What the f is wrong with me? I keep relapsing.

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perfectlyimperfectturk
perfectlyimperfectturk Posts: 72
in Health and Weight Loss
Sundays are my binge days. The day where I promise myself starting Monday I'll begin my 'healthy eating regime' or more so 'portion controlled/calorie counting regime'. It lasts for about three days, and then I stress out over some random crap and end up binging again ....not necessarily on junk food, but excess of anything could be considered junk too. Primarily on white grains, sweets and what have you.

How do I control my will power or lack of in my case...This binging, healthy eating regime, back to binging sabotages my goal! I've been stuck at my weight for almost a whole year now with the exception that it rises and falls....

I NEED HELP! :noway: :sad: And let me make this clear; I don't starve myself at all. I make sure to eat 1400-1600 calories when I'm following my healthy eating thing, but when I binge it can go up to even 3000 calories!

Replies

  • chandanista
    chandanista Posts: 986 Member
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    A lot of people are going to say quit having binge days, period, until you gain control.


    I used binge days to help myself get on track, planning to have X on Saturday would get me through the week. Now, if I have a binge, no biggie I'm back on it tomorrow, or it's a planned binge and I do extra "banking" beforehand to be able to "afford" it.

    For the overall goal, though, I want a lifestyle I can maintain long-term and occasional treats are part of that lifestyle.
  • sterphy
    sterphy Posts: 68 Member
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    I struggle with this as well, the only solution I've found is not allowing myself near junk foods. No room for a relapse if it's not around. Throw out everything that is a trigger for your binge. Cut up snacks that are healthy (veggies) that DO NOT make you want to overeat. I find that the longer I go without binging, the easier it becomes to stay on track. There is a great binge support group on MFP as well. Good luck!
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
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    Maybe stop making it into a regime?

    Also, are you sure you're making sure to eat 1400-1600 calories a day? How do you know? Your goal is set to 1260, and it looks like you've only logged on two days in the last two weeks, and both of those were under goal. If you're not logging consistently, how do you know how much you're eating?

    Also, binge eating is a normal psychological and physiological response to restriction. Some people are more prone to others. Going on "regimes" probably doesn't help.
  • lallaloolly
    lallaloolly Posts: 228 Member
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    1. find a replacement activity for when you stress. exercise is one of the very best ways to alleviate stress, so step out of your front door and walk around the block or something. do jumping jacks or crunches, but find something you can do to get your heart rate up when something stresses you out.
    2. a binge day can easily undo 5-6 days of hard work, so i say stop having binge days. make it a reward day instead where you allow yourself an extra 200-300 calories of something you love, but take the binge out of it.
  • SkippyHungwell
    SkippyHungwell Posts: 4
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    Hi journey.... My name is Skippy and I, like you, are a food addict. I used to binge and the only thing that helps me not to binge is to just not to have it in the house. I understand it may be difficult if you have kids or others in the house with you. If that isnt a possibility than the other option is to have healthy snacks in the house. Fruits, nuts, veggies, that sort of thing. You can also try and reduce your stress level. The psychology of being a food addict is when you get stressed and binge, your binging on sweets and whatnot releases dopamine's in your brain giving you, "feel better feelings", relieving your stress. Try to fond ways to calm yourself and keep your hands busy. I know it sounds crazy but I've found that breaking my binge habits are a lot like trying to quite smoking. Keep my hands busy and my mind off the cravings. Unfortunately for me, while I was quitting smoking, I also gained nearly 40 pounds. (I've been quit smoking now since Nov. 2012 BTW) Now to help with the binging cravings, I tell myself, "your not hungry, your just stressed and have the munchies and thats not a part of your regime.... I dont need to eat that" Then I try to keep my hands and mind busy through the cravings and de-stress. I really hope this helps you, I know me personally, its helped me a lot. I only started using this site about 27 or 28 days ago. When I first started I was 232lbs in a 5'10" frame. Now that I've realized what I have about the commonality between my battle with smoking and binging, I've applied the same will power habits I learned when I quit smoking and thankfully, so far so good and I'm down to 216. Keep your head and wits about you and you'll achieve your goals! If I can, you definitely can too. :)
  • dawniirogue
    dawniirogue Posts: 6
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    I am the same, every week I mess up and every monday I am a 'born again dieter'
    I'm stuck in a cycle of feel crap > eat to feel better > feel crap because i've failed > eat to feel better... etc

    I agree that once you have a few good weeks you get the inspiration to carry on and I am hoping that MFP will help me have the few good weeks to get on track. At the moment I am tracking even when i've been bad which I NEVER do usually, so i'm seeing that as a good step.

    Do you avoid tracking when you're bad? Maybe that could be your first step. Seeing the cals pile up does deter me from eating even more!
  • mydeloo78
    mydeloo78 Posts: 328 Member
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    The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. So for now I might take out your binge days but it seems like what you really need to do is find a better way of dealing with your emotions. Something triggers you. Make a list of things you can do other than eat when you are feeling bad.. take a walk, call a friend, watch a movie... if hunger is not the question, food is not the answer. You can do this, you're just going to have to start doing something differently.

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