How to fight bad/binge cravings?

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summer92008
summer92008 Posts: 202
in Food and Nutrition
A lot of the time when I am dieting, I crave foods to the extent that I will binge on them. I will eat things in moderation (a mini cupcake one day, a chocolate granola bar the next, etc.) but it just doesn't seem to cut out the awful cravings I have. Today I ate within my calorie goal and had some sweets (a banana, fruit cup, 2 blocks of chocolate), but I still want more. I want more of everything, really. I could really go for a spicy chicken sandwich from Wendy's and a king size Hershey's bar or a blizzard from Dairy Queen lol.

It seems that everything goes just fine for 2 or 3 days on a diet, and then I have a couple days in a row where I just want to eat everything in sight. How can I combat this? It's an awful feeling to have.

Replies

  • summer92008
    summer92008 Posts: 202
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    Right now I am eating a fiber one bar lol. It's soothing the cravings for the time being.

    I forgot to mention my stats.

    21 years old, female, 5'6''
    SW: 150ish
    CW: 137
    GW: 125ish

    I was down to 133 at the start of winter. But with declining health issues of my dad and snowy weather, I haven't been able to maintain activity like I was. So I am just staying on the same calorie line as I was when I was exercising every day.

    When I was exercising, I was eating 1,200 calories or so and walking 4-5 miles a day. I'm maintaining between 1,100-1,300 calories a day now with no exercise.
  • BackbeattheFire
    BackbeattheFire Posts: 21 Member
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    Honestly, I'm the same way and the best way for me to deal with it is to do something active. Go for a walk or do a workout dvd. It gets your mind off of it and it kills your appetite. Coffee can also help make you feel full without all the added calories. Try to add a good amount of protein and healthy fats to your diet- those will help you feel full longer too.
  • slondro
    slondro Posts: 45 Member
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    The urge to binge could come from a lot of different factors, and I struggled quite a bit myself with similar experiences. BackbeattheFire hit on all the important points, I think.

    To reiterate, what do your macros look like? Are you getting enough protein and fat? Personally, I have 50% of my calories from carbs and 25% each from protein and fat, and this seems to strike a nice balance for me. I have enough carbs allotted to eat reasonable portions of all the carby stuff I love (frozen bananas lately, with a bit of peanut butter for protein/fat!), and I get enough of the other stuff to feel satisfied throughout the day.

    If you tend to put more emphasis on carbs--especially carbs with higher glycemic load--your body will tear through them and you'll feel hungry again. By nature, that kind of stuff doesn't stay with you very long. Since your blood sugar will spike and you'll get a burst of energy, that's a great thing before you go to the gym, but not so great when you're trying to stay satisfied with limited calories.
  • Sarasari
    Sarasari Posts: 139 Member
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    I used to be really bad about binge eating, but found since I started up again here and am eating before I am starving, I now longer feel the need to do that. I also really haven't craved anything. I'm not giving up anything, all things in moderation. I would make sure you are drinking enough water and eating before you are starving in case that is your undoing. I tend to do really well with protein, it keeps me fuller longer. Good Luck!
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,160 Member
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    Summer I have had that issue for 40+ issues. Finally Oct 2014 I just quit fighting because I was not going to win and just cold turkey went off of carbs almost totally (<50 grams daily). The first two weeks were hellish but once I got the carbs replaced with mainly saturated fats the cravings stopped.
  • SarahHowells1
    SarahHowells1 Posts: 132 Member
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    Im just gonna step in here and mention a few things.

    It is highly likely you are not eating enough calories on your "good" days. You say you are maintaining between 1,100 - 1,200 calories a day.

    According to Health-calc (a scientific metabolic calculator - http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced) a 21 year old female (5'7, 137lbs, sleeps 7 hours) who does no physical activity burns 1,867 calories per day.

