6000 kcal yesterday!

Hi, Onmyown70,

I agree with the other poster, it would help to know what sort of calorie levels you are usually working with. The higher a person's weight, or physical activity, the more kcals they need per day. A very plus-size person may actually need that many kcals.

An eating disorder program director just told me about a 650 pound man who had just become their client, who had been eating 7,000 kcals/day. She said he really needed that level of kcals (or near to it), because at his size, his body needs a lot of kcals. So they are very gradually working him down from that level.

I know how painful it can be to see very high kcal levels. On the other hand, please know that there is always some good reason for the binge, so please try to be compassionate with yourself.

For most people who are trying to lose weight, that reason for the binge is that they have been restricting their food intake intermittently.

Many plus-size people have a hard time getting their minds around the idea that they could possibly be restricting. After all, they are plus-size, right?! They may be so used to thinking they are overeating, that they (we) don't notice those times when we are restricting.

There is a wonderful article on nurse and dietitian Jean Antonello's web site that explains this well. It's called, "Is Emotional Overeating Really Emotional?" I urge you to Google it. She says that while emotions often get the blame, overeating or bingeing is almost always caused by incidents of restricting, beforehand.

If you have been dieting, and going hungry (getting overly hungry), that is probably the reason.

As Jean says, "Undereating causes overeating."

"Starving causes bingeing."

She also writes repeatedly in her books, "Overeating will not stop until the undereating stops."

"The feasts will not stop until the famines stop."

This requires ensuring you are eating every time you start to feel hungry, until you genuinely feel full, then starting to eat again as soon as you feel hungry again.

This really does nip the bingeing in the bud.

It is the most basic, core lesson in the treatment of bulimia and binge eating disorder.

Most often, people who are bingeing must stop dieting and trying to lose weight, and instead, focus on eating nutritiously until full as soon as the first signs of hunger start, every time. Jean goes into this in her books, listed on her web site.

Basically, she advocates eating whatever one wants, until full each time, from a wide variety of basic, nutritious meal foods: all grain foods, i.e. bread, pasta, rice, oatmeal, etc., whole grain preferred; all dairy and meat, low-fat or lean preferred; all produce, nuts, condiments, nut butters. She calls these "Real Foods." She then has a list of "borderline foods" to eat less frequently (2-3x/week), and sweetened desserts (1-2x/month.) To me, that's a bit challenging, but reading her books gives some helpful ideas about basic nutritious foods one can feel free to eat any time, that provide ample protein, complex carbs, simple carbs, and fats.

Most of all, she provides the best education to understand and prevent bingeing, of any source I've ever read. (And I've read a fair amount on this topic.)

**
In the meantime, a smart, common piece of advice is that a healthy practice after a binge is to not try to make up for it by restricting food intake or skipping the next meal, afterward, nor exercising more to "burn it off."

At the next meal, just return to normal eating, and maintain your regular exercise.

Restricting after a binge will just trigger another binge, and we don't want that

Best wishes. I'd love to know your thoughts!

Hi Onmyown70,

I am sorry this is being so difficult, and that life sounds like it is especially tough right now

I am going through some similar things with trying different things and then getting on MFP and being shocked at how many kcals I've been eating, and that kicking off a whole bunch of new experiments, web searches, etc. I am no longer logging my kcals here, as it is still too triggering, and I may not do so at all anymore.

I completely agree with Snowdrop's advice.

Regarding the temptation to eat lots of sweets and chocolate (my temptations, as well), my college nutrition professor would give the following advice:

If someone is craving sweets, at least one of several things is going on nutritionally:

- either the person is not getting in enough kcals per day (or steadily throughout the day), and therefore is in a low-blood-sugar emergency, hence the sugar cravings (table sugar reaches the blood stream faster than any source of calories, which is why we crave it more when we get overly hungry); the remedy for this is to consistently eat sufficient meals and snacks that provide (at least each 1/3 of the day) sufficient complex carbohydrates, protein, and fat; and simple carbohydrate (from fruit, juice, or dairy);

- or the person has not been getting in enough carbohydrate, (complex and or simple carbohydrate), hence the craving for simple carbohydrates. In that case, it would help to increase the amount of complex carbohydrate in the diet (grain foods such as bread, pasta, oatmeal, rice, whole grains preferred), and to eat enough fruit. I try to eat a piece of fruit at each meal, 3+/day.

if you're having a huge, uncontrollable sweet craving, you might try to fill up on a quick-to-prepare, balanced meal (pro, cho, fat) such as a bowl or two of cereal, or eggs and toast, or a sandwich or two, or some nutrition bars, and eat several pieces of fruit or fruit juice. Then you will be full on plenty of nutritious foods, and it will be easier to have some sweets in moderation.

However, if the cravings are so intense you have to grab some chocolate right away, go for it, and try to eat a sandwich or other nutritious, balanced meal with it.

In general, regularly fueling sufficiently with balanced meals and snacks (combos of pro,cho& fat) should prevent consuming large quantities of sweets.

It can be easier said than done. I have my own struggles with this issue, and for me it always crops up when I'm meal skipping or severely undereating at times.

You might enjoy reading Jean Antonello's book, "How to Become Naturally Slim by Eating More," or checking out her web site articles on binge prevention.

I probably ate 10k+ calories this weekend due to bbqs and birthday parties.

Are you actually binging? I don't call 3k calories a day a "binge". Obviously if you are binging then you need to find out why. Like others have said, maybe it's under eating, an eating disorder etc. but if you simply enjoyed yourself this weekend then don't sweat it. Clean up your diet this week and put those extra calories to good use in the gym.

Edit: 6 k in a day? I thought it was a weekend. But my post still applies.