So happy to have found this group! Yesterday was my first day back on MFP in *years!!* ... I did GREAT until before bed time.

I made really not-great choices throughout the day yesterday, leaving me with very little food that took up all of my calories. I tried to just tell myself "too bad, I'll have to suffer and be hungry now" as my 'punishment' - WOW. That was the wrong thing to do. I ended up eating SOO much because I let myself get overly hungry.

Today I woke up and decided that I just can't let that happen again. I too struggle with it often and wanted to come up with a plan.... I looked back at yesterday and realized that if I had made better choices, I'd have had calories left over and could have had something to satisfy myself BEFORE getting so hungry! .... Today I'm going grocery shopping for lower calorie things. I really love caramel rice cakes and they ones I buy are only 50cal each.

Then I came on here to see if there was a group where I could find some advice, and lo and behold - here it is. Hopefully my idea of just making good choices & not getting to the starvation point will help someone... and I can't wait to hear what others have to say!

(Other things I've thought of in the past - go out for a walk when I'm feeling that way. Brush my teeth, take a shower, chew minty gum...etc... anything to distract myself. Hasn't worked lol)

That's awesome! I have a list hanging in my wall of "step by step instructions" of what to do when I feel that tempting wave of wanting to binge overcome me... It tells me to drink a full glass of water and wait 10 minutes, while I'm waiting it says to read this forum, look for support in MFP, read articles & bible verses I have collected about oer coming binge/unhealthy eating , look at my "before" pictures, paint my nails, shower...etc. when the 10 minutes are up If I still feel this "wave" I'll allow myself 2 big bites of my craving, if this isn't satisfying and if I'm simply not going to overcome it (we all know what that feels like ): I restrict myself to veggies & fruit. I also have notes hanging to remind myself if I'm really hungry or just bored, tired, lonely...etc. another reminds me that I AM in control of myself and what gets put into my mouth even though when that wave hots it doesnt always feel like it, but I AM! and that if I binge I am only hurting myself, I'm not helping the situation I'm making it worse!


keep up the support and sharing!!

this is a great idea! I'm going to start collecting my pictures, articles, etc to help!

Here's the EMERGENCY list I have saved in my phone:

1. avoid looking at/thinking about/smelling trigger foods
2. step away from the food - leave the room
3. alternatives: tea, cocoa, gum
4. l-glutamine (1000-2000mg, every couple of hours as necessary - supposedly helps cravings)
5. brush teeth
6. relax: read, meditate
7. stretch daily
8. read recovery literature
9. post on MFP
10. dump trigger food (bin, washing up liquid, etc)
11. tell people
12. POSTPONE eating seconds for 20 mins


* Take a “breathing break”. Find a quiet spot, get comfortable and sit for a few minutes and focus on your breath. After a few minutes of this, the craving will pass.
* Distract yourself. Go for a walk, if possible, in nature. Cravings usually last for 10-20 minutes maximum. If you can distract yourself with something else, it often passes. The more you do this, the easier it gets and the cravings get easier to deal with.
* Drink lots of water. Sometimes drinking water or seltzer water can help with the sugar cravings. Also sometimes what we perceive as a food craving is really thirst.
* Have a piece of fruit. If you give in to your cravings, have a piece of fruit, it should satisfy a sweet craving and is much healthier.

I simply ask myself, are you really, truly hungry? Are you just trying to make yourself feel better? It helps that I am now 35 days binge free, so I also ask myself, do you really want to throw all that hard work away? So questions mainly, that helps me. And just being kind to myself. I don't believe in beating myself up about the bingeing, that only makes me feel worse.

Knowing that deep down it is a choice I am making whether I give in or not I am not helpless.

THIS. I JUST binged this morning. It's 8am only and I have ingested more than 1000 calories. Always happen the morning after going out late drinking the night before. But I thought of how much time I have spent avoiding binges and reading up on all these and I realize it's just my own hand that keeps stuffing these crackers in my mouth and realized that I can just STOP. Just. Stop. Now.

These are all great strategies. I wait for 10-30min and see if the cravings go away...if not i try, herbal fruit tea, walking, and calling someone.