    That is, you could sit on the couch for the entire day and you will burn about 1,867 calories. You say you are eating 1,100 - 1,200 a day, so of course your body is going to want to binge every few days - you are making a deficit of at-least 750 calories daily. It is not recommend to cut more than 500 calories a day and you may find you will have less cravings if you only cut 200-300.

    Second, you are not overweight. Your body may be happy where it is and it will be harder for you to maintain a lower weight than this (e.g. it is possible, but your body will fight to maintain a certain level of fat etc). It may be time to start focusing on fitness as opposed to your weight.
  • SilverRose89
    SilverRose89 Posts: 447 Member
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    summer92008 wrote: »

    When I was exercising, I was eating 1,200 calories or so and walking 4-5 miles a day. I'm maintaining between 1,100-1,300 calories a day now with no exercise.

    Eat more, I too would be craving like crazy if I walked 4-5 miles a day on 1200 calories and then only ate 1100-1300.

    Why do you feel you have to eat so little? Especially with the exercise, that is not healthy at all.
  • skyfall91
    skyfall91 Posts: 74
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    Im 3 days into a hopefully successful binge free period. Im aiming for 1600cals a day and eating back most of my exercise calories (to get within 150-100cals of my NET goal just in case of inaccuracies on exercise days with my HRM) Iv found having a low calorie hot chocolate while watching a long film helps. Keeps your mind busy and off food for 2 hours! Definitely make sure you are eating at least 1200calories a day or more if you are quite active x
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    Try eating at maintenance for five days. Log every day. When you can develop very good logging habits, you can get to the next step. Then cut to one half pound for a week. This is not supposed to be hard and it is not punishment for something.
    Try to think of this as loving what you do and working on being happy with most of your choices.
  • Slacker16
    Slacker16 Posts: 1,184 Member
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    summer92008 wrote: »
    A lot of the time when I am dieting, I crave foods to the extent that I will binge on them. I will eat things in moderation (a mini cupcake one day, a chocolate granola bar the next, etc.) but it just doesn't seem to cut out the awful cravings I have. Today I ate within my calorie goal and had some sweets (a banana, fruit cup, 2 blocks of chocolate), but I still want more. I want more of everything, really. I could really go for a spicy chicken sandwich from Wendy's and a king size Hershey's bar or a blizzard from Dairy Queen lol.

    It seems that everything goes just fine for 2 or 3 days on a diet, and then I have a couple days in a row where I just want to eat everything in sight. How can I combat this? It's an awful feeling to have.
    Know dem feels.

    I've done the whole "weigh out a small portion and fit in into your day" schtick and it was horrible, 12 Doritos is just not the same as a bag of Doritos. 2/10 will not do again.

    There's more than one way to skin a cat, or in this case practice moderation. You could moderate how often you eat things and shoot for a weekly budget, or build your day around a huge treat and say F U to hitting macros.

    When I had weight to lose, I mostly did the latter. It was easier not to overshoot weekly calories this way.

    Nowadays I'm at maintenance and work on doing the former consistently. It's hard because habits are hard to form when they center around avoiding routine, but it is the better choice.
  • summer92008
    summer92008 Posts: 202
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    I may try doing maintenance for a while and then keep cutting back. The reason my calories are so low is because it seems anything higher than that doesn't change my weight. I ate 1,400 calories a day for over a month and nothing happened. It seems like I have to eat 1,200 or so to actually see change on the scale. Like one of the posters said, maybe I need to not eat any sweets except for 1 or 2 days a week where I just eat something high in calories, sugar, ans chocolate lol. I will respond later to each reply that I have other stuff to say. I'm just on my phone right now and is difficult to type a lot. Thanks everyone for replying.
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
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    summer92008 wrote: »
    Right now I am eating a fiber one bar lol. It's soothing the cravings for the time being.

    I forgot to mention my stats.

