At what point do you consider yourself as having 'binged'?

Options
2

Replies

  • No_Finish_Line
    No_Finish_Line Posts: 3,662 Member
    Options
    I've only truly binged once. I ate a whole container of ice cream by myself even though I kept telling myself to stop. I know I shouldn't make excuses for it but.......I was highly emotional.

    i'm going to go ahead and say that your ahead of the curve if you've only done something like this once
  • No_Finish_Line
    No_Finish_Line Posts: 3,662 Member
    Options
    For me, a binge is eating nonstop for an entire day or night. I'm not hungry, but I keep going. It's like I lose all control and I am on autopilot. My stomach hurts and I am miserable... but, I keep going. Then, the next day, I "make up" for it by exercising for hours.
    This !

    Me too!

    sometimes i'll log some of the binge in the next days food and eat accordingly. usually not that bad because if i binged enough, i'm not that hungry till later in the day
  • lemon629
    lemon629 Posts: 501 Member
    Options
    I've only truly binged once. I ate a whole container of ice cream by myself even though I kept telling myself to stop. I know I shouldn't make excuses for it but.......I was highly emotional.

    i'm going to go ahead and say that your ahead of the curve if you've only done something like this once

    No kidding. I have gone through periods where I did this once or twice a week for months on end!
  • nancy10272004
    nancy10272004 Posts: 277 Member
    Options
    I'm in recovery for Binge Eating Disorder and a binge doesn't have anything to do with calories. It has to do with loss of contro, the speed at which you consume the food and the frequency. There are also many, many emotions that go along with a true binge.

    If you eat a pizza over the course of a day, that's just overeating. If you eat a pizza every Sunday afternoon and scarf it down in a half hour and don't really even think while you're doing it, that's a binge.

    People throw the word binge around like they do with OCD. As in "I make my bed every morning, I'm so OCD!" No, you're not. You're neat.

    Same with binge - "OMG - I had an entire sleeve of Oreos! I binged!" Nope. You just overate.
  • bexcobham
    bexcobham Posts: 107
    Options
    When do you guys differentiate between a binge and just a bit of an indulgence?

    When I'm hungover.

    For sure. This is one of the reasons why I stopped drinking.

    I think a binge is when you feel out of control, you eat mindlessly and don't really enjoy it. The first few bites are good, but you just end up in a trance, munching your way through loads of crap. You do it until you feel uncomfortably full or feel sick and you feel hungover and digusted at yourself the next day.

    I don't consider overeating, or eating the wrong thing to be a binge if really enjoy it and stop eating when I start feeling full.
  • lemon629
    lemon629 Posts: 501 Member
    Options
    As someone that suffered from BED there is definitely a big difference between over eating and binge eating. Over eating is when you eat just a little too much and are uncomfortably full. For me, binges were a complete blur. I would just keep eating anything and everything even if I was full. I knew in my head I needed to stop but my compulsions to keep eating took over. I would consume over 1500 calories within 20 minutes just by standing in the kitchen and grabbing anything that I could. Normally binges would happen in private too. This in turn lead to bulimia (which I've thankfully recovered from as well). A prime example of over eating is me on Thanksgiving. I indulge because I don't get a meal like that very often. Try not to beat yourself up. Slip ups happen. Just gotta pick yourself up, brush yourself off and move on :)

    This is how I think of the two concepts, as well.
    I was never diagnosed as having BED, but I also never sought help for it. I think I did.
  • fun_b
    fun_b Posts: 199 Member
    Options
    When I am full but I just want to keep eating. I have days where I go over my calories but they feel different to me. When I am binging I am aware that I don't need any more food but I just feel like I want something more and no longer care about how many extra calories I am consuming.
  • tibby531
    tibby531 Posts: 717 Member
    Options
    if I have any sort of idea of how to log it afterwards, it was an indulgence. when I find myself debating the number of candies, or spoonfuls, or handfuls of whatever, and can't remember everything I shoveled in my mouth... THAT is a binge. just mindless nomming.
  • bluebull123
    bluebull123 Posts: 27 Member
    Options
    Same with binge - "OMG - I had an entire sleeve of Oreos! I binged!" Nope. You just overate.

