Binged on fruit

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nykismile
nykismile Posts: 198
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello all, I'm asking about an issue that I've been dealing with for months now.

This is basically night eating with a slight twist. Today, I'd eaten 1,408 calories, which is around my goal for the day, but I continued to feel hungry no matter how much time passed. I wanted to wait till morning but my cravings got the best of me. I ended up binging 847 calories worth of watermelon and cherries on top of the 1,408 I had already eaten.

Whether I'm binging on candy or fruit, it doesn't matter, because now I'm in a caloric surplus. The question is how do I stop this? My main intake each and every day is fruit. I'm not depriving myself of fruit at all. But I just always want more. It's summertime too and it's at it's best quality. It's driving me nuts because I don't want to gain weight from this.

I had an idea of eating a salad at night first and then eat the fruit I want, as I might eat less that way. Is that a good idea? Also, will I probably gain weight from this?
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Replies

  • defauIt
    defauIt Posts: 118 Member
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    Binging is *usually* one of two reasons:

    1) You're not eating enough and your body is telling you to eat more.

    The solution is to increase your calories slightly, or to try to eat more filling foods so you don't get to a breaking point where you binge. Seeing as your main intake is fruit which, at least for me, doesn't really keep you full for very long - this might be the answer. A little less carbs and a little more protein and fat may keep you feeling full all day without increasing your calories.

    2) There's a psychological component that's leading you to binge.

    To fix this, you have to understand why you're binging. Do you binge when you hear bad news? When you're stressed out? Is binging your escape from facing your problems? There's a million different reasons and I can't even begin to guess what your situation is. But if you can identify what your trigger is for binging, you can work towards dealing with that trigger in another way and controlling it.
  • nykismile
    nykismile Posts: 198
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    Binging is *usually* one of two reasons:

    1) You're not eating enough and your body is telling you to eat more.

    The solution is to increase your calories slightly, or to try to eat more filling foods so you don't get to a breaking point where you binge. Seeing as your main intake is fruit which, at least for me, doesn't really keep you full for very long - this might be the answer. A little less carbs and a little more protein and fat may keep you feeling full all day without increasing your calories.

    2) There's a psychological component that's leading you to binge.

    To fix this, you have to understand why you're binging. Do you binge when you hear bad news? When you're stressed out? Is binging your escape from facing your problems? There's a million different reasons and I can't even begin to guess what your situation is. But if you can identify what your trigger is for binging, you can work towards dealing with that trigger in another way and controlling it.

    On most days, I eat 1,650 calories but sometimes I'm slightly under. I work out quite a bit (today I burned over 500 calories). I don't think I'm eating too little?

    Also, I had a good day today. I weighed in this morning at 112 lbs. That's another reason I'm ashamed at what I did tonight. Being 5'5.5" and 112 lbs and eating 1,650 calories on average isn't too little, so I'm not sure what the issue is.
  • rh091
    rh091 Posts: 100 Member
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    I think you need to eat more protein during the day to make sure you don't feel hungry at night. Make sure you eat a large breakfast and have your meals get smaller as the day goes on. Also try drinking a lot more water during the day, I've found this helps with feeling full longer, or tea also. on the bright side, fruit is healthy for you so at least you're not binging on junk foods. But this is also something you have to deal with mentally. But at that weight I think you should be more focused on maintenance rather than losing.
  • smarieallen85
    smarieallen85 Posts: 535 Member
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    That many calories on berries and watermelon seems like a lot of work. I think I might explode. Are you sure you're measuring right? Thats like a whole watermelon and 4 pints of blueberries (I'm making that up but kind of).
  • frankyko
    frankyko Posts: 1
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    If you're mainly eating fruit, your body might be craving the sugar. Try mixing your diet possibly with more protein.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    I don't eat watermelon. Maybe it has a lot of calories.

    Try strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and grapes. I couldn't eat 850 calories worth of those if I tried, even if I hadn't eaten all day.
  • nykismile
    nykismile Posts: 198
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    That many calories on berries and watermelon seems like a lot of work. I think I might explode. Are you sure you're measuring right? Thats like a whole watermelon and 4 pints of blueberries (I'm making that up but kind of).

