Can't stop binge eating! 3700 calories :(

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  • kessler4130
    kessler4130 Posts: 150 Member
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    Stress causes me to do the same thing, fortunately I am bulking at the moment so if it happens, well it happens. The only way I can control it when stressed out over life stuff is to simply occupy my time in some manner. Simply leave the house for starters, I don't care of you go stare at the sky, remove yourself from the toxic environment (and I do not mean your home is toxic, but it facilitates your over eating, it is circumstantially toxic). Go see a movie, sit in a park, meditate if that's a thing. Whatever you have to do to consume your time.
  • mariarobles55
    mariarobles55 Posts: 5
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    I do the same and I find I do it when I'm bored. I started sipping hot water when I want to eat. It's soothes me and makes me feel fulfilled and I eat less. Something about the hot water tricks me. It's almost like having soup, but 0 calories. Good luck!
  • 424a57
    424a57 Posts: 140 Member
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    Definitely talk to your parents about it. Talk to anyone you think might be able to help you. But remember, the people you talk to can *only hep* you. You have to find the triggers and resolve them.

    I also binge eat. Recently I started really thinking about how I felt when I wanted to eat; not just emotionally, but what physiologic sensations did I experience. That let me to understand that anxiety and boredom led to the binges. I'd have nothing that I *needed* to do and then I'd start worrying about it until I spiraled out of control. Now, at the first sign of anxiety, I go make myself some chamomile tea. This does two things -- it immediately gives me something to do and the tea helps with the anxiety.
  • keefmac
    keefmac Posts: 313 Member
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    Stress is holding down a job, paying the mortgage/ bills and looking after your children. Odly enough I know plenty of people who dothe above and don't massively overeat.

    The op sounds bored, get out of the house and do something interesting to take your mind off food. Go for a run or a walk.

    Yeah different people are different. Don't be such a jerk about it. Going for a run or a walk is good advice. But advice like that is like telling anorexic people to just eat some effing food. It's arrogant and ignorant.

    Unfortunately there comes a time in life where everybody has to take responsibility for their own actions..

    Sitting in the kitchen all morning, eating 4000 kcal before dinner and then moaning about gaining weight won't solve anything. Making excuses just makes a bad situation worse and then going along/ agreeing with the excuse makes it even worse..
  • PlumpKitten
    PlumpKitten Posts: 112 Member
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    Most people here are giving you basic dieting advice - eat fewer carbs, do more cardio, try to have more control, etc
    And while that's good advice - that is not your main issue.

    The amount you are eating is far, far beyond normal.
    It clearly is not because of normal hunger, a normal craving, or even a normal "loss of control." You're not like someone who veers a little off a diet by splurging on a dessert or a plate of fries.

    This is abnormal behavior that clearly needs professional help. The fact that your original message also includes feelings of stress, starting school and feeling sick points to something deeper.

    Honestly, if you're eating 3700 calories before lunch -- cutting carbs or jumping on the treadmill won't stop you from gaining weight.

    You need to find a parent, counsellor or doctor who can confront your problem.
    I wish you the best of luck.
  • elizaroberta
    elizaroberta Posts: 9
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    My normal diet is very healthy, I have very little sugars ( only natural ones such as bananas) very little saturated fats, and lots of whole grains and lean meats. Most of the year i run 8 kilometres twice a week and swim twice a week. 3700 calories is nor normal for me, and my diet and my body is suffering today because of it...
  • elizaroberta
    elizaroberta Posts: 9
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    Thanks! I ran yesterday and I felt in control with what I ate. This morning i felt too tired and skipped it! Probably wasn't a good idea on my part. Running definitely helps my mentality :)
    I have just experienced the exact same problem today! .
    Oats this morning with peanutbutter banana and cinnamon. Then afew hours later had 2 squares of dark chocolate, 10 chocolate covered almonds, an apple, 5 rice cakes with almond butter, 3 pieces of rye bread with peanut butter, 2 nakd bars and a bowl of high protein health cereal. I hate feeling this full and uncomfortable ,but you know what the beauty of food is? Our body breaks it down naturally and uses it for energy to fuel life. Don't let this get you down-things will get easier when you start school because you'll be busy and distracted :) as for advice- Ive kept my binges under control for months by falling in love with running and starting my day with a 6km run- I exercise during the time that i usually binged and usually felt too energetic, healthy and happy afterwards to binge:) (missed my running this week because of work pressure which explains the binge) maybe try find a specific hobby that binging interferes with? also sugar-free gum and peppermint tea are life savers! sending hugs. x
  • elizaroberta
    elizaroberta Posts: 9
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    I usually do lots of cardio throughout out the week ( running x2 and swimming x2) My swimming pool closes durning August, and it's took hot to run outside, I would run on a treadmill but unfortunately we can't afford a gymn.
    First of all, you need to get good cardio exercise. If you don't like walking, try riding a bicycle. It's much easier on the knee joints.

