Bingeing or intuitive eating?

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  • freddi11e
    freddi11e Posts: 317 Member
    I once binged on nearly half a container of Carnation Malted milk mix (with a spoon) and I was not restricting or dieting at the time. What was my body trying to tell me then? ;)

    In all seriousness, binge eating is a compulsive mental condition. Your body doesn't need to binge and if you are truly binging (eating upwards of 1000 cals in a short period of time while feeling out of control), it's not because you are "eating intuitively" it's because stress, restriction, your own brain, etc., is driving you to do it.

    Sometimes I binge because I justify that it's okay to do it RIGHT NOW because TOTALLY STUPID REASONS THAT ONLY MAKE SENSE TO ME.

    It's a hard road, but it's not impossible to get it (mostly) under control, or at least manageable.

    lol "TOTALLY STUPID REASONS THAT ONLY MAKE SENSE TO ME" This literally made me laugh out loud because I can totally relate. You should hear the reason's I come up with.
  • eso2012
    eso2012 Posts: 337 Member
    I think I understand where you come from. (1) you have a binge-eating habit (2) you want to know your optimal diet-and-exercise goal (e.g. X calories per day, X workouts per week).


    As someone who has been there done that, I SERIOUSLY advise you to deal with point #1 first, while taking it easy on #2. If you feel that your cravings and binge-eating occupies your mind most of the time, please seek professional advice. It is a bit of a catch 22 you see. Eating disorder has a lot to do with control which is exactly what you try to do when you track your diet.

    I suggest
    - get diagnosed - are you craving food or do you have an eating disorder? You need to know where you are in order to plan where to go.
    - Binge-eating is more than just overeating. You would be thinking about food, obsessively tracking calories, etc. You would be in a trance when you sit down to binge and, yes, can easily shoot to 4000 cals a day or more (I know that from experience).
    - For setting goals, RELAX a bit. Use TDEE to ESTIMATE only. Check out different TDEE / Cal consumption calculators and get a realistic average.

    Personally, I think tracking calories-in vs calories-out can be more accurate in the early days of weight loss (that is, not TDEE, but actual recording via HRM). At maintenance, I think you can relax but focus on your mental health - you don't want to feel guilty eating, right?

    Hope I answered your questions and your find some suggestions helpful.
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
    for book titles....

    Ditching Diets - Gillian Riley
    Eating Less - Gillian Riley (a longer version of Ditching Diets)
    How to have your cake and skinny jeans too - Josie Spinardi (she is due to release a book on emotional eating soon I believe)
    Brain Over Binge - Kathryn Hansen
    Intuitive Eating - Evelyn Tribole & Elsye Resch (probably the best known text on the matter)
    The End of Overeating - David Kessler
  • anorangie
    anorangie Posts: 975 Member
    for book titles....

    Ditching Diets - Gillian Riley
    Eating Less - Gillian Riley (a longer version of Ditching Diets)
    How to have your cake and skinny jeans too - Josie Spinardi (she is due to release a book on emotional eating soon I believe)
    Brain Over Binge - Kathryn Hansen
    Intuitive Eating - Evelyn Tribole & Elsye Resch (probably the best known text on the matter)
    The End of Overeating - David Kessler

    Thanks for posting these.

    eta I've read How to Have Your Cake and Skinny Jeans, Too and Brain over Binge, and I've gotten some helpful + practical information out of both related to mindful eating.
  • Pintado
    Pintado Posts: 33 Member
    I think I understand where you come from. (1) you have a binge-eating habit (2) you want to know your optimal diet-and-exercise goal (e.g. X calories per day, X workouts per week).

    As someone who has been there done that, I SERIOUSLY advise you to deal with point #1 first, while taking it easy on #2. If you feel that your cravings and binge-eating occupies your mind most of the time, please seek professional advice. It is a bit of a catch 22 you see. Eating disorder has a lot to do with control which is exactly what you try to do when you track your diet.

    I suggest
    - get diagnosed - are you craving food or do you have an eating disorder? You need to know where you are in order to plan where to go.
    - Binge-eating is more than just overeating. You would be thinking about food, obsessively tracking calories, etc. You would be in a trance when you sit down to binge and, yes, can easily shoot to 4000 cals a day or more (I know that from experience).
    - For setting goals, RELAX a bit. Use TDEE to ESTIMATE only. Check out different TDEE / Cal consumption calculators and get a realistic average.

    Personally, I think tracking calories-in vs calories-out can be more accurate in the early days of weight loss (that is, not TDEE, but actual recording via HRM). At maintenance, I think you can relax but focus on your mental health - you don't want to feel guilty eating, right?

    I think you and some of the other posters have nailed it – I need to be OK with working on recovering from my binge-eating disorder, and not try to skip ahead past the hard work... which is probably what I've been doing. Thank you! I'm blown away by how constructive and supportive this thread has been.

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