What constitutes a binge/how do I know if I was excessive?

If you have to ask, it probably wasn't a clinically recognized binge.

I still binge occasionally. I'd say if it gets in the way of your fitness then it's a problem. I ate more cashews than I usually do yesterday. OK way more. Am I crying about it? No. It's an every now and then thing. I used to binge on jelly bellys and durkee fried onions. Not together silly just examples of unhealthy things I use to eat. Move on. Make lots more healthy choices than not and you'll be fine.

I'm getting really sick of everyone throwing around "binge" casually. Binge Eating Disorder is not the same as compulsive eating. It is an expressive illness, meaning it is an expression of other issues. People with BED often eat to medicate or harm themselves, which often ends in passing out, too. To binge would be to eat thousands of calories in a discrete window of time (say 2-4 hours) and to have a disorder, you would have to do it several times per week for at least 6 months. Binging is like cutting. It is a way to get your mind off your thoughts and more focused on pain in your physical body.

You don't. That's your perception, now that I have seen your diary. It's subjective to you. But, from a more socially agreed upon meaning of binge, you don't binge. I mean, you don't eat enough calories to binge. You simply eat more than you plan to.

Diagnostic Criteria: DSM-IV

A. Recurrent episodes of binge eating. An episode is characterized by:

1. Eating a larger amount of food than normal during a short period of time (within any two hour period)

2. Lack of control over eating during the binge episode (i.e. the feeling that one cannot stop eating).

B. Binge eating episodes are associated with three or more of the following:

1. Eating until feeling uncomfortably full

2. Eating large amounts of food when not physically hungry

3. Eating much more rapidly than normal

4. Eating alone because you are embarrassed by how much you're eating

5. Feeling disgusted, depressed, or guilty after overeating

C. Marked distress regarding binge eating is present

D. Binge eating occurs, on average, at least 2 days a week for six months

E. The binge eating is not associated with the regular use of inappropriate compensatory behavior (i.e. purging, excessive exercise, etc.) and does not occur exclusively during the course of bulimia nervosa or anorexia nervosa.

Calling 400 calories a "binge" is laughable.
I would be more worried about the fact that you take in less than 1000 calories a day, netting around 500 on days you exercise. That IS a problem.

I agree with kelly!!! So sick of people saying they binged when they ate maybe 500 extra calories that day! Even if you sat and ate a whole bag of chips, you didn't binge!!!
I'm not saying I have BED 100%, but I have many symptoms. According to the list you posted, I would have it. I've looked this up before and when I found out it was a real thing i felt a little less alone. Just for example, after everyone is asleep, after school, or right after dinner after everyone has left the kitchen I will binge occasionally. Sometimes there simply isn't enough food for me to go completely crazy, but other times I feel uncontrollable urges to continue eating. I will say to myself "no just keep walking to your room, go to bed" and I will find myself in the kitchen snacking on food without a second thought. I use food as a comfort and it has seriously hurt my health.
An example of a binge I remember having (as accurate as I can make it):
3.5 donuts, half bag of chips, cup-1.5 cups of ice cream, 2-3 cheesesticks, and whatever else I can find in the kitchen that day. (One time I sat down and ate an entire cake)

That right there is a binge, and some people binge even worse than that. Something comes over you as you are eating the food and it feels like you can't control yourself.

Luckily I've been working on this and its been about a week since I've binged and I feel like I've gotten to a new place where I've got my mind on track.

But seriously, don't say you binge when you eat less than 2000 calories in a day. And even if you eat more than 2000, don't say you binge unless you actually do.