    21 years old, female, 5'6''
    SW: 150ish
    CW: 137
    GW: 125ish

    I was down to 133 at the start of winter. But with declining health issues of my dad and snowy weather, I haven't been able to maintain activity like I was. So I am just staying on the same calorie line as I was when I was exercising every day.

    When I was exercising, I was eating 1,200 calories or so and walking 4-5 miles a day. I'm maintaining between 1,100-1,300 calories a day now with no exercise.
    This. I would binge also eating so little!!

    OP your young, you need to eat more!! I'm 5'2, 45 years old, to lose weight I eat around 1800 calories.

    READ THIS: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1
  • summer92008
    summer92008 Posts: 202
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    MFP says maintenance for me is around 1,700. When I'm dieting, I'm not really hungry. I don't binge eat for feeling full. I am full enough after I eat a meal that I'm not really ever hungry during the day. I just binge for the way food tastes. Cookies, cake, ice cream, etc. I binge just because I want it, I'm not actually hungry.
  • Steff46
    Steff46 Posts: 516 Member
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    Water.....drink plenty of water. When I have a craving after eating and know I'm not hungry I just drink water. I'm not saying it is the cure but it helps keep me full. Plus, I read somewhere (maybe here) that you should try and not eat too much salty foods because that makes some people crave sweets.
  • maillemaker
    maillemaker Posts: 1,253 Member
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    Wish I had a solution for you, but I don't. I'm in the same boat as you, though generally I binge because of hunger. Once hunger breaks me, I'm in a mode of "screw it, let's do this".

    I'm now tackling the problem with appetite suppressant drugs.

    Basically you're dealing with a behavioral addiction, similar to gambling. You're doing it even though you know it's bad for you, because you enjoy the way it makes you feel. Been there, done that.
  • summer92008
    summer92008 Posts: 202
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    maillemaker wrote: »
    Wish I had a solution for you, but I don't. I'm in the same boat as you, though generally I binge because of hunger. Once hunger breaks me, I'm in a mode of "screw it, let's do this".

    I'm now tackling the problem with appetite suppressant drugs.

    Basically you're dealing with a behavioral addiction, similar to gambling. You're doing it even though you know it's bad for you, because you enjoy the way it makes you feel. Been there, done that.

    That's exactly how I feel. I think you hit the nail on the head. I know I shouldnt eat all this junk, I'm not even hungry when I eat it, I just want it. Like a kid wants candy. My best bet may be to steer clear of it all together. I feel it is similar to an addiction, like you said.

    An alcoholic can't have alcohol in moderation like a normal person, because an alcoholic can't drink in moderation. That's how I feel. I can't have sugar in moderation because I can't eat it in moderation, I have to binge on it.
  • maillemaker
    maillemaker Posts: 1,253 Member
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    Yup, like I said, been there, done that. Be aware there are *tons* of people here who will tell you that there is no such thing as a food addiction since you aren't living in a gutter or committing crimes for food.

    I have many times opened a sleeve of cookies and not stopped until I had eaten the entire sleeve of cookies. My mantra for eating my entire life has been eating to satiety - if some is good, more is better.

    The problem, as it has been stated before, is that an alcoholic can steer clear of alcohol completely. They can avoid places where alcohol is served. A food addict must eat. They take their addiction out 3 times a day and play with it.

    I find, as Dr. Rudy Liebel expressed in his Grand Rounds video, that steering clear of more palatable foods can help. Try to avoid trigger foods. If you can't exercise self-control around ice cream, then steer clear of ice cream. Of course this has not stopped me from getting in the car and going and buying some.

    Right now I'm using drugs (phentermine/topomax). They have a side-effect of altering taste. I have been addicted to diet coke for a long time but it now makes it take very metallic and disgusting (others have reported this also) and I have not had a diet coke in 2 weeks. Tried twice and poured it down the sink. I also find the sight of sweets to be stomach-turning but, strangely, meats or meaty-like foods are not. Wife brought home Publix donuts last weekend and I looked at them and went "blegh".


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