Triggers

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What are the most powerful binge triggers for everyone? And any time you managed to overcome them how did you do it?

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  • musetle
    musetle Posts: 70
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    My most powerful triggers are at night time- after I've finished my dinner I just have this crazy strong urge to snack...and snack and snack until it turns into a binge. I'm pretty sure it's habitual (from coming home stressed from uni) so I'm currently trying to replace it with healthier habits!
  • soupandcookies
    soupandcookies Posts: 212 Member
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    My most powerful triggers are at night time- after I've finished my dinner I just have this crazy strong urge to snack...and snack and snack until it turns into a binge. I'm pretty sure it's habitual (from coming home stressed from uni) so I'm currently trying to replace it with healthier habits!

    Me too... Exactly.
  • waffletops
    waffletops Posts: 22 Member
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    Weekends are my downfall... it's like a reward for being good all week... but then totally blowing it and not knowing when to stop.

    I do get the urge to pig out on an evening especially if I've had a crappy day or am tired.
  • amina_a10
    amina_a10 Posts: 75 Member
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    Weekends! Come Friday and Saturday night, all I want to do is binge. Maybe because I don't have to wake up for class the next morning? I don't know. Happy to say this past Saturday was my second binge free Saturday in a row.

    Also, stress. I am an emotional eater, and when I get worried about something, all I want to do is stuff my face.

    Additionally, there are a few foods/food groups (won't mention them incase they trigger someone) that I pretty much can't eat, because they inevitably lead to binges.
  • LilchookNZ
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    Weekends! Come Friday and Saturday night, all I want to do is binge. Maybe because I don't have to wake up for class the next morning? I don't know. Happy to say this past Saturday was my second binge free Saturday in a row.

    Congrats! Way to go on keeping it binge free!
    Also, stress. I am an emotional eater, and when I get worried about something, all I want to do is stuff my face.

    Additionally, there are a few foods/food groups (won't mention them incase they trigger someone) that I pretty much can't eat, because they inevitably lead to binges.

    I am totally with you on eating emotions - I use (d?) food for everything - to counter stress (especially while studying), unhappiness, loneliness, frustration, boredom and then on the flip side to reward myself or to celebrate things.

    Alcohol is also something which lowers my inhibitions on eating, though unlike most other people I would then get so frustrated at myself that I would binge the rest of the next day or week thinking I had totally blown it so why not.

    Turns out MFP is an awesome balm for emotions - coming on here and posting when you have had a frustrating or emotional experience which makes you want to eat is way more therapeutic!

    I'm slowly coming to terms with finding other ways to console or reward myself. Clothes, haircut and massage are coming up next on the list - a little more expensive than a block of chocolate but of course it would never just be one block of chocolate would it!
  • ukulelesez
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    I think my biggest trigger is hunger - like coming home from work and not having anything prepared for dinner. I've sometimes got through crisps, chocolate, cheese, etc while making something for dinner and then that triggers more bingeing because I feel guilty about eating those. I've set myself meal plans so that I know what I'm having for dinner every day now and where I can, I prepare them the night before.
  • musetle
    musetle Posts: 70
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    I think my biggest trigger is hunger - like coming home from work and not having anything prepared for dinner. I've sometimes got through crisps, chocolate, cheese, etc while making something for dinner and then that triggers more bingeing because I feel guilty about eating those. I've set myself meal plans so that I know what I'm having for dinner every day now and where I can, I prepare them the night before.

