Binge eating when I am alone

It sounds like you're being hard on yourself and eating foods because you think that's what people expect of you, not for yourself anymore. If you deprive yourself, it can lead to a binge. If you tell yourself you can't have something, you're only going to want it more! Just have what you want and stay in a calorie deficit. Stop worrying about what other people expect from you and just do you.

same here.. I think a lot of it FOR ME is that I was so restrictive with my calories ( not necessarily the foods) that I just wanna eat and eat and eat sometimes for NO REASON... just to taste..chew...crunch... savor...
Lately mine has been sitting down with an whole can of honey roasted peanuts and end up eating like 1000 calories of them... (that's on top of my calories for the day ... ) then I want something sweet..so I head for the ice cream... then I feel like crap afterwards.

I have this same problem as well! For now, I'm trying to keep all "junk food" out of my apartment, so that when I do feel the urge to binge, I just end up eating like 12 apples. Still, it does not leave me feeling satisfied. With me, it is usually when I'm bored that I can't stop eating. I've heard it suggested that chewing gum, and trying to stay out of the house are helpful for this problem. Also, I feel that if you are making good choices 90% of the time, and occasionally have a bad eating day, it is not something to beat yourself up about too much. You''ve been doing great! Let me know if you find something that works!

OP, I feel your pain. I have always been a binge eater. It's hard to say why any of us does it, but for me, it satisfies something inside of me, that I don't think anyone or anything could ever satisfy in the same way. I think this stems from food having been used as a soother and emotional bandaid for my entire life, starting from my childhood. When something is ingrained that deeply in you, even if you make big changes, that "thing" never goes away.

I feel it still, but for the last 45 days at least, I have been able to hold it off. I've come close to saying *kitten* it, and eating half a jar of peanut butter, a gallon of icecream, a whole cake, or a ton of fast food. I have felt myself on the very verge between keeping control over myself, wild abandonment. Control has won over, but it's the struggle of my life, every time, and I don't suspect it will get any easier.

I also know what you mean about doing it in private, because that's what binge eaters do. They (we) are ashamed, and know what they (we) are doing is not right, but the need for the satisfaction overrides everything else, and you just tune out the voice of reason, and fill yourself. For the first few moments, it feels good. Really good. Almost orgasmic good. You forget everything you've learned, and everything positive thing you've done for yourself. Then, when all is left is crumbs, wrappers, and dirty dishes, the self loathing that creeps in is almost unbearable. Why would I do this? Why would I throw away all of my hard work for some stupid food? Because after the binge is over, you can't even remember what that felt like, that unbridled, savage need to EAT.

People who don't experience this can easily tell you to just not do it. They can tell you to have more willpower, and to drink water or chew gum (I always find that funny, and I know they are trying to help, but gum can never take the place of 20 chicken mcnuggets with frech fries and a milkshake).

I think, for me, talking to people who experience what I experience when that happens, has been most helpful. Knowing I am not alone, and not thinking of binge eating in terms of one big thing I have to fix, but several, individual instances in which I just have to get through, has helped me to overcome it. Week by week, day by day, hour by hour, if that's how it has to be.

And just as an aside, if I only had fruits and vegetables in my house, as any binge eater knows, we will get into a car at 3 am in pajamas to go and get something to shove into our faces.

Please let me know if there is anyway I can help you, even if its just to have someone to help talk you through an episode

Wow, I need you as a friend lol. That sums it up so well.

OP, I feel your pain. I have always been a binge eater. It's hard to say why any of us does it, but for me, it satisfies something inside of me, that I don't think anyone or anything could ever satisfy in the same way. I think this stems from food having been used as a soother and emotional bandaid for my entire life, starting from my childhood. When something is ingrained that deeply in you, even if you make big changes, that "thing" never goes away.

I feel it still, but for the last 45 days at least, I have been able to hold it off. I've come close to saying *kitten* it, and eating half a jar of peanut butter, a gallon of icecream, a whole cake, or a ton of fast food. I have felt myself on the very verge between keeping control over myself, wild abandonment. Control has won over, but it's the struggle of my life, every time, and I don't suspect it will get any easier.

I also know what you mean about doing it in private, because that's what binge eaters do. They (we) are ashamed, and know what they (we) are doing is not right, but the need for the satisfaction overrides everything else, and you just tune out the voice of reason, and fill yourself. For the first few moments, it feels good. Really good. Almost orgasmic good. You forget everything you've learned, and everything positive thing you've done for yourself. Then, when all is left is crumbs, wrappers, and dirty dishes, the self loathing that creeps in is almost unbearable. Why would I do this? Why would I throw away all of my hard work for some stupid food? Because after the binge is over, you can't even remember what that felt like, that unbridled, savage need to EAT.

People who don't experience this can easily tell you to just not do it. They can tell you to have more willpower, and to drink water or chew gum (I always find that funny, and I know they are trying to help, but gum can never take the place of 20 chicken mcnuggets with frech fries and a milkshake).

I think, for me, talking to people who experience what I experience when that happens, has been most helpful. Knowing I am not alone, and not thinking of binge eating in terms of one big thing I have to fix, but several, individual instances in which I just have to get through, has helped me to overcome it. Week by week, day by day, hour by hour, if that's how it has to be.

And just as an aside, if I only had fruits and vegetables in my house, as any binge eater knows, we will get into a car at 3 am in pajamas to go and get something to shove into our faces.

Please let me know if there is anyway I can help you, even if its just to have someone to help talk you through an episode

I have the same problem too, and I think it's because my body's making up for when I was borderline anorexic and terribly skinny. It's gotten a bit better lately, though. Although I 'binged' yesterday night, it was a conscious one, i.e. I knew what I was doing and food wasn't the one controlling me.

I think that's one of the first steps to stop binging. Know that YOU are in control of food. I try to keep binge-triggering foods out of the house, but since my family has many such foods, I tell myself that (a) I don't want to do anything to sabotage my goal for a healthier body, and (b) I wouldn't do anything that I feel ashamed of and that I wouldn't do if someone saw me. Binging is normally done alone because it brings out feelings of shame and guilt; imagine how horrible it would be if your friends and family saw you binging. I try to think of that image, of my guilt and shame and their horror, and it stops the tendency to binge.

I don't have any advice, just empathy. I've gone through a phase this past month of binging on 7-layer red velvet cake (the grocery store sells them as "single servings" that are big enough for 3 servings) and wine. I know why I'm doing it (emotional eating because of personal life crap) and I know it's moving me away from my fitness goals (hello again 10 lbs I lost back in March and April).

Geneen Roth's books are great. I am a closet binge eater too. I do it in private because I'm ashamed of how much I can really eat if I allow myself. I ate large amounts when I'm trying to soothe myself from stress or bad feelings in general. I have a great buddy that is only a text away and just expressing a want to binge helps. Good luck!