What do you consider a "binge"?

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Calliope610
Calliope610 Posts: 3,775 Member
in Motivation and Support
The topic of binges appears quite frequently in the forums, and in reading the posts, it seems to me that there are as many definitions or classifications of binges as there are people who post about them.

So, what is your definition of a binge? And do you binge?

Back in the day when I was blissfully in denial of my unhealthy eating habits, I would eat to the point of unpleasantness, not really enjoying what I was eating, but feeling compelled to finish it all (God forbid I would throw some food in the garbage). My habitual binge foods where cheese (by the 10oz block), sweets (4 chocolate eclairs eaten on the way home from the grocery store), chips, potatoes, pasta and rice.

Since I joined MFP, I haven't experience that "classification" of binge. The type of binge (if you even want to call it that) I experience now are really just unhealthful eating, or "unstructured" eating.

For example, this weekend, my old computer was on the verge of crashing. Saturday morning, I bought a new computer and spent the remainder of the weekend transferring files, music, programs, etc from one computer to the other. I was too pre-occupied and busy to eat regular meals and kinda just grazed all weekend. Even though I was 300 and 600 calories under my daily requirements (2000cals) for Saturday and Sunday respectively, I felt frustrated with my eating, as if I had over eaten by several hundred calories.

I hope this doesn't mean I'm developing a ED lol. I think this is more akin the feeling kinda guilty when I miss a rare workout.

What are our thoughts?
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Replies

  • _FATNSASSY
    _FATNSASSY Posts: 107 Member
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    Binge would be the Chocolate extreme blizzard I had from DQ yesterday... and then b/c I know I'm going back on the diet today, eating more hersheys chocolates at the end of the night... that was my yesterday binge!
  • mommabenefield
    mommabenefield Posts: 1,329 Member
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    For me... its anything that i am ashamed to log in my food diary or admit that i ate...That may be an over generalization but that's what i think...

    The weekends are the worst for me because i am one of typically two extremes... i will either hardly eat anything and drink all my calories or hardly drink anything and eat all my calories.
    this weekend was the second scenario... Saturday i got so busy i hadn't eaten all day and had 5 slices of pizza and some dirty rice later and some vodka cranberry splash of sprite(not a lot just 3 glasses) and then Sunday i was starving so i ate a whole plate of loaded hash browns from Waffles house Chilli potato cheese jalapenos everything... then i had popcorn shrimp... a ton of juice... and i grilled some thick beef bacon jalapeno stuffed cheese burgers .... no exercise... to me that's a binge compared to what i have during the week.....
  • elainecroft
    elainecroft Posts: 595 Member
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    I ate cookies over the weekend, realized I was eating more than was healthy for me, but decided to keep going and probably ate about 1500 calories total in cookies, plus whatever else I ate that day (which wasn't super healthy). That's what I think of in terms of a binge - I didn't plan to eat the cookies, but I did anyway.
  • Jodycnd
    Jodycnd Posts: 56 Member
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    To me a binge is when I don't try to stop and ask myself if I'm really hungry, I just go for whatever junk craving I am having. And I am too ashamed to log any of it.
  • mrswolfman
    mrswolfman Posts: 4 Member
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    A grilled cheese sandwich at 10:00 at night just cause I'm craving it. :o)
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Unplanned and uncontrolled consumption of a large amount of food, with the result of blowing your daily goal.
  • Emtabo01
    Emtabo01 Posts: 672
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    For me there's a switch that goes off mentally in my brain and I can't think or do anything else until I start eating, and continue and continue eating. Thousands of calories in 30 minutes. So much eating my jaw hurts from chewing so much in a short period. It is the exact same mental process I had going on when I tried to quit smoking five million times. Some switch just gets flipped in my brain and there is no turning it off.
  • aigoooooo
    aigoooooo Posts: 31
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    For me, a binge is going way passed what I should eat caloricly, especially foods high in carbs, fat, sugar, etc, and if I feel guilty looking at it on my food diary. Indulging and bingeing are different to me. I'll indulge in Thai food or a cupcake, but if I binge on them it would be like 2 orders of different things from a restaurant and like 3 or 4 cupcakes. I indulge a lot but keep it within my limits, but try not to binge.
  • mrg68
    mrg68 Posts: 48 Member
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    Oh, I'm so glad I saw this post!!! I had a binge this weekend, too!! I really thought I was being completely out of control and just plain STUPID for sabotaging myself. I feel better knowing that everyone has them once in a while.