    It was about two thirds of a small watermelon, and about a pound of cherries (all measured on oz)
  • Meerataila
    Meerataila Posts: 1,885 Member
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    I would try a high carb salad first, preferably with spinach (personally I think other lettuce is just inferior in taste and doesn't fill me up enough).

    But if you ate 1650 or less and burned 500, you also should have eaten some or all of your exercise calories back, depending on if you are otherwise active with school and a job. Because it puts you at under 1200 after exercise is subtracted, and even as an older and very sedentary person I need around 1200 a day plus to eat at least some exercise calories back. I bet you need more, and I bet your binge eating is being triggered by real hunger.
  • healthygreek
    healthygreek Posts: 2,137 Member
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    Do you exercise?
    I ask this because even if you were not, at your height and weight you should be eating almost 2000 calories to maintain. If you exercised everyday, you should be eating even more depending on how much you do.
    You are bingeing because you are not eating nearly enough!
    Please figure out how much you should be eating and eat it so you don't binge.
    If you're having trouble with your relationship with food-seek professional help.
  • bobbi29
    bobbi29 Posts: 138 Member
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    question: How much watermelon are you eating? Their is about 46 calories in a cup so you would have to eat over 21 cups of melon which is mostly water. Which is estimated for about a 15lb watermelon.Or 12 cups of cherries which is estimated 4lbs of cherries. are you sure your counts are right?
  • nykismile
    nykismile Posts: 198
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    I would try a high carb salad first, preferably with spinach (personally I think other lettuce is just inferior in taste and doesn't fill me up enough).

    But if you ate 1650 or less and burned 500, you also should have eaten some or all of your exercise calories back, depending on if you are otherwise active with school and a job. Because it puts you at under 1200 after exercise is subtracted, and even as an older and very sedentary person I need around 1200 a day plus to eat at least some exercise calories back. I bet you need more, and I bet your binge eating is being triggered by real hunger.

    I used to believe I needed more but I found out my TDEE is more around 1,900, and since I'm eating 1,650, I figured I wouldn't have to eat exercise calories back?
  • smarieallen85
    smarieallen85 Posts: 535 Member
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    That many calories on berries and watermelon seems like a lot of work. I think I might explode. Are you sure you're measuring right? Thats like a whole watermelon and 4 pints of blueberries (I'm making that up but kind of).

    It was about two thirds of a small watermelon, and about a pound of cherries (all measured on oz)


    ohhhhh....cherries. I thought I read blueberries, most likely because I was eating them at the time, sorry. I love cherries but I have had to stop buying those buggers. I think they're like 5 calories per cherry or something!

    Now I want watermelon, thanks.
  • nykismile
    nykismile Posts: 198
    Options
    Do you exercise?
    I ask this because even if you were not, at your height and weight you should be eating almost 2000 calories to maintain. If you exercised everyday, you should be eating even more depending on how much you do.
    You are bingeing because you are not eating nearly enough!
    Please figure out how much you should be eating and eat it so you don't binge.
    If you're having trouble with your relationship with food-seek professional help.

    I exercise every day. Some days it's more intense than others. Today I burned about 500 calories.

    I was told that my TDEE is around 1,900, and with a deficit of 250 (1,650) I figured it was a good number for modest, slow paced weight loss rather than drastically undereating.
  • nykismile
    nykismile Posts: 198
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    question: How much watermelon are you eating? Their is about 46 calories in a cup so you would have to eat over 21 cups of melon which is mostly water. Which is estimated for about a 15lb watermelon.Or 12 cups of cherries which is estimated 4lbs of cherries. are you sure your counts are right?

    I measured it all in oz on my food scale, everything was zero'd out. I'm not sure if I might be wrong :/ it was a pound of cherries and 2/3 of a small watermelon.
  • Meerataila
    Meerataila Posts: 1,885 Member
    Options
    I would try a high carb salad first, preferably with spinach (personally I think other lettuce is just inferior in taste and doesn't fill me up enough).

    But if you ate 1650 or less and burned 500, you also should have eaten some or all of your exercise calories back, depending on if you are otherwise active with school and a job. Because it puts you at under 1200 after exercise is subtracted, and even as an older and very sedentary person I need around 1200 a day plus to eat at least some exercise calories back. I bet you need more, and I bet your binge eating is being triggered by real hunger.

