How do you stop yourself going overboard after a 'treat'.

laurenboyer1
laurenboyer1 Posts: 12 Member
in Motivation and Support
Recently I've been having the problem that whenever I go over my calorie allowance by a little bit, I decide to blow it and go on a massive binge.
It's like today I had a brownie that was 200 calories, I could have happily had this, still ate what I had planned to eat for the day and only gone 30 calories over my limit. But instead I went home, ate a Kit Kat, prawn crackers and marshmallows!
So I'm basically just wondering how you manage to allow yourself a treat once in a while without going overboard. :smile:

Replies

  • NaomiJFoster
    NaomiJFoster Posts: 1,450 Member
    I've never had the binge-mindset, so I may not be the right person to answer your question. To me, a treat is just a treat. A treat is not the first pebble of an avalanche, it isn't an open door inviting me to continue going overboard.


    We just started a new food program at work. I teach preschool and part of that is teaching small children about healthy food habits. There is some new terminology with this program, it's cute. There is no bad food, no 'No Food". There is only "Go Food" and "Whoa Food", lol. Same with amounts and portions...Go or Whoa. It's a fun way to look at your food, and a good way to self-talk when making your choices.

    Oh, another thing I do when I have an urge to go overboard. I log it before I eat it. If I can live with the math results, I'll go ahead and enjoy whatever it is. If the math adds up to something I really don't want to see, then I can try to make a different choice, or eat a smaller portion of whatever it is.

    And sometimes that end result number looks huge!! But the Big Picture is your whole week. So if I 'binge' today and go over by 600 calories, I might panic to see that. But if I remind myself that I've really been on track all this week, I can take that 600 and divide it over the last six days, and it's really only 100 calories over each day. That's not so horrible!
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
    Practice and planning. I plan to have small treats often, and log them before I eat them.

    Also, I am a former binge eater, and I will never do that again. It leaves me feeling horrible. I feel good after having a treat that I've planned.
  • runningjen74
    runningjen74 Posts: 312 Member
    I don't know.....but what I've found is if it has added sugar, e.g. a biscuit/cake, not an apple, then I'm going to crave sugar. This can stay with me for another 1-2 days. I can eat nuts, fruit, etc... to try and kill the craving, but it takes time. This week it's taken me till today to get myself back on course. It's frustrating, but hey so are lots of things.

    I'll still eat a slice of birthday cake or have desert the odd time out, but I need to really want it. It needs to be a celebration and needs to taste really nice - otherwise it just isn't worth the slip for me. I.e. A really nice desert in a fancy restaurant - probably worth it. A piece of cake in work when it's someone else's birthday - not worth it for me.

    A piece of 70%+ dark choc is a treat or some nice fruit is a treat that doesn't have the same negative effect on me.

    As an aside - I don't get too worked up about the calories on a given day. Just as long as on average it's a deficit.
  • JuliaLee67
    JuliaLee67 Posts: 149
    Practice and planning. I plan to have small treats often, and log them before I eat them.


    This. I sometimes go overboard, but it's not that big a deal for me. I simply log it and know that I will do better tomorrow. It can be a tough thing to do, it really does take practice. And I know that if I have things in the house I'm likely to go overboard on (cookies, chips, and so on), I just don't buy them on a regular basis. I don't know what your situation is, if you buy the groceries for your household, but not having binge-y stuff in the house at all is very helpful in my case.
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
    I don't understand the thought process of "since I am over, I might as well keep going farther over". The calorie target isn't some magic line. It's a target. Sometimes you might be under, sometimes over. But the farther away you go, the more you're missing it.
  • jamiek917
    jamiek917 Posts: 610 Member
    I don't understand the thought process of "since I am over, I might as well keep going farther over". The calorie target isn't some magic line. It's a target. Sometimes you might be under, sometimes over. But the farther away you go, the more you're missing it.

    this may sound odd, but as someone who has battled this quite a bit (getting better at avoiding it each day now)- binges are almost an out of body experience. i never felt like myself, nor cared how terrible i would feel afterwards. it felt like a compulsion.