    Next, looking at your binge list, I see a bunch of stuff that will make you hungrier.

    Try 2 servings of oatmeal each morning. The instant stuff has a lot of sugar, but it will be okay for a while and will help you to begin changing your lifestyle, which is really what this is about.

    You can also have an egg or 2. More if you remove the yolks from the rest.

    Once you begin to eat healthier, you will find that fruit is also great in the mornings.

    mangoes, bananas, peaches, plums,any kind of berries that you like,apples, grapes are all so good for you in the mornings. Just try not to eat them in the evenings because that extra sugar will make you store fat.

    Lunch and dinner should be a mix of protiens, carbs, a little fat like olive oil, and some greens of some sort.

    Sugar and sodium are your enemies, cut back as much as possible.

    Any place you buy food that is already made into a meal, is going to have obscene amounts of sodium.

    Try to never buy meals that come through your car window. Fast food is the worst thing you can do to your body, I know this for a fact, because I was the worst fast food junkie ever. It almost killed me, the doc saved me with a stent and only 2 hours to spare.

    Send me a friend request if you want to see my food diary for some ideas. I am doing the paleo or caveman diet. If a caveman couldn't get it, then I almost never eat it. There is plenty of info about it on the googles. You have a nice list of ingredients, and combine them as needed to make your meals. I haven't been losing weight just yet, but i also haven't been gaining any and i feel so much better now.

    You say you feel sick, and eating right along with exercise will help to alleviate this.
  • RHachicho
    RHachicho Posts: 1,115 Member
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    @ JaneiR36 Basically if you are a comfort eater this is your thought process.

    Gah I had to wait an hour for the dentist today and he told me i needed a root canal ... hmm better get some food.

    Someone cut me off at the traffic light! *kitten*! hmm ... you know what I need a burger.

    I feel depressed and lonely. This is a problem only a tub of ice cream will solve!

    Grr I stubbed my toe ... hmmm how about some doritos.

    Urrgh theres' nuthin on tv ... but ... DONUTS!!

    Basically you get the picture anything and everything that goes wrong triggers an immediate desire to eat something tasty that will make it all better. As a coping mechanism it has the unfortunate combination of being very bad for you. And very good at it's job. It's sad to say that scarfing a whole pizza or a tub of ben and jerrys does a lot for the sad panda inside. And thus for comfort eaters it becomes their primary go to if anything goes wrong. As the problem grows older healthier coping mechanisms become abandoned in the face of the new king. Especially as the sufferer's expanding waistline may be affecting their social confidence or romantic prospects. They may even lose friends suffer mockery or lose their relationship with their significant other. The stress of which has them reaching for yup .. you guessed it more food.

    You end up trapped in a vicious case of Stockholm syndrome with food. You love it and you hate it. It's your master your jailer your lover and your best friend. It's always there and it always satisfies. But it takes it's price. And leaves it's marks. It's like being stuck in an abusive relationship where your significant other wrecks your self esteem to such an extent that you are convinced that they are the only one who would have you. As comfort eating progresses you see yourself as the "fat person with no self control" more and more. And you keep reaching for food because at least the food still gives you a bit of pleasure.

    That's comfort eating in a nutshell. And people with it don't need tough love or your lectures about self discipline. They need acceptance, support and help.

    Heh. Thank you for the quick background/perspective. I'm just saying instead of a tub of icecream sitting in the house waiting to comfort you, how about a single serving, or buy the smaller pack of Doritos or wait to eat a single donut at work when someone brings it in. Another option is to actually feel the negative feelings. Not every single pain has to be eased immediately. Sometimes you just feel so ****ty and can't imagine things changing. But more often than not , if you're a bit patient, they do

    Again, this is assuming just a normal healthy person that doesn't have a true eating disorder or diagnosed depression, etc