    I feel that a binge for me is eating too much of something I really only should be eating sparingly and knowing good and well that I should stop but I just keep on going. Something inside me says I don't care, but I really do!! I had a piece of my son's birthday cake, them an entire sleeve of oreos with milk!! So sad!!!! And I've been doing so good!!! I just canNOT allow this stuff to be in my house!!
  • Blueyedtine
    Blueyedtine Posts: 52 Member
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    For me... its anything that i am ashamed to log in my food diary or admit that i ate...That may be an over generalization but that's what i think...

    This is totally me! If I'm shaking my head as I log it, it was proabably a binge. Last night, I let myself get too hungry and ate Taco Bell and chocolate bananas! Granted I only had 2 items at Taco Bell and the old me would have had 3 or 4. I consider it progress!
  • vstraughan
    vstraughan Posts: 163 Member
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    I'd consider a binge a combination of premeditated over-eatingalongside starting to eat when you're not hungry and continuing to eat way past being full
  • kellijauch
    kellijauch Posts: 379 Member
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    Consider binge eating like binge drinking - going way overboard in a small amount of time (being a day or a weekend or what not) in an unhealthy way.
  • chubby_checkers
    chubby_checkers Posts: 2,354 Member
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    When my brain "disconnects" from what I'm doing. I'm vaguely aware that I'm eating, but usually am not aware of what or how much. I liken it to driving on auto-pilot: you make it home, but have no recollection of doing it until you get there.
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
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    I had 7 pieces of pizza for nothing more than the enjoyment of eating. That is a binge.

    I don't consider have a chocolate shake on a normal day a binge.
  • SarahDavs
    SarahDavs Posts: 161 Member
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    For me a binge is anything I know I shouldn't be eating, or have told myself not to eat, but eat anyway. Whether it's one snickers mini bite or a cheeseburger and french fries. I have a set diet and anytime I go outside of that I feel like it's a binge, even if it's only a few bites.
  • carchie94
    carchie94 Posts: 45
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    A binge?

    An entire pizza in one sitting... though I can't do that anymore.

    Last year? Omg. A bag of doritos, a lunchable, two ramen cups, a bag of popcorn, four reeses cups. Thank god I don't do that anymore.
  • RllyGudTweetr
    RllyGudTweetr Posts: 2,019 Member
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    Deliberate choice to go over daily calories by a margin greater than would fit on the back of a professional sports uniform.
  • salladeve
    salladeve Posts: 1,053 Member
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    Unplanned and uncontrolled consumption of a large amount of food, with the result of blowing your daily goal.


    Yup, that is a binge to me. What you did was just not eating healthy, but if you stayed under your daily goal then no harm done.
  • bryn10
    bryn10 Posts: 44
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    If I have a craving and have actively TRIED to forget it, but still crave it hours later, I will have a small portion and feel better. For me a binge is when I'm not thinking, I'm just going through the motions...stuffing my face as quickly as possible when I'm not even hungry. The WORST is when I go reeeeally out of the way to get it. I've actually gotten in the car late at night--that's when I'm really ashamed :/ luckily not a big problem anymore yay! small steps :)
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    I don't consider it a binge until you have had more than your maintenance calories for the day, because until that point, it may slow you down a little (tiny tiny fraction), you're not really consuming more calories than you need to. Eating up to maintenance calories once or twice a week won't keep you from losing weight, but when you go past that point you could have problems.

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