Skipping meals...

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PearlAng
PearlAng Posts: 681 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Okay, let me explain. I know we're not SUPPOSED to skip meals...however...
I binged pretty badly today. Sometimes when I binge in the afternoon, I try not to eat for the rest of the day. I do this and usually things are okay. My question is, it's all a matter of CICO, correct? So technically the skipping meals after a binge isn't necessarily bad because while I'm binging, I'm not over consuming calories (I binged today and my net was still just 1332 because I exercised this morning)

Could this meal skipping be messing me up some other way? I don't think I'm in the binge/restrict cycle anymore, as my binges are becoming more occasional
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Replies

  • _John_
    _John_ Posts: 8,642 Member
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    within reason, it doesn't matter when you eat your calories...it's just a matter of total calories consumed over a certain period.

    There are small difference in nutrient absorption and things like that that people such as bodybuilders try to maximize, but in general, it don't matter.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
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    It's fine. I typically don't do this because it can just lead to another binge if I end up hungry again in the evening, but if you're not hungry, nothing wrong with it.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    ...unless you were diabetic or hypoglycemic (insulin impaired). Then these peaks and valleys would come with their own dangers. To binge and then deprive can lead to say, more poor choices. Let's say you stop eating after a binge and then at 10:00 in the evening you are just starving. You may have the willpower to resist until morning, or you may not.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    Eat whenever it keeps you feeling satiated and helps you meet your goals. I have seen it recommended that intermittent fasting (skipping meals and only eating during certain windows) can be triggering for people with binging. That said, I wouldn't necessarily say that you binged and still ate under 1332 calories, although binging is more of a mental issue.

    And skipping a meal after a binge to "make up for it" is not a good place to be mentally. Personally, what has helped is eating an adequate amount of calories every day. I initially would binge when I was trying to eat 1500 calories a day, and when I upped it to 1800 I could eat reasonable every day and still lose. I'd since upped my activity level and I was binging again. I've upped my calories to 2000, and I'm doing better with binges (so far).
  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
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    PearlAng wrote: »
    Okay, let me explain. I know we're not SUPPOSED to skip meals...however...

    Who said that?

    You can skip meals whenever you want. I often skip lunch to have a big dinner.

    The more concerning part of your post is the binging, not the meal skipping. I'd address that as soon as possible.

    Good luck.
  • Slasher09
    Slasher09 Posts: 316 Member
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    Coming from a recovering bulimic: skipping meals after a binge was personally one of the worse pitfalls I would fall into over and over and over. It was an endless swirling of over overindulging, restricting, being tempted, resisting temptation for a little bit and when I splurged continuing the "all or nothing" mentality and eating everything. Then eating nothing.

    Drink a couple glasses of water and in an hour or a couple hours when you are hungry again, reach for a snack/meal that is nutritious and nourishing and won't leave you feeling like you are going to eat everything later on. Indulge in a treat factored into your goals every once and a while. Tomorrow is a new day. Balance is the key.
  • KylaDenay
    KylaDenay Posts: 1,585 Member
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    There isn't anything wrong with skipping meals. I prefer to eat 2 meals a day for the most part. Sometimes on the weekend it is one meal and the rest alcohol. If you are full for the rest of the day then do not eat. It is all about how you feel, if you are hungry and sticking to your daily goal.

    As far as the binges becoming more occasional, I would address that as the above person has mentioned.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    edited December 2014
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    There's absolutely nothing wrong with skipping meals. Some people practice intermittent fasting on a daily basis because it's what works for them. I often only eat two meals per day, especially on the weekends when I'll eat a late breakfast and then a big dinner.

    Tonight, I'd suggest you eat a small dinner rather than completely skipping eating the rest of the day. It doesn't have to be more than 250-300 calories or so, just enough to make sure you won't get hungry and then repeat the cycle later. I know you say skipping has worked for you but, honestly, you need to start redefining your relationship with food and trying to eat "normally", even when you slip up, is probably a good idea. Skipping the rest of your meals feels too much like punishment for your earlier binge and that's not healthy.

    So, have a small dinner tonight and start over again tomorrow. I think the best thing to do when we trip up is to own the mistake (and you've already done that by posting here), move on and try to do better tomorrow.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    As far as CICO goes, there's nothing wrong with it.

    As far as staying on track, or managing a variety of physical (e.g. diabetes, hypoglycemia) or mental (e.g. eating disorders, binging) issues, it may not be the best strategy for you. Only you can know that.