    Yeah I don't think what you said was wrong i just wanted to offer some perspective on what it's like to get so pathologically mentally dependent on food. In the end discipline is required to break out of any kind of mental disorder. You can't help those that don't want to be helped. But All I was saying is that discipline alone is insufficient in these cases. A true comfort eater would go perhaps a week or so of keeping no treats in the house but after 7 days of not being able to vent their stress at all they will simply give in. That's where the support comes in. All you really need to say no to food is another way to get rid of all that pent up stress. Once that's out of the way then yeah. It's a matter of self discipline and really no different from anybody else's weight loss issues. I mean yeah in the end of the day we all like food. If we didn't we wouldn't have to lose weight :)
  • gregmoniz
    gregmoniz Posts: 14
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    Just don't eat.
  • Fatandfifty3
    Fatandfifty3 Posts: 419 Member
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    Hmmn... I've read the advice here... basically the consensus of this accumulated wisdom is -
    'eat less food'.
    Am I right? That's the sage advice is it? Wow. Well after hearing that all our troubles are over and mfp can shut up shop. Oh yes there was the not so hidden theme of
    'Pull yourself together.'
    Great. You guys (with one or 2 exceptions) should do drugs counselling. 'Stop taking drugs. Problem solved.'
    :mad: :grumble: :huh:
  • TheSheepFollower
    TheSheepFollower Posts: 64 Member
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    You could be suffering from binge eating disorder! Talk to a doctor if you think you have that disorder. And if you gonna try and lose weight, cut it down slowly. Like 200 calories a a time! Every 3 days! And when you reached your maintain calories, keep that for a week! Than go to the amount a calories you need to lose weight!
  • LAT1963
    LAT1963 Posts: 1,375 Member
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    I don't have a school councillor, but i'm think of being honest with my parents about it. this needs to stop now!

    Talk to your parents about setting up a doctor's appointment. You will want to ask your doc for a referral to a psychologist who specializes in eating disorders to be evaluated and see if you have one. Your internist or family practice-trained doc may not have the specialized knowledge needed to fully evaluate this kind of problem.

    Even if you don't meet criteria for an eating disorder diagnosis, they psychologist can educate you about healthy approaches to food and diet, which is good information for you to have going forward in life as you head off on your own. If you do have an eating disorder then you will be catching the problem early enough to avoid serious physical health problems. So its a "win" either way.

    add: it is also possible you have some other problem--hormonal swings that drive you to binge (as some weightlifters experience when taking steroids), or some other neurological/psychological disorder like bipolar disease that can cause you to go through (manic or hypo-manic) phases when it is very hard to resist temptation. So that's another reason to see a doc--rule out hidden medical problems that can cause you to feel this hungry.
  • laflordivina
    laflordivina Posts: 15
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    I don't have a school councillor, but i'm think of being honest with my parents about it. this needs to stop now!

    Definitely do this. It's a huge step to ask for help
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    I don't have a school councillor, but i'm think of being honest with my parents about it. this needs to stop now!

    I think this is the best idea in the entire thread. Binging isn't good for you physically or mentally. Talking to your parents and getting help sounds like the way to go. It could simply be a matter of checking your existing diet to make sure you are not deficient on any macro or micronutrients and working on behavioral changes to cope when you are feeling stressed or emotional. I think it's great that you recognize that this is an issue in your life and that you are strong enough to take the steps to change it.
  • reader2908
    reader2908 Posts: 10 Member
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    Dont beat up yourself about it. The very good thing is you have kept track instead of trying to cheat your self that it didnt happen. I've done that plenty of times so i know. The the first step is honesty and you've crossed that .

    Try this.. everytime you think you have binge eaten.. try to make up for it by doing something extra physically.. like working out or walking or whatever...

    I found that the days i exercise I tend to binge less.
  • LAT1963
    LAT1963 Posts: 1,375 Member
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    Yeah, --seconding kgeyser--realizing binging may be a problem and seeking help for it are very mature choices for a teenager to make. Good job!
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    With all due respect, every single post of yours is about bingeing, except the number has changed from 3,700 to 4,000 calories. The answers will not be any different.

    It is your choice to binge eat, and thus it will be your choice if you get it under control. What helped me was to stop restricting food type and to eat what I normally eat, and to make sure I'm eating enough.

    You are very young and your ticker indicates you want to lose 5 pounds, which I presume is the 5 pounds you gained over the the summer, os you calorie intake will still be quite high to lose .5 pounds per week.

    You can get control of your binge eating, and I'd talk to a professional about it too.
  • reader2908
    reader2908 Posts: 10 Member
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    Also look at the positive side of things.. you are still young and can lose weight a lot faster and easier than most of us who are past our thirties. You have your whole life ahead of you.... try to see if you can pack your day with activities that dont allow you much time to binge.
  • rachelcidranes
    rachelcidranes Posts: 5
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    I understand your problem. I was involved in a office shooting incident last year and have gained 30 lbs since then. All of my co-workers have had the same problem. Stress can cause you to binge all the time. The important thing besides counseling is to remember to start every day with a new goal and try to obtain it. My new goal is to jump on the treadmill when my stress level gets high instead of eating all the peanut butter snickers I can find in a 50 mile radius. Weight issues are not about looking great in a bikini although that is a nice benefit. This is about how your body feels when you get up in the morning and through out the day. I am tired of being tired all day long. I bet on those binge days you are tired for the rest of the week. It becomes a vicious cycle. Be careful with your self you only get on body. Just keep trying or as Dory say just keep swimming.:smile:

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