    I literally wanted to do this yesterday.. I refused!
  • Thrasherbabe
    Thrasherbabe Posts: 68 Member
    Options
    When I binge it's as if I can't eat fast enough... One item after another until I completely hate myself.
  • emmaxbon
    emmaxbon Posts: 123 Member
    Options
    fine line between the 2. my definition is if i feel like a bag of *kitten* afterwards, it was a binge. its really your own distinction though

    This. Or when I completely zone out and eat it in zombie mode.
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
    Options
    I dont know the technical term for it but I eat till I am full but then I can't lose weight that way. I really have to starve myself in order to see anything moving to the right direction...So I guess those days when I eat to full is my "binge" days...which happens one day too often...
  • agrafina
    agrafina Posts: 128 Member
    Options
    For me a binge was characterized by the sense of a loss of control over what I was doing. It was like my rational brain couldn't overcome my lizard brain that demanded I eat all the things. It didn't matter if I ate 500 calories or 5000. It was the loss of control for me that made it a binge. But I've had issues with disordered eating.
  • ZombieEarhart
    ZombieEarhart Posts: 320 Member
    Options
    I think for me what makes something a binge is if I feel like I have to be alone to eat it.
  • Kimblesnbits
    Kimblesnbits Posts: 321 Member
    Options
    For me a binge was characterized by the sense of a loss of control over what I was doing. It was like my rational brain couldn't overcome my lizard brain that demanded I eat all the things. It didn't matter if I ate 500 calories or 5000. It was the loss of control for me that made it a binge. But I've had issues with disordered eating.

    omg this right here! Have you read that book Brain Over Binge? Basically explains that bingers have the animal side of the brain that takes over the human part and we don't have the control to listen to our human side when the binge happens. I highly recommend it to anyone that is struggling with BED!
  • a_stronger_me13
    a_stronger_me13 Posts: 812 Member
    Options
    I'm in recovery for Binge Eating Disorder and a binge doesn't have anything to do with calories. It has to do with loss of contro, the speed at which you consume the food and the frequency. There are also many, many emotions that go along with a true binge.

    ...

    Same with binge - "OMG - I had an entire sleeve of Oreos! I binged!" Nope. You just overate.

    How can you say that person just "overate" if it isn't about the amount of food or calories, but about control? Only the person themselves can tell if it was out of control and, for some, inhaling an entire sleeve of Oreos may have been uncontrolled eating.

    It's a really fine line, like others have said. I think it's best, as a person who has dealt with BED/bulimia, to not worry about how loosely people throw around the terms because some people are just going to be overdramatic about anything they do. But throwing out strict definitions/criticisms of what someone may be calling a binge might discourage that person or others who see those comments from getting help. That person who ate the entire sleeve of Oreos may just have thrown herself into a highly restrictive diet in response which leads to the binge/restrict cycle, a very slippery slope.

    Just something to think about.
  • a_stronger_me13
    a_stronger_me13 Posts: 812 Member
    Options
    For me a binge was characterized by the sense of a loss of control over what I was doing. It was like my rational brain couldn't overcome my lizard brain that demanded I eat all the things. It didn't matter if I ate 500 calories or 5000. It was the loss of control for me that made it a binge. But I've had issues with disordered eating.

    omg this right here! Have you read that book Brain Over Binge? Basically explains that bingers have the animal side of the brain that takes over the human part and we don't have the control to listen to our human side when the binge happens. I highly recommend it to anyone that is struggling with BED!

    +1, excellent book
  • LassoOfTruth
    LassoOfTruth Posts: 735 Member
    Options
    Binges, to me, are when you don't even realize what you've eaten 'til you're done.
  • slk_5555
    slk_5555 Posts: 177 Member
    Options
    For me a binge is not about how much I eat, it more about my frame of mind. A binge is when I mindlessly eat without actually being hungry - afterwards I realize that I did not even enjoy it or taste it - I just munched it down in lighting speed - its like an impulse U can't stop.

    I usually do it with sweet food. Sometimes I can stop my self after maybe eating an extra chocolate bar (I usually eat 1 bar every day within my calorie goal). Other times I will just chain eat chocolate until I feel sick.

    I binge much less now that I am on a higher cal diet. It also helps to have a little chocolate every day, so that I don't feel like I am missing out:-)
  • manicautumn
    manicautumn Posts: 224 Member
    Options
    If it is within my calories or I have thought it through before eating it (i.e. deciding that I'm okay with it), then it isn't binging.

    Binging is a loss of control. I tend to only indulge when it comes to food, binging for me is alcohol.

Categories