A question for fellow binge eaters

I try not to have stuff in the house I cant handle like chocolate cake. I bring me one piece home from the store. I buy chips in small bags and seem to do ok with this. I tell myself I have to take care of myself, this sometimes works. I also try to distract myself with other stuff, going bike riding, gym, shopping. When I want ice cream, I go buy one cone.

Don't buy binge-worthy food. If you want to binge on something you have to go to the trouble of going to the store and buying it, or making it from scratch.

Eat protein (the energy is slow to come on but lasts longer than carbs and doesn't put you on a glucose/insulin roller coaster).

Identify any patterns or triggers to your binging and avoid or disrupt those patterns. Eg if you are always ravenous at 8 pm eat a bunch of protein at 6 pm and no carbs after. If fights with your significant other drive you to chocolate, figure out an alternative stress relief such as 200 calories on a treadmill (or punching sandbags?) before you are allowed to have it.

add: if you are craving a specific food, have that food, don't try to substitute other things first. You'll just eat the other things, be unsatisfied, and wind up eating the craved food at the end anyway.

I ask myself this every day. I pre-portion my food if it isn't already. If i buy something loose, I will put each serving into little individual bags inside the box so I process just how much I'm eating. If you have your day of food portioned from the night before it helps soooooooo much.

Buy only individually wrapped desserts/bakery item once or twice a week as treats; they can be fancy and a bit pricier. The point is to focus and appreciate foods that are higher in quality, not quantity.
Don't buy or keep around any processed snack foods at all.
Eat mostly whole unprocessed foods.
Typical sweet desserts are only for special occasions; daily desserts are fruits.
It's okay to indulge a bit at celebrations, parties, potlucks, or similar event but outside of those events, eat primarily main large meals (with lots of vegetables and fruits and fats and proteins to keep full) with no snacking in between.

Those are the rules I follow. I don't binge anymore and I don't feel the need to binge either.

I started by not buying my trigger foods anymore. And I've also noticed since I stopped drinking diet pop and incorporated more fruits and vegetables in my diet that I don't get the cravings anymore. Plus I can actually stop eating because I'm satisfied with a portion of the trigger foods. And I logged what I ate when I binged. It is hard and it takes time, but it is totally possible to stop binging and still enjoy the foods you want. I could seriously go to the store and buy $50 worth of food and eat it in one sitting. Which adds, think of the money you'll save lol.

I put my "trigger" foods (lookin' at you, peanut butter) in another room - just having out out of the kitchen was really helpful. I stock the kitchen full of easy-to-reach-for fruits and raw veggies so I won't be tempted by "there's nothing else to munch on". Celery is really helpful for me. Iced coffee too.

Also I ask myself "am I hungry enough to eat _________", usually a food I'm not crazy about. If the answer is no, I'm not hungry. If the answer is yes, I need to make a snack or have some iced coffee.

I also don't purchase snacks that are going to be binge foods - cereal, chips, etc. Other people might be able to "moderate", but I know myself well enough to know that it's all going to be gone in one sitting - and there goes $6 for that box of cereal. I allow myself one day a week to have a "treat" - like a big box of Mike and Ikes or something, but otherwise, it doesn't come in the house.

I find myself bingeing when i'm alone in the house.... which as a teacher... I can be home during the day sometimes for a whole month at a time...^^

So what I do is if I find myself eating too many chocolate covered almonds or some other snack food my wife decided to keep in the house.... I first put it out of reach.....however, if that doesn't work...

What I have found myself doing is destroying the food... I know it kind of sad... but more then one cake has gone under water..... in my house...

--ms

Haha, I do this too. The way I look at it, it's either wasted in the trash or wasted on my *kitten*.

I never broke the binge habit entirely, but I think I've retrained myself after so long to only want to binge on healthy foods. I always have fruit and Skinnypop popcorn and homemade almond butter in the house.

I find it harder to overeat healthier food than junk.

I'm trying to drink tea or coffee whenever I feel like rifling through the cabinets.

Eliminating the junk from your house is a perfect method, too.