What do you consider a "binge"?

2

Replies

  • thelordismysheperd1
    thelordismysheperd1 Posts: 3 Member
    For me, there's 2 kinds of binges:

    #1 - The Accidental Binge - Lol we don't plan it, it kinda just happens. Maybe something bad happened or maybe it's almost bedtime and we think something silly like, "Well, it's after 10pm, so technically, these calories don't 'count' anymore!" So, yeah we binge on maybe eating the rest of the awesome salty dinner we made for our family while we had some steamed, unflavored chicken...again.

    or

    #2 - The Scheduled Binge - This is my FAVORITE. This one, I don't feel guilty for! I actually schedule myself a cheat 'day'. On that day, I give myself full access to whatever comes across my path. I look forward to it all week and guess what? I actually don't eat that much junk! Lol! Yeah! I don't know if it's out of guilt or maybe my stomach has shrunk a bit, but when I pig out, it's not too bad. I stop before dinner time and begin drinking lots and LOTS of water! Trying to flush out all that wonderful salt I just inhaled. lol. Then the next day, I go for a longgg run. And it's funny but my body does VERY well when I allow myself this "off" day.

    :)
  • belle_of_the_bar
    belle_of_the_bar Posts: 474 Member
    For me, it's eating a pint of ice cream and/or a bag of chips in place of or in addition to my regularly scheduled meals. And I'm not talking single serving bag of chips. The big whomping family size. Ugh. Fortunately haven't done that recently, as I'm no longer allowed on those aisles in the grocery store.
  • Missjulesdid
    Missjulesdid Posts: 1,444 Member
    For me a "binge" is uncontrolled consumption of food without thought about it's nutritive value or often even its TASTE! Deciding to go out to eat and determining that I would like to indulge in dessert is not a "binge" even though it might have a TON of calories.

    For me when I used to binge, it would be out of anxiousness.. I'd often pace around and go to the food 20 or 30 times before giving in... and it wasn't about enjoying delicious food.. it was about getting large amounts of high sugar/high fat/high calorie foods in my stomach. It was a feeling of being completely out of control trying to get the food into my stomach as quickly as possible. It was like I could see myself and I was disgusted with what I was doing, but I honestly felt like I could not stop it until I was literally sick. Fortunately I wasn't a frequent binger.. maybe four or five times in a year.. but when they happened it was disgusting. This is TOTALLY different than if I was at a party and overindulged in lots and lots of foods that I was thoroughly enjoying... even though the calories consumed might be the same... a binge is driven by a wacko mental state of anxiousness and somehow I felt like the food would alleviate it (and it did, hence why it happened more than once) but an overindulgence is just driven by the fact that the food looks tasty and I caved into delicious temptation.
  • Ashwee87
    Ashwee87 Posts: 695 Member
    For me, it would be exceeding my daily net goal where it is more than 500+ calories over. But thankfully in almost 90 days, I've only had maybe 2-3 days like that.
  • jgcurry3
    jgcurry3 Posts: 172 Member
    Anytime im stuck in the field and have MREs, and junk food just to stay awake.
  • JDBLY11
    JDBLY11 Posts: 577 Member
    My definition of a binge is eating out of control and just shoving food in my mouth not because I am hungry but for other reasons. It is when I eat in excess, do not stick to program, and do not track.
  • Heyyleigh
    Heyyleigh Posts: 268 Member
    For me its all the things you all say- oh one cookie turns into 6, I start dipping into everything. I am not losing anymore, just maintaining. ( poor me right, but its been One Year ) I have a fitbit an work out hard everyday so yes I am at a point I can eat what the hell ever, but I dont. A good day for me is IF I CAN LOG EVERYTHING! I too give up logging all the crap sometimes...

    But all of you remember- there are 21 meals in week ( yes I break mine into 5-6 meals too but for this -lets just go with 21 ) Even if you completely blow 2 of these meals and they are a disaster, it wont effect you because you basically have learned to eat well the rest of the time. We are all human and there is so much delicious food around us all the time! Its just hard..........but we keep at it everyday and we win in the end! A real turning point is you learn not to throw in the towel and eat everything in site just b/c you had a bag of cookies and milk! and you contimue to exercise each day no matter what you ate, it works! Everyday is new and a new chance to suceed!
  • JDBLY11
    JDBLY11 Posts: 577 Member
    For me a "binge" is uncontrolled consumption of food without thought about it's nutritive value or often even its TASTE! Deciding to go out to eat and determining that I would like to indulge in dessert is not a "binge" even though it might have a TON of calories.

