Get back on track after 3 day binge (7000 cal plus)

Hello you are certainly not alone I too binge eat. I don't find it easy to stop once I have started, stress triggers mine. Feel free to add me
George

When does it end? At the end of the day, we must be accountable to ourselves. No one cares about you and your health more than YOU do. And no one is responsible for your health except YOU.

I am pasting this from one of my responses to a friend that keeps falling off the wagon because I think it would help you too.

Okay, its a mindset thing. If you understand and accept bad days are going to be a critical part of the journey, you will stop beating yourself up about it so much that you give up. Its like saying "I have already had a bad day, might as well eat what I want and I will star tomorrow" then it repeats over and over again. That is like dropping your cell phone and saying "I already dropped it, I might as well stomp on it a few times". Even if your slip up once a day, you don't need to eat bad for the rest of it. If you have a piece of cake every 2 days its better than falling off the wagon for the week. Forgive yourself, move on. Also, and I know this is tough for some people but post your diary and be honest on it. It really helps if you are constantly thinking about cals in/cals out.

Hi! I succeeded in blowing 90 days of hard work, yesterday! Stress is such an evil thing to me, and I completely fell for it big time! I also think I have some deep seeded fear about succeeding. I'm trying to shake yesterday off & do much better today..... but all I think about is FOOD. I almost threw in the towel but after 20 gone I can't go back there! It was 22 but guess I want to keep losing those damn 2 pounds over and over again.

I have struggled with bingeing after days and weeks of being overly restrictive and basically starving my body. I understand how hard it can be to get back on track and stop the binge.
First thing I will tell you is this... it's not a good idea to weigh yourself right after a binge. It will just discourage and frustrate you, which may lead you to just want to give up and keep overeating. The weight you see on the scale soon after a binge is not going to reflect your true body weight for a couple reasons. First of all, when you binge, your body gets a whopping dose of carbs and sodium all at once. Both carbs and sodium retain a lot of water, so you will most likely see a large increase on the scale due to water weight, which it takes time for your body to shed. Second, it takes time for your body to break down and digest food. When you put a large amount of food into your body all at once, it can't keep up,. Therefor a lot of food is just hanging out in your stomach right now, waiting to be broken down and utilized. The excess food in your system will cause an increase on the scale. It takes up to 3 days after your last binge (depending on the size and length of your binge and the foods you ate) for your body to really get back to "normal" aka the state it was in prior to you bingeing. Therefor if you want an accurate weight, I would give it a few days of being back on track.

As far as tips for getting back on track, here are things that I have found work for me:
- Get in a good workout each day that gets your heart pumping (ESPECIALLY important the day after a large binge!) Not only does this help burn some calories and use some of that food for energy, but the more you sweat the more of that excess sodium your body is hanging onto will be released. Also, I have found that if I get up and work out in the morning, I tend to make better eating choices and be less likely to binge because I do not want to undo all of the hard work I put in at the gym that day!
- Drink plenty of water. And I do mean PLENTY! It may seem counterproductive since you may feel bloated and puffy, but trust me, it really does help. Drinking more will help flush out that extra sodium and water your body is hanging onto, which will help reduce the bloating. It gets things moving through your system. Also, the more water you drink, the fuller it will help you feel throughout the day, which also makes you less likely to have the urge to binge.
- Build accountability into your day, and have a plan of what you will do if the urge to binge hits. Get rid of foods you typically binge on. Tell your friends and family you are struggling and ask them to check in with you each evening to see how you did that day and remind you of your goals. Log everything on here. Even if you have a binge, log everything! First of all, you are taking a accountability, which can help. For me, since I Know people can see my diary, it discourages me from bingeing because I feel ashamed when people see how much I actually ate. Also, often during the middle of a binge we do not realize how much food and how many calories we are actually consuming. We often tend to underestimate the amount of calories we took in. Logging every single thing will give you an accurate number of how much you consumed, and seeing that can also be enough to help motivate you to stop or at least make you pause and think the next time you are tempted to binge. If you know evenings are hard for you, make a plan of what you will do to keep yourself busy so you wont have time to binge. Also plan what you will do if you are tempted to binge or begin to binge, such as get up and leave the house or call a friend.

Sorry this post got so long! Hope you have the chance to read through it and find it helpful. Feel free to add me as a friend and shoot me a message when you are struggling. I'd love to support you in any way I can!

Gradually get back into your exercise routine, go for healthy snacks between meals, and have plenty of water to stay hydrated. Bouncing back from excess calories is challenging, but stay determined to make the right choices and you'll be back on track soon enough.

I find it's normal behavior for most to binge after restricting and monitoring for so long! Our body's and minds and emotions can only handle so much before we just want to say F*$K IT and dive back into behavior that "feels good."

Don't beat yourself up. It happens. And each day is a new day. So make better and healthy choices today and start a new trend. And try to release the guilt. It doesn't do you ANY good!

For me, part of binging includes QUANTITY. I want A LOT of something. That makes me feel good. So I try to make large servings of nutrient dense foods that I can eat a lot of without the calorie cost. I know it's not as "satisfying" as a junk food binge, but I find it's part of the psychological puzzle for me.

I know binging has all sorts of reasons "why", but have you tried calorie cycling? I too have days/weekend that I want to go nutso and just eat all the things! But I find that if I track my calories weekly instead of daily, there is a little more flux (like on the weekends when I want to enjoy some pizza and beer!)

I also try to up my exercise on days I want to eat way more. Helps me stay accountable and not go crazy.

BALANCE is my lesson in this lifetime. Be kind to yourself and you'll get there!