    OP- if u truly are a binge eater, do NOT buy binge type foods for your house (for me, it was empty carbs- like pretzels, which are all innocent until u have 7-10 servings at a time, along with some other crap)

    pre plan at a party and learn to walk away from the damn food table (im learning as well). and do your hw when u can (find out what food will be at parties, or look at menus at restaurants)

    make your first stop the filling food item- i.e. protein and some healthy fat. i can eat empty carbs all day and not be full, but i feel differently when the food is heavier and more filling.

    and most importantly, TRACK AS IT GOES IN YOUR MOUTH. this is helping me more than anything. track accurately. seeing 100 cals add up into hundreds more is now enough to make me stop.
  • laurenboyer1
    laurenboyer1 Posts: 12 Member
    My problem is that my house is full of 'binge foods', my family buy it, but every once and a while I cave and eat it all.
    Yeah, tracking it as it goes in your mouth is a good idea. I think as I started to see the numbers add up, It would make me stop and think as I did it and then save feeling guilty afterwards!
  • jamiek917
    jamiek917 Posts: 610 Member
    also- you lost 42 lbs- which is friggen amazing. talk to your family about it, tell them what you struggle with, and maybe they can help by not buying as much of the binge worthy foods.

    point out one (or more) trigger foods, and those are the things to avoid, esp at home. for me, pretzels, cereal, and french fries- 3 things i rarely eat, because 1 serving easily leads to 3+. i know this, and i can live without them. during occasional situations where i can eat them but not be able to binge- i may have some.
  • laurenboyer1
    laurenboyer1 Posts: 12 Member
    Practice and planning. I plan to have small treats often, and log them before I eat them.


    This. I sometimes go overboard, but it's not that big a deal for me. I simply log it and know that I will do better tomorrow. It can be a tough thing to do, it really does take practice. And I know that if I have things in the house I'm likely to go overboard on (cookies, chips, and so on), I just don't buy them on a regular basis. I don't know what your situation is, if you buy the groceries for your household, but not having binge-y stuff in the house at all is very helpful in my case.

    Unfortunately I don't buy the food for my house. I buy my own healthy food, but my family aren't really on board with healthy eating, we have cupboards full of kit-kats, wine gums, sweets, chocolate, marshmallows etc. It never was really a big deal for me in the past, but for the past few weeks it's been happening more and more often. I did it today and on Friday and Monday this week, if I carry on like this, I'll definitely put back on the weight.
  • laurenboyer1
    laurenboyer1 Posts: 12 Member
    also- you lost 42 lbs- which is friggen amazing. talk to your family about it, tell them what you struggle with, and maybe they can help by not buying as much of the binge worthy foods.

    point out one (or more) trigger foods, and those are the things to avoid, esp at home. for me, pretzels, cereal, and french fries- 3 things i rarely eat, because 1 serving easily leads to 3+. i know this, and i can live without them. during occasional situations where i can eat them but not be able to binge- i may have some.

    Thank you :smile:
    That's definitely a good idea. I might just ask my family to hide them if they have to buy them! If i can't see them easily in the cupboards they won't be so tempting!
  • jamiek917
    jamiek917 Posts: 610 Member
    ^^ how bad do you want it? again, something im learning: there will always be an excuse. im a shift worker, and theres bad food brought into the office every single day. i can make excuses and keep eating it, or i can plan around it the best i can because it will make me feel better in the end and get me closer to my goal.