I also take St.John's wort and a small dose of 5htp daily. I had the worst trouble not going to mcDonalds and buying a lot of candy after work or on my days off. I did this every day and broke my diet every day, I could never stick to a diet...I would get a tightness in my stomach that would not go away unless I binge ate.

Sick and tired a yo yo dieting for years and years, I gave in and decided I needed some help and looked into why I may be binge eating so much. I considered, depression, anxiety, and low serotonin levels. Doing my research on myself I am very certain I have mild and anxiety and very mild depression. A lot of highs and lows for years. Bouncing back from being happy then ten minutes later the smallest thing would make me depressed and OCD. I thought it was normal. Eating helped take the edge off. I would spend hours eating and thinking of what next I could gorge myself on. But I loathe my lack of will power.

Any woo...I tried st.johns wort and the binging stopped from the first day I took one. I still had an appetite but I could stop after one serving without feeling like I was missing out. So I continued taking them, it has been 8 weeks and I have not binge ate once and I am praying to God I won't ever again. I believe the reason why this change has happened is because my serotonin levels were chronically low.

I still get anxiety but not as much as I used to. When I have a cravings I can stop at one or half a serving. It still takes will power but I don't have the tightness in my stomach or the lump in my throat beckoning me to binge, that won't go away.

I will add that St.johns wort worked for me but it may not be healthy for others. SJW interacts with a lot of medications so you should consult your doctor before taking it. It can also cause photo sensitivity and other mild side effects, this has not been the case with me. I don't take any other medications at all, even before taking SJW, so I did not have to worry about drug interactions.

5thp has also helped me.

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It's complicated but do-able.I tend to make good food choices all throughout the day but after dinner and before bed, it just goes down hill. One thing I try to do is being fully aware of what I am eating and how I am feeling when I feel a "binge" coming on. My feelings tend to be very down and that reflects my bad food choices. So if I feeI like crap I take it out on food but eating more foods that make me feel even worse about myself. I try to turn my attention towards happy feelings like watching something funny. Or, I'll avoid the kitchen at all costs for the rest of the night and promise myself that I can eat in the morning. Green tea tends to do the trick for me also. I like to read about health if I feel a binge coming on, or go to a blog that promotes a healthy lifestyle.

I read somewhere about healthy eating..It went something like,
"Healthy eating is eating and enjoying everything about your food. Healthy eating is making wise food choices. Healthy eating is sometimes eating so much you feel uncomfortable and not beating yourself up. Healthy eating is eating something incredibly tasty but stopping when your full, because you know you can always eat some more later"

Here's the EMERGENCY list I have saved in my phone:

1. avoid looking at/thinking about/smelling trigger foods
2. step away from the food - leave the room
3. alternatives: tea, cocoa, gum
4. l-glutamine (1000-2000mg, every couple of hours as necessary - supposedly helps cravings)
5. brush teeth
6. relax: read, meditate
7. stretch daily
8. read recovery literature
9. post on MFP
10. dump trigger food (bin, washing up liquid, etc)
11. tell people
12. POSTPONE eating seconds for 20 mins


* Take a “breathing break”. Find a quiet spot, get comfortable and sit for a few minutes and focus on your breath. After a few minutes of this, the craving will pass.
* Distract yourself. Go for a walk, if possible, in nature. Cravings usually last for 10-20 minutes maximum. If you can distract yourself with something else, it often passes. The more you do this, the easier it gets and the cravings get easier to deal with.
* Drink lots of water. Sometimes drinking water or seltzer water can help with the sugar cravings. Also sometimes what we perceive as a food craving is really thirst.
* Have a piece of fruit. If you give in to your cravings, have a piece of fruit, it should satisfy a sweet craving and is much healthier.

I love this.

One thing I try to do is eat pickles.
1. They fill a salty craving if that's what I'm about to binge on (unfortunately for me it's usually sweets I'm after)
2. They have almost no calories so even if you eat a whole jar, it's not that bad
3. The taste doesn't mix well with other foods. I have found that Nalley makes a Zesty/Spicy pickle- that really helps stop me - it leaves my mouth a little hot as well.
4. Depending on how long it takes you to eat them, you might be around that 20 min mark and maybe your craving to binge is gone?