem was not due to emotional eating, so I don't know if this will help you, but I posted something I do that might help you somewhere else. Here are the links:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/954982-avoidance-or-moderation

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/972120-can-i-ramble-at-you-for-a-minute-i-am-weird

    Good luck! You can do it!
  • anna_louise90
    anna_louise90 Posts: 86 Member
    You will probably only have gained water weight, it takes an extra 3500 calories to gain! Weigh yourself again in 3-4 days.
  • autumnrunning
    autumnrunning Posts: 103
    First of all, try to avoid a binge. Sit down, make some tea, just WAIT for it to pass. Get some company because you probably won't binge in front of someone. Write down what you are feeling. Don't keep unhealthy foods in your house, this way when you have the cravings you'll have to go through the trouble of going and buying everything. Also if you walk to the store it burns some calories.

    If it still happens try eating more veggies or fruits, haven't actually binged on healthy stuff but it should be better to your system.

    Oh, also the key is moderation. Do not let yourself get too hungry. Drink water. Always.

    Then i read you should not skip meals afterwards. Eat small portions to keep the metabolism going.

    Another thing i used to do was excercise exessively after a relapse and fast for a day but it is not that... okay.
  • Graelwyn75
    Graelwyn75 Posts: 4,404 Member
    I had one last night. Totalled about 5800 calories. In a matter of about an hour.
    I purged too, which I hate doing, but I felt so awfully uncomfortably, both physically and emotionally, and would not have been able to sleep, and I needed sleep badly. My big binges and purges have dramatically lessened though of late. I no longer go and buy carrier bags full of sweet, carby foods specifically to binge on.

    I am no good at starving myself after a binge. I cannot and do not do it. I get back on track the next day, usually, by hitting the gym, even if I feel terrible and just want to binge more or go to sleep. Doing some intense exercise, even just 30 minutes, presumably eliminates some of the sugar, wakes up my sugar crashed brain and helps me focus on healthy food again. It removes the sugar cravings that often continue badly the day after a binge.

    I do sometimes exercise a bit more for a few days, as I am often able to do more when loaded up with all those carbs anyway.
    I intermittent fast anyway, which probably helps in the smaller binges. It gives the body a rest after a binge.

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