    For what it's worth, I find I do best if I space my meals out and eat pretty regularly, 3 times a day with a small evening snack. I do occasionally skip breakfast if I sleep in on a weekend and just do brunch instead. Or sometimes if I know I'm going to have a big dinner, I'll either skip or severely limit lunch so I can fit my day's calories in. But that's not a regular thing, and I don't use it to justify binges.
  • _errata_
    _errata_ Posts: 1,653 Member
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    Welcome to intermittent fasting. Some days I only eat between noon and 8PM other days it's just 6PM to 10PM. What matters is the total amount of calories you get over a span of time.

    Here is a website for more info: http://www.leangains.com/
  • Sylvarose
    Sylvarose Posts: 70 Member
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    After reviewing my food journal this weekend my therapist really cautioned me not to skip lunch (I have a habit of doing that). She said I should try and eat something so my body doesn't think it's "starving". Plus I concede I make better food choices for dinner when I've eaten something in the afternoon. The demand to eat is isn't quite so urgent and overwhelming at dinner.
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,732 Member
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    I'm not a breakfast eater. I find that eating breakfast sets me up to be hungry all day, whereas waiting until I'm actually hungry (between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.) allows me to stay within my calorie goal much more easily.

    Also, I've skipped dinner if I had a large lunch and just wasn't hungry. Or I've had a small snack in place of dinner.

    As has been pointed out, meal timing has zero impact on weightloss, except as it impacts satiety. As long as you aren't overly hungry in the evening, skipping dinner won't hurt. But if you are actually hungry, eat something. It doesn't have to be a whole meal...something small and satisfying is just fine.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
    edited December 2014
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    If you were going through serious restricting, as you say, "binge/restrict cycles" because you had ED issues, DO NOT SKIP A SINGLE MEAL.

    People without restriction issues can skip meals. They can skip days. It doesn't matter.

    People with a history of ana/mia should not be skipping meals. Not even if you binged. If you had 3200 calories for breakfast, too bad. Eat lunch. And dinner.

    If you're just dieting and have no disordered problems in your past, skip all the meals you want.

    But if you've been through hell and don't want to go back, don't skip meals, no matter what.
  • Sylvarose
    Sylvarose Posts: 70 Member
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    Well I have definitely had a history with binging. One of the biggest challenges for me to record my meals is to fight the "hoarding" mentality followed by a binge. Or the other pattern which is to binge in "rebellion." And you are right Kalikel..I do not want to go back down to binging hell.
  • saph9044
    saph9044 Posts: 1
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    Skipping meals is not good. If you ate more meals then you would not have the need to binge. I used to do the same type of thing at first... Eat throughout the day so your body can digest the food instead of trying to process it all at once. I suffered from an ED so skipping meals is just no longer an option for me.
  • goldthistime
    goldthistime Posts: 3,214 Member
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    When it happens to me, I try to eat lots of vegetables the rest of the day, with a little meat at dinner. They fill you up without that many more calories and feels a little like penance. Gets me out of the self-disparaging mode that binging puts me in.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    Kalikel wrote: »
    If you were going through serious restricting, as you say, "binge/restrict cycles" because you had ED issues, DO NOT SKIP A SINGLE MEAL.

    People without restriction issues can skip meals. They can skip days. It doesn't matter.

    People with a history of ana/mia should not be skipping meals. Not even if you binged. If you had 3200 calories for breakfast, too bad. Eat lunch. And dinner.

    If you're just dieting and have no disordered problems in your past, skip all the meals you want.

    But if you've been through hell and don't want to go back, don't skip meals, no matter what.


    this.

    Veryyyyyy much this.

    "Binging" is not just over eating- and saying eff it. Binging is a psychological thing.
    - not an "I over ate- WAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY" to much thing.

    I often don't eat through my days when my BF comes- why? because we out dinner out quiet a bit- and I can't afford the food calorie wise. So I chose to have an extremely large meal- eat most if not all of my calories at night and call it a day.

    But if you truly are binging- and it's an issue- and you have a history or habit of over eating- then excess restrictions- you need to see a therapist and a doctor. And you need to eat regularly.
  • heart2health
    heart2health Posts: 99 Member
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    bump
  • PearlAng
    PearlAng Posts: 681 Member
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    Thank you, everyone for your replies. I value each opinion and have taken them all into account
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    I have dinner at 4:30 and then fast for a max of 20 hours. So yes, I'm skipping meals. This is easiest and most effective way I've ever lost weight.

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