Binge eating.

When I was having the most trouble, I was working out too much (up to 3 hours a day) and not eating enough (only eating around 1200 total), and not eating enough fat. I don't know if that is the case with you, but you should make sure you are eating enough to support your activity levels. Since I've cut my workouts, and eat more (around 2000-2200 calories per day), and stopped eating only fat free stuff, I've had no problems.

When I was having the most trouble, I was working out too much (up to 3 hours a day) and not eating enough (only eating around 1200 total), and not eating enough fat. I don't know if that is the case with you, but you should make sure you are eating enough to support your activity levels. Since I've cut my workouts, and eat more (around 2000-2200 calories per day), and stopped eating only fat free stuff, I've had no problems.

This. Exactly.

How much weight have you lost and are you being too restrictive?

I am also a binger though I've been good for a long time, knock on wood.

Now that I'm more removed from my overeating, it is so much easier to see that my binging was completely emotionally driven. I ate because it was easier to do that than to deal with hard things. Think about what is going on and what is driving you to placate yourself with food.

Don't ever beat yourself up, just be as introspective as you can and work on the root cause.

I've lost 40 lbs. I was initially being far too restrictive, but I have upped my calories since like 4 months ago. 1500 calories plus most of my exercise calories....ideally. Unless I have a mini binge.

Maybe your body wants to just chill for a while. Why not go to maintenance and resume weight loss after a good 4-6 weeks?

Funny, I posted something similar this evening myself and got some comments that you might find useful.....

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1110482-i-m-just-not-satisfied-any-more

I was about to raid the cupboards again tonight, but instead of going for the crap I had a slice of toast with some grated cheese. I love cheese, but avoid it because of the calories. Tonight I chose it because of the comments about fats and protein. Seems to have knocked it on the head for tonight!

I don't binge in the way a bulimic would binge - five hotogs, three sponge cakes and a 12pack of KFC - but I do now and again have the urge to just bloody well eat whatever I bloody well want and sod the whole counting, accountability, diet thing.

I think when we diet we have to adjust to the new way of living, but we still have some nostalgia for the old way. Just as a house creaks and groans as it shrinks, suffering and sounding like it's dying, so our bodies have to go through the same shrinking, crunching, reducing process, and our minds, too.

I think the binge, if it's not a true bulimic 'half the shop' type binge, is probably just a crunching point in your adjustment. And if it is a true full on three cakes and five bars of chocolate binge, see your doctor and talk about eating disorders.

Meanwhile don't waste time feeling guilty. Save guilt for when you strangle kittens or kick puppydogs. Food has nothing to do with guilt.

Don't use the word. Rename this feeling: confusion, disappointment. But not guilt. When you can properly identify the right word for this feeling you can take the heat out of it and then be in a positive state to just carry on as usual.

any day above ground is a good day. K?

I don't know what's wrong with me. I've been doing so well, losing the weight, but I have now started to binge, and I'm scared. I've never went all out, like I know other people suffering from BED have. I am usually able to stop myself, but it's scary. I lose control and eat and eat and ignore my conscience. Which is followed immediately by guilt and disgust with myself. I binged on cookies THIS MORNING, before my day even officially began. I feel like a failure, plus my day is ruined. I just need advice. Motivation. Personal stories. I don't want this damaged relationships with food.

First thing to check, especially for dieters, is that you're eating enough. If you're restricting your intake too severely, then binging is a very normal physiological response. It could be as simple as upping your calories a bit. Even if you're not restricting too much, even the very act of restricting intake at all can make you want to binge. This is quite a common psychological response. We feel restricted, so our brains tell use to eat as much as possible while we have the chance. That's one reason why it's a good idea to not cut out all the foods you love and be really strict. It can really backfire. Far better to lose a bit slower, incorporate all your normal foods that you enjoy, and make this a true lifestyle change. So everything you can not to feel like you're "on a diet".

The other thing I would say is try to work on the way you're looking at things. Extreme black & white thinking is very common with disordered eating, and it's a big part of the problem. Re-read what you've written here. "I feel like a failure". "My day is ruined". No. You're not a failure. You can't fail at this unless you just give up and stop trying altogether. And you haven't "ruined" your day. That kind of thinking is more likely to get you to either continue to overeat because the day is already ruined, or to over-restrict, which then increases the likelihood that you'll binge again. Feeling guilt and disgust with yourself is not only not necessary, it's really unhelpful. You ate some cookies. You didn't murder someone. You ate cookies. That doesn't make you a bad person. You don't need to punish yourself for it. Try to start being kind to yourself and get to the root (physical or psychological) or why you ate cookies that you weren't intending to eat. Look at it as a learning opportunity, a chance to do things differently next time. Beating yourself up about it just feeds into a horrible cycle of needing to punish yourself, or compensate for the "bad" eating, and setting yourself up to feel like a failure again.

Cut yourself some slack. It's just food. You're humans. Humans like to eat, most of us like to eat sweet things, and as soon as you start dieting, it's very normal to crave those kinds of foods even more. You're not weak, you're not bad, start treating yourself kindly and work out why it happened, so that you can change things. You say you don't want a damaged relationship with food - well try to start seeing that food isn't bad, you're not bad for eating food, you're not even bad for over-eating food. You haven't failed, this isn't over, you have infinite opportunities to create new habits and make different choices.

Lot of great suggestions here.

What works for me is:
- recognising when I binge I'm eating mindlessly so catch myself and focus on eating - that way I realise I'm bingeing sooner (before eating the whole packet!)
- knowing when I most binge - for me it's after dinner - now I check in with my stomach as to whether I'm feeling full - I usually am
- being aware of my danger foods - chocolate, biscuits, Sara Lee ice cream - and NOT buying them. I can't yet have them in moderation so abstinence is working better
Noticing what triggered the desire to binge - usually stress, boredom, hurt - and thinking what I could do instead to support myself rather than sabotage
- when I start thinking I might like some of my binge crap using head games - I don't need that, that's for other people not of me, that's got no value for me in reaching my goal, and such

Hope that helps.

Btw, ditch the guilt and shame and self-nagging ... like others said, accept you stuffed up and just move on without recrimination. Simply promise yourself you'll avoid that in future. Eventually you'll overcome it again.

I binge eat frequently lol. Sometimes I get the urge of eating something unhealthy, but it doesnt stop there. 2 weeks ago, I wanted pizza and ended up eating the whole box from costco lol. The best thing I have done to counter this is having pictures of the body I want in front of the fridge and areas that I will see it frequently. I used to feel if I eat something wrong, then my whole day is ruin. I came to realize this is not true. If you binge on one meal, then just bring it back with a healthy next meal. When you go slightly off course, quickly bring yourself back on track. Dont kick yourself so hard for binge eating, everyone has done it.