Hi! I'm new to MFP too, feel free to add me I have the same issue when it comes to keeping on track! I feel like I will never be able to eat the stuff that I enjoy so much and I end up binging on it! I know that this is my body playing with my mind, but at the end of the day, I still have to find that will power and control myself! Some people advice on having a "cheat" day, where you can indulge on your fav food and with moderation, but I can't do that, so I just avoid anything that triggers my binging, until I know I will be able to control it.

I found that everytime I created a "bad" food I lose my control when I eat it. So this time I decided that there are no "bad" foods and that if I really want something that I have to measure out a portion. make sure that I slowly enjoy it, and if necessary throw the rest away. After throwing away food after I had what allowed myself I have slowly been teaching myself what a portion is, what part of my life that food needs to be, not to feel guilty about wasting food, and who is the master of me (hint: it is not food anymore).

Am I always sucessful, I wish but I am refusing to give up even when I backslide. I pick myself up and ask myself if I learned something and try to do it differently next time.

I found that everytime I created a "bad" food I lose my control when I eat it. So this time I decided that there are no "bad" foods and that if I really want something that I have to measure out a portion. make sure that I slowly enjoy it, and if necessary throw the rest away. After throwing away food after I had what allowed myself I have slowly been teaching myself what a portion is, what part of my life that food needs to be, not to feel guilty about wasting food, and who is the master of me (hint: it is not food anymore).

Am I always sucessful, I wish but I am refusing to give up even when I backslide. I pick myself up and ask myself if I learned something and try to do it differently next time.

Very well said! The key is moderation and not giving up when you fall off the wagon. I still need to work on that

yup i completely agree. i learned long ago that if i realllllly reallllly want something and the craving is not fleeting/momentary - I should just go eat it. otherwise i spend so much time obsessing over the "banned food" and eat so many calories trying to get the same satisfaction.

i call this situation: "just eat the cheesecake!"

every post on ths thread sounds like me : ) its really an awful feeling to feel out of control...If i have a banned food then I will binge cause I feel I cant eat it but if i let myself eat a banned food I sometimes want more and will binge anyway UGH.... feel free to add me

My problems is that I will eat good for days and weeks, then there is that celbration or holiday and I get off track so bad and struggle getting back on track. Makes me mad when I gain, but when I eat things I shouldn't I just binge. I hate feeling like a food addict, really didn't realize I was this way until the last few years and recognizing it alot more as I am getting older.

I'm currently reading How to Have Your Cake and Your Skinny Jeans Too by Josie Spinardi. It's a great book. One of the points she makes that really resonates with me is her Eating Cuz You Ate principle. You eat something off plan, feel guilty about it, and binge because you blew it. It's one thing to recognize a pattern and another thing to stop it. That's where I struggle.

I do this too. My mindsset is very äll or nothing" like oh I ate acookie I might as well eat everything in sight and try again tomorrow!! I realize this is very disordered thinking and I'm trying hard to stop thinking that way

I hear you! Thank you for saying it's "ok" to not be able to eat certain foods- "trigger foods". I'm there and have wrestled with all the advice saying that if I allow myself a cheat once in awhile I'm less likely to screw up in the long haul- just not me!!! And lovely mac n' cheese gets me every time. Great idea with the lean cuisine. I've found that any creamy pasta will do it for me, I have a light tuna casserole recipe that helps to get it under control without the feeling of "cheating" and the ensuing binge. Thankful to hear I'm not the only one struggling with this!

I have had this almost my whole life. I can completely relate my friend. I have had a long road to recovery from emotional eating and still find myself on that road from time to time. I found in my particular situation that venting it out (be it a therapist or an unbiased person who is educated in this sort of thing) was the most helpful. I started to recognize that it was not the food itself that triggered binge eating or uncontrollable eating, it was something that was tied to that food. If I ate a cookie I asked myself who this reminds me of or a certain event in my life and then would go from there. A lot of the time I started realizing that it had nothing to do with the food. It had everything to do with my life and what I was getting out of eating that food (or should I say filling the void or covering a wound). It has been about eight years now since I started trying to fix it and I am just starting to get a handle on it (and I will sometime falter a little, but I do not beat myself up for it). It is one of the most difficult things a person can go through or try to overcome in my opinion. Sometimes you just have to eat to think clearly when you are finished eating (when the desire has been filled and you are more calm). I am not sure if any of this helps in any way, I just wanted to let you know what helped/helps me at my moments of "tasting" what *seems* to trigger more eating, but it might be something else. So hard. I hope you find something in the way of advice from all of the support you have received from so many. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help or if you need to 'vent.' Keep your chin up, you WILL figure it out and you WILL conquer your struggles. I promise.