How did you stop binge eating?

I figured out when I have to eat and stayed above getting hungry, so the need doesn't strike. I eat a cheese stick at 5 am before working out, breakfast between 7&8, a small snack at 10:00, lunch between 12-12:30, small snack at 3, dinner at 6:30. I plan my meal the night before, if I need to switch something during the day I will, but at least I know what I am having for dinner. If I used to binge eat because I was stressed I will channel it to exercise now. If I used to do it out of boredom I stay busy. I like to cook and watch food shows, so I used to binge during those shows, now I plan to slowly eat a meal or a snack during a show or make sure I am full, I can't watch the shows late at night anymore because I will want to eat again when I know I am done. I drink a lot of water and have a friend look over my food diary every day to keep me honest. And I pray a lot.

Try snacking on fruit. Make the fruit appealing cut up different fruit, add yogurt to it. Or if u crave something sweet such as myself eat a weight watchers choc bar. ( rich toffee are great ) but less calories and better for you thn the average choc bars

I just don't have the foods that I would binge on in my home. Or, if I want just a small amount of these foods (e.g. crisps, chocolate), I'd buy individual packets, rather than multi-packets or big bags. I can't control myself otherwise!

I agree. Identifying triggers is so important. It took me an extremely long time to realize I even had triggers.

Sugar is a problem for me. Once I get started its hard to stop so I've just been skipping sugar entirely.

I personally tried cutting out foods that were hyperpalatable that I ate all the time, cookies, chips, etc. But, my binging was not do to food just tasting good; I'd find random things to binge on (cans of corn, rice, beans, bread, whatever I could find and easily eat).

The key for me was having a moderate deficit. MFP game me 1500 calories, but I calculated my maintenance and ate a little higher but still under maintenance, at 1800. I lost a fair amount of weight eating at that level, but my activity had increased a fair amount (yay fitbit for encouraging me to move), and so 1800 ended up being a pretty severe deficit again. And the binges had started again.

I recently upped my calories again. I have a pretty slight deficit now. I should lose about half a pound a week, which feels really slow since I have at least another 30lbs to lose (if not more depending on how I look). But, I'd rather lose slowly than to have to deal with the emotional ups and downs of binges as well as stalling out when the binges set me back.

I eat all the foods I used to binge on, but in moderation. I did get a lot of it out of the house for a while, and then incorporated appropriate portions back into my diet. I did this by not having it around the house, and then I'd buy a single serving out (like getting a small gelato from a local place). It was more expensive, but definitely worth it in the long run. I was able to adjust my mind to the appropriate serving size. I was then slowly able to buy those foods, keep them in the house, and weigh out a single serving. It was definitely a process.

noobletmcnugget wrote: »

I just don't have the foods that I would binge on in my home. Or, if I want just a small amount of these foods (e.g. crisps, chocolate), I'd buy individual packets, rather than multi-packets or big bags. I can't control myself otherwise!

This. Plus, I mostly stopped eating out at the beginning of the year so it’s been easier to not overeat. I can always find good food options when I got out to eat, but I can usually eat more food for fewer calories when I make my meals at home.

I’ve also allowed myself the occassional day (about once a month) when I eat anything at all that I want to eat. It helps me feel like I’m not depriving myself and I’ve found over time that because I eat within my calorie goals about 80%-90% of the time that my choices on a free-for-all day aren’t quite so horrible as I expected. Plus, I just don’t feel good amymore when I eat too much bad food, so that helps.

As for hating yourself - that’s about the hardest thing to get control over. We are our own worst critics and it’s easy to get caught in the cycle of binging and shaming ourselves. Then we feel bad about what we’ve done and then we eat more to feel better. At least that’s been my experience. All I can say about that is practice forgiving youself. When I got serious about losing weight again last summer I wrote an “intention” reminder about losing weight and one of the steps is “Forgiving myself for lapses.” I used to have to the reminder set to pop up on my phone every day at 2pm and I’d read it and be reminded of what I’m trying to accomplish. It sounds silly at first, but it really helped me to let go of feeling bad for all the ways I felt like I failed in the past. I can’t change the things I’ve done, but I can change what I’m going to do in the future.

5 years is a long time. If you haven't succeeded in stopping to overfeed for half a decade, realistically its probably not gonna happen lol. Maybe just try burning off all the extra food.
But what do I know? I sure hope you'll prove me wrong
I hereby embrace myself for a potential torrent of disagreement

Yes 5 years is a long time, but hope is not lost. I mean, holy crap, you lost 96 lbs! Thats a whole 15 year old girl! And if you gained 10 back, big whoop, 86 pounds is still amazing (probably a 13 year old girl).
I know its hard to stop binging. I have been binging for a few years. The moment I really realized it was a problem was when I faced the fact that I hide my binging and all evidence of it (well, except for my gut and huge thighs!). Seriously, I am a closet Binger, and my biggest nemesis is drive thrus. I get these really intense food cravings and I will think about the same food for days until I finally eat it. And its never as good as i was hoping. And it's always followed by shame and guilt.
My advice:
-log your binge!
-Dont dwell on cravings! As soon as you have an intense craving, just shut it out. It's so hard, but you can do it. Try to picture the food you're craving taped to your thigh. (For example, a slice of pizza taped to your leg) it might sound silly, but i know my jeans are tight enough!
-eat a small snack before going out to dinner. This isn't something to do all the time, but if its a day where you had a lot of binge triggers maybe you would be better off being less hungry when it's time to make that menu choice!
-don't start over tomorrow. Start over RIGHT NOW. I do that all the time.

Binge eating is overwhelming. Just prepare yourself that you will need to fight the urge everyday. Try to have snacks and meals ready/portioned ahead of time.

You can do it, you've already proven you can!

I have done the same thing and I know how frustrating it is. For me to stay on the right path I have to know that I am forever committed to logging. I need to keep moving because when I stop for a few days and the weight still comes off I fall into a false sense of reality until I haven't exercised in two weeks and "just a couple" turns into a whole bag of you name it. I have recently committed to never deciding if I'm going to work out or not without getting completely dressed for my workout. Hasn't failed me yet I will go a minimum of 30 on elliptical or take my dog for a 3 mile walk. I eat a couple of spoonfuls of ice cream almost daily as you can see from my diary but account for it and it's honestly been a huge lifesaver because I enjoy every bite instead of mindless binging. Moderation and accountability.