Feeling pretty helpless now.

try and get around your sugar cravings another way, i dont really crave sweet things, so dont have many ideas, but i've heard dried banana chips are a good one, and dried fruit too, or look under the recipes board on here, and make some healthy (ish) sugary treats. You can do this, forget about today and start again tomorrow! This journey will never be easy, but it will be worth it. Good luck x

Ohh noes That's such a shame! Unfortunately big binges have their price!

I'm the same as you however! I crave sweet things all day! But I have a fail safe method of curbing my cravings whilst staying on the wagon. Whilst it does involve me going to the shops FREQUENTLY I don't mind. I keep two sweet snacks, either an 'Atkins Endulge' bar from the healthfood isle or a 'Skinny Cow Sundae Cup' in my cupboards/fridge at all times (Limiting the amount on hand to two prevents any heavy binging). Then all day when I get cravings I think 'I can have my ice cream or chocolate at the end of the day when I have been good all day!'. I use my (relatively healthy) sweet snack as a reward for not touching anything naughty earlier.

Also, If you have nuttella and cookies in the house, you're not doing yourself any favors. Even if it is a waste of money, just go throw all of that junk away, into your big garbage bin outside. You don't need it all hanging around.

If you're having trouble with your cravings try this....

Drink water mixed with the Crystal Light Flavor of your choice, there are tons and you can get the packets made for water bottles. And they are low cal.

Try eating healthier options like pickles, or carrots or celery that are low calorie. That way you are still under your calorie goal and can have 2 snacks and 3 meals.

Drink water most of the day with your meals instead of milk or juice. The normal size glasses we drink out of are not the 8 oz. they are 16 oz, and there for a glass of nonfat milk in that glass is about 160 calories.

Hope this helps.

How did you feel after your binged? As a fellow binger...I know what you mean...but after I have a binge session, I feel horrible. Not just mentally but physically I feel horrible. My stomach hurts, my chest hurts, I feel like I've eaten so much I want to throw up. Believe it or not, I focus on that feeling. I ask myself, do I want to feel like this again? That usually gets me out of the binge mood. You can start over any day but only you can control what you do. I'm sorry you feel this way and I know it sucks and sometimes, you think food will help you through the tough threshold but it doesn't, it actually drags you deeper. Focus on how the bad food made you feel and don't let it do that to you again. Good luck hon and don't give up.

I agree with Sarah and other...Get rid of the junk! I know I crave sweets way more when I know they are on hand. If they are in the house all I need is an excuse, boredom or stress or rewarding myself or whatever, and I will gobble them up.

In regards to the binges, try to think about why you do that to yourself. For me, I had it myself convinced that if I wanted to loose weight, I would have to suffer through being hungry all the time. I would try to watch what I ate but my negative thoughts thought discouraged me so much that I would get frustrated, and decide that I would eat whatever I wanted to make myself feel good. But after binges, I still didn't feel good. Recognizing this was key for me to controling my eating. Eating lots of crap doesn't make anyone feel good. Try to replace bingeing with something else that does make you feel good: exercise, a hobby, time with loved ones, or talking to a supportive friend all take feel much better than hoovering sweets and snacks.

Sorry to hear that. For me, if I exercise it is really easy to maintain my calorie count. If I don't, it is virtually impossible. My challenge is to force myself to walk 1st thing in the AM, and at least get something registered on MFP. Somehow that helps trigger discipline. Best of luck!

Sorry to hear you feel dejected about things. I am here for you and so are all of us. I regard dieting as a long-term commitment where sometimes we have 5 steps forward and then 3 steps back. It's always the 3 steps back that are hardest to take.

I wonder where the bingeing comes from? What are you seeking from it?

I binge rarely anymore, but it's because it's too expensive for me. I try to approach eating as a gift.

Also remember, we can't be perfectly good all of the time. Sometimes the simple reward system doesn't work for people who binge because we can't just eat 1 cookie or 5 Pringles (that's my problem - chips!).

There are things that also keep me from bingeing: remembering how yucky I felt after a binge, and trying to drink as much water as possible so I feel full all the time.

Don't give up. This is just a blip on the radar screen of your life and this too shall pass if you return to the plan.

Like everyone else is saying, every day is a new day to start fresh.

Amy

hello jessica, and welcome to MFP.

As an experienced member on the site, I've talked with a lot of people and come to understand some things about the nature of nutrition and the psychology of food as I like to call it.

In my experience, binging is rarely related to actual hunger. Generally there's an underlying psychological reason behind binging. For most people it boils down to some kind of control issue stemming from either buried trauma in their life, or some other feeling of inadequacy or loss of control.

My advice to you is first try to reason out what your feelings are when you start a binge. Whether that be on your own, or with friends, or with a mental health professional (there are people who focus on eating disorders) is up to you and whether you feel you can figure this out on your own or not. I will say this, no matter what your size, the binging will probably not go away until you get to the bottom of the reasons why you binge. After that, figuring out what the triggers are for your binging periods, and trying to mitigate them so the temptation is minimized.

hope this helps,

-Banks