Binge eating-what has helped you-flexible or set meals? Need help!!

Hey! I have a longer post about this in the binge eating group. For me (and this is generally what you'll have recommended in treatment as well), I have 3 substantial meals every day. I will have these whether or not I am hungry, but I usually am hungry because over time I've gained a good sense of how much food works for me at each meal. Generally each meal has about 3-4 oz of protein (perhaps more in the morning), 1/2 cup of a starch and/or fruit, tons of veggies, some form of fat (oil, cheese, nuts, seeds, full fat milk), all adding up to about 400-550 kcals. Personally, I've found increasing fat has been super helpful. I'm a little bit more flexible on snacks. I usually find having a snack in the afternoon to be helpful. So that would be my most typical day, breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner. A general guideline for planning when to have meals and snacks is that meals should last you about 4 hours, snacks about 2 hours. If you are getting crazy hungry before then you should plan to eat more and/or adjust your macros (increasing fiber, fat, and/or protein can all help with hunger). If you need to eat meals more than 5 hours apart, you should definitely plan a snack in between.

I think of you don't address why you are binge eating, you will have a problem for the rest of your life. There are some great books out there that can help you learn why you do this, and give you strategies. Planning binges (and I've done it) is just a short term solution that might get you to your weight loss goals, but won't help your relationship to food. Good luck!

Figure out why you feel you need that piece of food, are you really hungry or are you bored, sad, stressed out etc..Once you address that you need look on the other side of things could you have a overpopulation of candida in your body that is causing these intense cravings as about 90% of Americans do. You can Google the simple water test for candida, if you have it I've found it's best to go on a cleanse which dramatically reduces the cravings (I know) Also check are you getting enough nutrients in the day and are you eating enough calories during the day. Exercise is a good alternative to binge eating if you are bored get up and do 50-100 squats it will divert your attention. If your upset or sad go for a walk it will calm you down.. Also are you staying hydrated? Drink plenty of water do about a quart when you get up in the morning and a glass of water before you eat each meal. Are you consuming a-lot of artificial sweetners? Because it is known that these 0 calorie sweetners cause people to crave more and in essence don't do a thing but keep you at a higher weight. Stick to whole grains best you can, eliminate refined sugars (which cause more cravings) eat a lot of veg and fruits also I like to eat green apples, berries and bananas each has special properties which will help the digestive track and help to remove excess candida..Hope this helps