    For me when I used to binge, it would be out of anxiousness.. I'd often pace around and go to the food 20 or 30 times before giving in... and it wasn't about enjoying delicious food.. it was about getting large amounts of high sugar/high fat/high calorie foods in my stomach. It was a feeling of being completely out of control trying to get the food into my stomach as quickly as possible. It was like I could see myself and I was disgusted with what I was doing, but I honestly felt like I could not stop it until I was literally sick. Fortunately I wasn't a frequent binger.. maybe four or five times in a year.. but when they happened it was disgusting. This is TOTALLY different than if I was at a party and overindulged in lots and lots of foods that I was thoroughly enjoying... even though the calories consumed might be the same... a binge is driven by a wacko mental state of anxiousness and somehow I felt like the food would alleviate it (and it did, hence why it happened more than once) but an overindulgence is just driven by the fact that the food looks tasty and I caved into delicious temptation.

    I have experienced this exact thing. That is what I consider a binge. Amazingly I have not even been tempted in this area in months. I have no desire to do this. I am not sure what changed but I am glad it did.
  • hauntao
    hauntao Posts: 130 Member
    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.

    Same here.
  • quirkytizzy
    quirkytizzy Posts: 4,052 Member
    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.

    This is what I consider binge eating.

    I think the term "binge" gets used too lightly here. A binge is a sincere mental health concern, the overwhelming urge to eat and eat until you are passed the point of being sick. An emotional outburst that leaves you feeling drained, confused, and filled with self-loathing. It is just as much a psychological problem as it is physical.

    Medically, going over your goal by 100 or 300 or 500 or even 1,000 isn't a binge. That's just overeating.

    A binge constitutes large amounts of food, eaten in a near panic, that equals thousands of calories over.
  • theCarlton
    theCarlton Posts: 1,344 Member
    When I have to lie in the fetal position afterward.
  • Vinyarddog
    Vinyarddog Posts: 67
    I have been staying away from carbs - the other day was my birthday and I binged. I had French fries, 2 big pieces of chocolate cake and beer for 2 days. Now I am having a willpower issue with eliminating carbs again. Luckily, I found low carb beer (beer is my weakness) Michelob Ultra - less than 3 grams of carbs per bottle.

    I have great external factors motivating me or I would have given in to the carbs today too.
  • christina0089
    christina0089 Posts: 709 Member
    A binge is for me is to eat unhealthy foods with out a thought to the calories I am consuming or the results said food would have on my body!
  • cmeiron
    cmeiron Posts: 1,599 Member
    Unplanned and uncontrolled consumption of a large amount of food

    ^ This.

    These days, I occasionally have very high-calorie days (like, in the 3000-4000 range) that were totally planned (e.g., a potluck, a celebratory special dinner out). I enjoy them completely guilt-free, log them as best I can, and carry on the next day with my normal eating and exercise habits. This is not a binge.

    In the past, usually in the evenings after my partner was asleep (therefore in secret), I used to quietly and rapidly stuff my face with whatever I could raid out of the fridge and pantry - hunks of cheese, handfuls of chocolate chips, a half dozen tortillas smeared with gobs of peanut butter and honey, or stuffed with more cheese, spoonfuls of maple syrup, etc. Probably 1000-2000 calories in a span of 10-30 minutes or so. I did not talk about it, I felt guilty and out of control while doing it and even worse afterwards. These were binges.

    Although the caloric overage is probably about the same in both cases, the reasons behind them and the accompanying feelings are vastly different.
  • robdel302
    robdel302 Posts: 292 Member
    Two waffles topped with two caramel stuffed krispy kreme donuts then topped with apple pie filling and caramel sauce. Had a hell of a workout after that meal.
  • st1llx
    st1llx Posts: 17
    When the angus isn't peppered
  • jus_in_bello
    jus_in_bello Posts: 326 Member
    I had a binge/purge eating disorder. In my mind a binge is thousands of calories in one go. An entire pizza, chips (half+ bag), a dessert (an entire pint, or dessert pizza), soda, and whatever else I can get my hands on, in a single sitting, maybe over the course of a movie, maybe not. So when someone says that had a Chocolate Extreme Blizzard (some one mentioned it so I'm using that as an example) is at most 1,380 calories for the large, that's not a binge. Now, if it was a large Choc Extreme, a burger meal, a Large Julius and then she stopped at Chic-fil-A and got another meal, and at giant to pick up a bag of chips it would, in my mind, be a binge. Again, I had a binge/purge ED, my concept of a binge is pretty specific to that.

