Scared of bingeing!

I've discovered that I can't plan to get back on track "tomorrow" because it can take a loooooooooooong time to come. Instead, I catch myself and get back on "track" right now as often as I can. Not that I never slip up, but there are more times when I will find myself in the kitchen with the refrigerator door open reaching for the cheese (for example). I catch myself, say a firm mental "no - it's not meal-time, and you can wait." Then I take myself out of the kitchen to get back to what I should be doing.

Of course if I'm tired and stressed, it's harder to take control. But the second that I can, I do. I don't let myself slip up on purpose anymore, and that's what would happen with "tomorrow I'll get back on track" .

Do what I do. If I get to feeling snackish even though I know it's bad, I just steam or saute up some broccoli, cauliflower, or mushrooms and eat away. I get full, don't have room for more, and barely budge my calories!

Ditto what everyone else said. If I go overboard then I TRACK IT and make it a point to eat better the rest of the day or take a walk or do a longer work out. Make up for it with 2 days a healthy eating.

I did the same today but I MADE myself acknowledge and log all of the food. That at least helps make them real calories and not just the calories we pretend do not exist. Everyone has slip ups but tomorrow is a new day...and your next meal is a new chance. I always try to just acknowledge and forget what I have done, try to pinpoint why I did it and then move on. I ate like 500 cal worth of candy and I can either let it ruin that part of my day or the rest of my life. You have to decide to let it go and move on in a positive way. Good luck, I understand as I truly struggle with it,too.

Do a 30min workout (ANYthing) and you'll burn some of that overage, PLUS you'll replace an urge to be self-destructive with a positive activity and give yourself a nice boost!

BUT, don't beat yourself up about the overage, it happens and it is NOT a failing!!

Blessings! :flowerforyou:

Listen - we all stumble! It's okay! And you've logged it, you can see the damage you've done. That means you still have the opportunity to make it right - do you have time today to do a quick workout or head out to the gym and burn it off? Don't get too down on yourself! They don't call it a journey for nothing

What I find helpful is questioning myself asking..."What will I feel like after eating this?" "Does my body need it?" "Will eating this make me reach my goal weight?"

Or even better, just don't have "bad" food even in your cupboards. If it is out of your sight then it will be out of your mouth!

xX Never give up!!! xX

AGREED!

remember how it makes you feel after your binges...write it down. It makes me feel horrible, fat, sleepy, sluggish, like a failure, nauseated, the list goes on....and REMEMBER its never too late to do a little exercise to burn some of it off Good luck and best wishes to you!

I did the same thing today. I went over on my protein. But I'm not giving in, I have to do more workout this evening. Thank you all for the posts. I'm not the only one

That happened to me yesterday at dinner.

The way I see it, theres no point in trying to fight it. Give in and eat as you please, but try to savor every bite instead of just shoveling it in mindlessly. *Hopefully* the next day you'll realize it wasn't a good idea, and naturally you'll want to eat better.

That's how it was for me today. I didn't have that defeatist "wow you f*cked up yesterday, you better be BETTER than perfect today" attitude about it. I just naturally wanted to make better choices and push myself harder, because I knew I could do better than that.

You can read brain over binge, that has helped me and i have BED.
Basicaly it says this;
The higher brain is like the frontal lobe, which as you know, our frontal lobe is significantly larger than that of animals. It's what allows us to interpret message from other part of a brains and choose either to ignore them, ro act on it. It controls our movements, and is where we think and it is the 'I' of the brain. It's the part that you would consider you. The higer self if you will. The lower brain is the Hypothalamus, which controls hormonal secretions from the Pituitary gland. It produces all the animal instincts, like desire for sexual reproduction, eating, drinking, growth, maternial instinct, and is involved in the aspects of your behaviour. It also contains your biological clock. It is what creates addictions. It sends out urges to breathe, to drink, to eat (in normal amounts) But if you have something, such as alchohol regulary, or you binge eat, than it becoems an addiction because the Hpothalamus believes that it is vital for survival, and creates neural pathways, which stimulates the urges. The reason there are triggers, is because if you happen binge eat during a period of time when you are stressed, because you're going to dinner with your parents in a restraunt(for example), than your Hypothalamus will believe that you need to binge eat in stressful situations, in restruatants, and with your parents, and will create urges when you encounter similiar situations. Your brain creates habits, and the more you do something, the stronger the neural pathway gets, and the stronger the addiction is. Hypothalamus will create urges, but your frontal lobe decides whether you follow it. That's why the hypothalamus is the lowerbrain, that is why it's called the animal brain, and your frontal lobe is the higer, human brain, because it controls conscious choices, rather than instincts. Also, the brain adapts, it strengthens the neural pathways that are used a lot, and weakens, and eventually destroys the ones the aren't used. That's why you get better at things with practice, but get worse without practice. So, if you don't follow the urges, the neural pathway weakens, and eventuall is destroyed and the urges will stop. The whole idea is not to avoid urges, because they're instinct, but understand that they are meaningless, and nothing more than habit, and that allows you to get over it.