I'm recovering from binge eating disorder and let me tell you now-500 calories is not a binge. At my worst, (I would always as binge at night), I was eating 1500-2000 calories in a short period. It was mindless, uncomfortable, distressing. And I felt sick.

binge = eating huge quantities of food, like thousands and thousands of calories, in a totally out of control manner, often to the point of discomfort or even nausea and vomiting

overeating = going over your calorie goal (or for those not counting calories, eating more food than they burn off). This can be deliberate, accidental, or done in a mindless/not in control manner (you know like you can't stop yourself from reaching for *just one more* jaffa cake kind of not in control)

a lot of people say they binged when they mean they overate. Usually this is just incorrect use of language (people like hyperbole, so it's to be expected), although for some it's reflective of a really unhealthy relationship with food, i.e. they feel terrible amounts of guilt over normal serving sizes or mild incidents of overeating. While regular overeating is a bad habit and should be avoided, occasional overeating (whether planned or unplanned) is nothing to feel bad about, just carry on and stick to your calorie goal the next day, or go for a walk to burn off some of the overeating calories or something. Or don't do anything, because it's what you do day in day out that makes or breaks you for fat loss and occasional episodes of overeating isn't going to make much difference in the long term.

Frequent unplanned/uncontrolled overeating and frequent binging is sometimes caused by not eating enough, so if it's something you're constantly battling with, review your calorie goal. Maybe aiming for slower weight loss with a bigger calorie goal will help to get someone out of this cycle. Or if the frequent overeating comes from emotional issues, try to find other ways to reward yourself or comfort yourself that don't involve food.

Calling 400 calories a "binge" is laughable.
I would be more worried about the fact that you take in less than 1000 calories a day, netting around 500 on days you exercise. That IS a problem.

this ^

Calling 400 calories a "binge" is laughable.
I would be more worried about the fact that you take in less than 1000 calories a day, netting around 500 on days you exercise. That IS a problem.

this ^

if that's the case then this would explain what's causing the overeating....

eat properly and you won't feel the need to overeat....

I suffered from BED for years... I would eat so much that I felt physically ill.

I would binge on anything and everything that I could get my hands on or was in the house.

Large Pizza, Sandwiches, Big Packets of Crisps, Chocolate, Huge Plates of Pasta, Cheese, anything that was in my fridge.

I once ate so much I thought I had ruptured my stomach.

I would feel so terrible after I would hate myself and then that would result in further binging.

Then to combat this I would seriously restrict calories the following days which leads to your body needing calories drastically and then often another binge a few days later.

In my opinion anything that is under you RDA of calories per day does not constitute a binge.

I haven't binged in 3 weeks and I'm really proud of myself I feel I finally have some sort of control over it.

So yeah I wouldn't say eating something like 1800 - 2400 a day is really a full on binge.

I have learnt to control my BED so far by eating consistently throughout the day, as in 6 small meals and also not making anything "off limits" trying to eat things in moderation. Not eating below around 1200 a day.

But for me BED has always been an emotional thing and it is definitely a form of self harm. So if you feel you are seriously over eating take a look at the reasons why it's happening, if its an emotional issue, try work on that. x

It's ok to have a munchy day every now and again where you eat a little more than normal but not eating until you feel sick.

x

Hope that was of some insight !!

Calling 400 calories a "binge" is laughable.
I would be more worried about the fact that you take in less than 1000 calories a day, netting around 500 on days you exercise. That IS a problem.

I have to agree. Before I became conscious of looking at what my food contained. I'd have single meals that were over 3,000 calories, and THAT wasn't a binge. I kinda kick myself in the *kitten* a bit these days when I go over what I planned to eat for the day, but I can't call it a binge unless I just non-stop eat ,like I used to, until I was literally sick from eating so much. I used to be really bad to binge on lasagna or spaghetti, I'm talking about eating it until I would vomit, I've probably eaten over 5,000 calories in one sitting before of lasagna. I can understand being aware of, and not wanting to have a 400 calorie splurge, but if it's seriously stressing you out, I'd be concerned that you may be developing a disorder on the other end of the spectrum from a binge.

Calling 400 calories a "binge" is laughable.
I would be more worried about the fact that you take in less than 1000 calories a day, netting around 500 on days you exercise. That IS a problem.

this ^

if that's the case then this would explain what's causing the overeating....

eat properly and you won't feel the need to overeat....

Yup.