    I used to believe I needed more but I found out my TDEE is more around 1,900, and since I'm eating 1,650, I figured I wouldn't have to eat exercise calories back?

    Yeah, you should eat at least some back. You really shouldn't net under 1200 a day, and that is the minimum if you're extremely sedentary, fairly short, and older. It might take you longer to lose whatever weight you want gone, but it will be easier to feel good and be healthy and maybe have less issues with fruit attacks if you eat just a bit more.
  • nykismile
    nykismile Posts: 198
    Options
    That many calories on berries and watermelon seems like a lot of work. I think I might explode. Are you sure you're measuring right? Thats like a whole watermelon and 4 pints of blueberries (I'm making that up but kind of).

    It was about two thirds of a small watermelon, and about a pound of cherries (all measured on oz)


    ohhhhh....cherries. I thought I read blueberries, most likely because I was eating them at the time, sorry. I love cherries but I have had to stop buying those buggers. I think they're like 5 calories per cherry or something!

    Now I want watermelon, thanks.

    Haha my bad :) I'm pretty sure it's just the warm season but the fruit has been absolutely decadent lately! Almost all of it has been fantastic. I haven't even been eating any sweets lately because there's so much variety of fruit to take advantage of :)
  • healthygreek
    healthygreek Posts: 2,137 Member
    Options
    Do you exercise?
    I ask this because even if you were not, at your height and weight you should be eating almost 2000 calories to maintain. If you exercised everyday, you should be eating even more depending on how much you do.
    You are bingeing because you are not eating nearly enough!
    Please figure out how much you should be eating and eat it so you don't binge.
    If you're having trouble with your relationship with food-seek professional help.

    I exercise every day. Some days it's more intense than others. Today I burned about 500 calories.

    I was told that my TDEE is around 1,900, and with a deficit of 250 (1,650) I figured it was a good number for modest, slow paced weight loss rather than drastically undereating.
    Why not increase your daily calorie goal? You are almost underweight and your hunger is telling you to eat more!
    You are risking your precious health by not eating enough. It's sad.
  • nykismile
    nykismile Posts: 198
    Options
    Do you exercise?
    I ask this because even if you were not, at your height and weight you should be eating almost 2000 calories to maintain. If you exercised everyday, you should be eating even more depending on how much you do.
    You are bingeing because you are not eating nearly enough!
    Please figure out how much you should be eating and eat it so you don't binge.
    If you're having trouble with your relationship with food-seek professional help.

    I exercise every day. Some days it's more intense than others. Today I burned about 500 calories.

    I was told that my TDEE is around 1,900, and with a deficit of 250 (1,650) I figured it was a good number for modest, slow paced weight loss rather than drastically undereating.
    Why not increase your daily calorie goal? You are almost underweight and your hunger is telling you to eat more!
    You are risking your precious health by not eating enough. It's sad.

    But what I'm doing isn't unhealthy... I'm not at a severe calorie deficit, and I'm not looking to maintain weight. If I eat more, even 250 calories more, I'll just end up maintaining weight and that's not what I'm looking to do :/ I just think my issue is a lack of self control rather than undereating.
  • mangogirl272727
    mangogirl272727 Posts: 95 Member
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    I weighed in this morning at 112 lbs. That's another reason I'm ashamed at what I did tonight. Being 5'5.5" and 112 lbs and eating 1,650 calories on average isn't too little, so I'm not sure what the issue is.

    The issue here is pretty simple. You're underweight. Yeah, just barely, but your body is going to do anything within its power to resist any further weight loss...binge urges are one way to do that. Your body is demanding sustenance for its survival in the form of both nutrients and energy (kilocalories). As an aside, being slightly underweight is actually more unhealthy than being slightly overweight. If you are underweight and still dead set on losing weight, I have to question whether you might have a problematic relationship with food/body image and suggest you seek some help from a professional.
  • bmf9812
    bmf9812 Posts: 5 Member
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    how much did the watermelon weigh out to on your scale? A lb of cherries is around 286 calories...

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