Basically, to not binge, you have to detach yourself from your uges. Don't conntect with them emotionally. Your urges will say something like 'you are all alone, why not turn to food' or 'weight loss is so hard, just give up', which sounds stupid if you remain detached and think about it logically, but if you connect with it emotionally, you get into that 'poor me' mindset, and that is when you are likely to binge. Don't fight the urges, just listen to them, and accept that they will come every now and again, but it will always be up to you to act on them. So far i've been binge free for 9 days with this knowledge, usually i can't go more than 3

You can read brain over binge, that has helped me and i have BED.
Basicaly it says this;
The higher brain is like the frontal lobe, which as you know, our frontal lobe is significantly larger than that of animals. It's what allows us to interpret message from other part of a brains and choose either to ignore them, ro act on it. It controls our movements, and is where we think and it is the 'I' of the brain. It's the part that you would consider you. The higer self if you will. The lower brain is the Hypothalamus, which controls hormonal secretions from the Pituitary gland. It produces all the animal instincts, like desire for sexual reproduction, eating, drinking, growth, maternial instinct, and is involved in the aspects of your behaviour. It also contains your biological clock. It is what creates addictions. It sends out urges to breathe, to drink, to eat (in normal amounts) But if you have something, such as alchohol regulary, or you binge eat, than it becoems an addiction because the Hpothalamus believes that it is vital for survival, and creates neural pathways, which stimulates the urges. The reason there are triggers, is because if you happen binge eat during a period of time when you are stressed, because you're going to dinner with your parents in a restraunt(for example), than your Hypothalamus will believe that you need to binge eat in stressful situations, in restruatants, and with your parents, and will create urges when you encounter similiar situations. Your brain creates habits, and the more you do something, the stronger the neural pathway gets, and the stronger the addiction is. Hypothalamus will create urges, but your frontal lobe decides whether you follow it. That's why the hypothalamus is the lowerbrain, that is why it's called the animal brain, and your frontal lobe is the higer, human brain, because it controls conscious choices, rather than instincts. Also, the brain adapts, it strengthens the neural pathways that are used a lot, and weakens, and eventually destroys the ones the aren't used. That's why you get better at things with practice, but get worse without practice. So, if you don't follow the urges, the neural pathway weakens, and eventuall is destroyed and the urges will stop. The whole idea is not to avoid urges, because they're instinct, but understand that they are meaningless, and nothing more than habit, and that allows you to get over it.

Basically, to not binge, you have to detach yourself from your uges. Don't conntect with them emotionally. Your urges will say something like 'you are all alone, why not turn to food' or 'weight loss is so hard, just give up', which sounds stupid if you remain detached and think about it logically, but if you connect with it emotionally, you get into that 'poor me' mindset, and that is when you are likely to binge. Don't fight the urges, just listen to them, and accept that they will come every now and again, but it will always be up to you to act on them. So far i've been binge free for 9 days with this knowledge, usually i can't go more than 3

Hmm I really like this.

I have the same issue! Your not alone.

What a great thread! I have the same issues that Dennis is describing, especially the tendency to isolate myself. MFP has been a great tool to keep me accountable and has definitely made the difference this time around between success and failure.

Something that has helped me recently is what someone said here on MFP. (wish I could remember who it was). They said 'You didn't lose the weight in a day and you won't gain it back with one bad choice, meal, day, etc.' Thinking of this kind of snaps me out of my 'all or nothing' mentality and makes me realize that while I did mess up, it isn't the dire situation I imagine it to be and if I get ahold of myself and get back on track, everything will be ok. I don't need to be perfect, just do the best I can. The occasional slips or unavoidable situations we all find ourselves in should be expected, but they are not catastrophic. I have found that if I get right back at it, the damage can be minimized and it is much easier for me to continue on, where in the past I would feel like a failure and give in to the feelings of failure. It truly was a 'light bulb moment' for me.