    ETA: I have friends who can managed a massive meal from a favourite place that is thousands of calories, that's not a "binge" it's a decision and a single (massive) meal. A binge is uncontrollable eating, for thousands of calories, being unable to stop, even past the point of sickness and pain.
  • FindingMyself24
    FindingMyself24 Posts: 613 Member
    My idea of a binge would be eating a TON of unhealthy foods in one setting...I'm horrible when it comes to sweets,wings, chips,and pizza!!
  • JacksMom12
    JacksMom12 Posts: 1,044 Member
    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.

    Yep. Me too. Eating in a trance and shoveling thousands of calories in a short period of time. It is a frantic state for me and something in my brain just goes heywire. Eating a few extra cookies or a grilled cheese isn't a binge to me. During a binge episode I have eaten a whole box of cookies used as a shovel for peanut butter, while cooking ramen on the stove and eating a whole block of cheese in between. I've eaten 6000 calories in a binge, easily.
  • movu101779
    movu101779 Posts: 27
    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

    I have to agree on this for me. Been there, done that, trying not to look back..
  • chelseascounter
    chelseascounter Posts: 1,283 Member
    If I consume 1,200+ calories under 1 hour.
  • Unplanned and uncontrolled consumption of a large amount of food, with the result of blowing your daily goal.


    ^^^ this
  • TXBelle1174
    TXBelle1174 Posts: 615 Member
    Sweets in outrageous portions. I don't mean 3 chocolate chip cookies, I mean a dozen, topped off with chocolates or ice cream or even better... cookies crumbled on top of ice cream and covered in whip cream. My binges usually last a couple days and then I feel sick and kick myself in the *kitten* and snap out of it. I am a very emotional eater so usually if times are hard I am stuffing my face. I have not learned how to stop myself yet.

    As others have said - any time I have eaten so much that I am embarrassed to log it in my journal usually means I have been on a bender. For me it always involves sweets.
  • nvpixie
    nvpixie Posts: 483 Member
    For me, a binge is "all-you-can-eat-sushi", which usually translates for me to "eat-until-you're-on-the-verge-of-puking-sushi."

    I don't really regret these "binges" as I plan on them a week ahead and try to behave myself the rest of the week before and after.
  • TXBelle1174
    TXBelle1174 Posts: 615 Member
    Unplanned and uncontrolled consumption of a large amount of food, with the result of blowing your daily goal.


    ^^^ this

    I agree ^^^ This!
  • I don't think anyone could love chocolate more than I do. (Ok, I'm sure people do, but I'm just telling you how I feel here).

    Actually, I think I love chocolate more than you do. :laugh: :flowerforyou:
  • Sweets in outrageous portions. I don't mean 3 chocolate chip cookies, I mean a dozen, topped off with chocolates or ice cream or even better... cookies crumbled on top of ice cream and covered in whip cream. My binges usually last a couple days and then I feel sick and kick myself in the *kitten* and snap out of it. I am a very emotional eater so usually if times are hard I am stuffing my face. I have not learned how to stop myself yet.

    As others have said - any time I have eaten so much that I am embarrassed to log it in my journal usually means I have been on a bender. For me it always involves sweets.



    Wow! Are you in my head? :noway: :flowerforyou:
  • endoftheside
    endoftheside Posts: 568 Member
    I think of a binge as eating well past the point of satiation, without regard to the physical and mental consequences of such an act. Trying to fill an empty space (recognized or not) with food, and even though it cannot be filled with food, continuing to eat anyway.
  • fitwithwhit88
    fitwithwhit88 Posts: 59 Member
    My binges are really brought on by the temptation of having my trigger foods in my apartment. I find that even if I have just a little bit to try and stave it off, it's still calling my name like 30 minutes later and I go back for a little bit more...and maybe a liiiittle bit more even later. If cereal or peanut butter is in the house, I will devour the whole box or the whole container easily within a week. Which is terrible. So to solve that, I've quit buying my "trigger" foods....sure, it's hard to pass up that peanut butter and Honey Bunches of Oats every time I go to the store, but the alternative (gaining tons of weight from binge eating until that PB or cereal is gone) is so much worse.
  • affacat
    affacat Posts: 216 Member
    if you're sneaking food, you're probably binging.

    For example, let's say you're getting out dessert for everyone. 2 cookies each. And you eat 2 while you're getting them. That's a binge.

    So is eating an entire bag of anything that has over 2 servings, I think.