    try talking to them. if they still refuse- well, u will have to learn to live with the temptations. its only food...we can do this :)
  • pittbullgirl
    pittbullgirl Posts: 341 Member
    This is just awesome. :glasses:
    Although, I also have binge problems but keeping a sometihng like this in my mind may help.
    I don't understand the thought process of "since I am over, I might as well keep going farther over". The calorie target isn't some magic line. It's a target. Sometimes you might be under, sometimes over. But the farther away you go, the more you're missing it.
  • ktsmom430
    ktsmom430 Posts: 1,100 Member
    First of all, allow yourself to be human and make mistakes. It happens.
    Move on, and try to do better the next day. Try for more good days, and strive to make the good days your new way of life.
    Ask yourself if the additional treats will make you feel better or worse and then get up and move away from the temptation.
    It is not always easy, but try to teach yourself new habits, because we are all worth the effort that it takes to get to the goals we have set for ourselves!
  • khall86790
    khall86790 Posts: 1,100 Member
    It's just about self control really. I also found switching to dark chocolate helped me with this because you don't crave more sweet things after, it satisfies any cravings you have for chocolate but you don't feel the urge to eat more. Now, I don't go over board even with regular chocolate because I've taught myself some self control. But I haven't always been that way and it is down to making better snack choices, that way something like a brownie is a real treat you'd give yourself once every 2-3 weeks or so, you wont feel inclined to binge so much!
  • laurenboyer1
    laurenboyer1 Posts: 12 Member
    Thanks so much for the replies :smile:
    I think for me It might just be a case of learning to forgive myself after a treat. I tend to convince myself that every little 'slip' is the end of the world and is going to ruin all my progress.
    I'm going to follow advice and track everything as I eat it and buy some dark chocolate for an occasional treat.
    Also my exams finish in 19 days, so hopefully that will curb some of the stress eating and allow me more gym time!! This is a long process so occasionally I am bound to slip up but I've just got to keep going!
  • gettingfit65
    gettingfit65 Posts: 349 Member
    this may sound odd, but as someone who has battled this quite a bit (getting better at avoiding it each day now)- binges are almost an out of body experience. i never felt like myself, nor cared how terrible i would feel afterwards. it felt like a compulsion.

    ---the above---

    As a binger, it is easier said than done. When I binge there is no thought process. If I had control I would sit down and log it, but that is the problem. There is no planning, logging, forethought, for me anyway. A binge is almost like a reaction. It is over and done with before I know what happened and at the time it is definitely a feeling of not caring. It is afterwards that the feelings of guilt, etc. follow. It's like "what just happened". Just spilling my thoughts....
  • laurenboyer1
    laurenboyer1 Posts: 12 Member
    this may sound odd, but as someone who has battled this quite a bit (getting better at avoiding it each day now)- binges are almost an out of body experience. i never felt like myself, nor cared how terrible i would feel afterwards. it felt like a compulsion.

    ---the above---

    As a binger, it is easier said than done. When I binge there is no thought process. If I had control I would sit down and log it, but that is the problem. There is no planning, logging, forethought, for me anyway. A binge is almost like a reaction. It is over and done with before I know what happened and at the time it is definitely a feeling of not caring. It is afterwards that the feelings of guilt, etc. follow. It's like "what just happened". Just spilling my thoughts....

    Yes! This is exactly what happens to me. Planning before hand is no help, the whole point is that it's an planned completely irrational half hour or so. Its a completely mental thing, so maybe I need to find a way to remind myself that I will care latter when I do it....
  • MrMaxOut
    MrMaxOut Posts: 18 Member
    Log as you go my friend. that works for me. I look at it like this how can you prevent costly choices unless you see the data in real time. I have a weakness it's chocolate and it's easy for me to eat the suggested serving amount then just go over board but by logging as I go this has stopped me several times from going over.
  • alisonlynn1976
    alisonlynn1976 Posts: 929 Member
    I only buy as much as I intend to eat. If you can't control yourself around junk food, why have it in the house at all?
  • khall86790
    khall86790 Posts: 1,100 Member
    Thanks so much for the replies :smile:
    I think for me It might just be a case of learning to forgive myself after a treat. I tend to convince myself that every little 'slip' is the end of the world and is going to ruin all my progress.
    I'm going to follow advice and track everything as I eat it and buy some dark chocolate for an occasional treat.

    I used to feel the same after treats! Don't worry, the more you practice self control and make better snack choices, the guilt will go away in time.
    Treating yourself is fine! It may do you good to totally hold off from treats for 1 week or 2 weeks (aside from dark chocolate, like I said it's hard to over do it!) and then treat yourself one day with a brownie/small chocolate bar/whatever it is you want. Just one. And then go back to practicing better eating again and see how you feel about it knowing it was a treat for doing well the last couple of weeks?

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