    I used to do this too! I think preparing meals the night before is the way to go. Or else, having very quickly made meals. Usually I will quickly grill some salmon with some salad/veggies. If your dinner is ready relatively quickly, you'll be less inclined to snack while waiting for it to cook and you can fulfill those hunger pangs before you feel guilty about snacking.
  • jennie5693
    jennie5693 Posts: 42 Member
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    For me, it's just boredom. I used to come home from work and look at the fridge, and come back many times over, just looking and snacking. Just bored.
  • Diary_Queen
    Diary_Queen Posts: 1,314 Member
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    One of my biggest triggers is not being patient. When I'm hungry I want food NOW! Not in 3 minutes or 12 minutes or not even one second longer... this lack of patience increases when I don't stick to my normal food schedule. I don't eat first thing in the morning & sometimes people at work get all upset when I eat breakfast at my desk. I leave home @ 650 am and have an hour drive barring traffic. Most coworkers live much closer & they eat before they leave home. That's not how my eating schedule works. When someone mentions this situation it makes me feel guilty which is a big trigger too. It's like an emotional landslide. Weekends are hard for me too.
  • MissySpring
    MissySpring Posts: 442 Member
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    Happy to say this past Saturday was my second binge free Saturday in a row.

    Congratulations! Good work!
  • willi220
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    BOREDOM!

    It is so easy to "relax" at home after work or on a weekend and just snack.... and snack and snack. Usually, I feel so guilty for already ruining my day by snacking that I overload and tell myself why stop now.... Obviously resulting in a terrible binge.

    This is definitely my biggest trigger. I do not even need to be hungry to eat, just bored.
  • MissySpring
    MissySpring Posts: 442 Member
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    Anything sugary/starchy is a trigger for me...just like the commercials, I can't have just one chip, or cookie, or piece of cake. Alcohol also lowers my inhibitions and resolve. Boredom is the worst for me though...especially at night with my family asleep. If nobody sees me eat it, it doesn't count...sigh.
  • skyekeeper
    skyekeeper Posts: 286 Member
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    It doesn't seem to take much to trigger me. Boredom is a big one. But Fridays seem to be hard for me. On some Fridays, I watch my granddaughter and she will have snacks. Well, then it seems I need one too. or two, or three and so one. We could always use the extra encouragement to pick up healthier habits. Thanks
  • DianaAmorim
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    In the past my triggers would be almost all the triggers for a binge eater (stress, happiness, all or nothing feeling, excessive calories and food control...), but today I am way much better and controlled. Since I adopted an healthy lifestyle is being easier to avoid binges. Although it happens (like New Year night, and today :( ), and now I cannot even tell what triggered me! I think that it was the simple fact that I wanted to eat "bad stuff" because I know that tomorrow I will be back on track. Maybe because I was doing so well I kinda "felt" I deserved a sweet treat=in a big quantity! Althought I am not feeling guilty, this is bad. I think I´ve found an bad excuse to binge!
  • ct320
    ct320 Posts: 89 Member
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    I have so many at the moment :( I let myself have time off at Christmas which now seems like the worst thing I could of done I put on more or less what took me 3/4 months to lose in as many weeks (8lb out of 10lb) and it seem sto have led to my downward spiral my binge eating has become 10x worse not neccasarily for the size of my binges but because I am struggling to gain any control over them this time :( (I have struggled with bullimia and binge eating on and off for about 7/8 yrs) but hopefully this is about to change I really need it to the more I do it the more down i get and the circle continues ....so here goes :)

    good luck to everyone too :)
    x
  • amina_a10
    amina_a10 Posts: 75 Member
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    One of my biggest triggers is not being patient. When I'm hungry I want food NOW! Not in 3 minutes or 12 minutes or not even one second longer... this lack of patience increases when I don't stick to my normal food schedule. I don't eat first thing in the morning & sometimes people at work get all upset when I eat breakfast at my desk. I leave home @ 650 am and have an hour drive barring traffic. Most coworkers live much closer & they eat before they leave home. That's not how my eating schedule works. When someone mentions this situation it makes me feel guilty which is a big trigger too. It's like an emotional landslide. Weekends are hard for me too.

    This is so me. After my workouts I am always too hungry to wait to make dinner. Tonight I ate close to 40 cherry tomatoes while cooking. :blushing: better than something else, I s'pose!