I'm sick of binge eating

I am trying to drink Metamucil when I want something sweet. Only just started so don't really know how it will go but it did help with me wanting dessert tonight......

Go do something else. Preferably, something that burns calories.

Address your emotion you're feeling when you do this. Are you lonely? Bored? Depressed? Angry? I eat when I am bored. Wait 15 minutes after completing a meal or snack and see if you are actually hungry. Sip some water or unsweetened tea while you wait. Also, never eat directly out of a container or you have more difficulty maintaining your proportions.

Binge eating is a mental issue- seek professional help.

I agree. Look into emotional eating. I'm sure your family's reaction to you hurts. Also check into mindful eating. Geneen Roth has good books on emotional eating. Susan Albers wrote a book "Eating Mindfully". Best to you.

rosestring wrote: »

I'm in a similar spot. If anyone has useful help for this dilemma, do let us know.

Lots of useful information above. For me, the binging is a symptom of something bigger. I would (and still on occasion do I admit even though I'm much, much better than I was) binge when I was depressed or anxious about something. There's no simple answer, and there's no quick fix. It's taken me months to somewhat get control of mine. You have to find out why you binge, and then you need to deal with that issue whether it be depression, anxiety, loneliness, etc. If you don't find out the reasons why you binge instead of just saying "I binge" then you will never get control of it and keep the weight off....not for the long term. I know this because I have spent years of my life overweight for exactly this reason.

I'm in the same situation at the moment, half the time I'm strict with my calorie counting but lately I've been binge eating more often than I ever would have before. Apparently binge eating is a disorder and stems from other emotional stuff so maybe it's worth seeing somebody about it. I'm starting counselling soon to deal with that and a bunch of other things, hopefully it works.

I wanted to add that the best advice in The Beck Diet Solution is to truly congratulate yourself after each half-pound loss. You don't really realize how much you beat yourself up for binge eating until you have honestly told yourself what a rock star you are for losing each half-pound. It's very eye-opening.

I've never posted on the forum but I saw the title on the side tab and checked it out since I can relate. It is quite literally--from my understanding--an addiction of sorts. It's satisfying because of the endorphin rush and functions similar to a drug high.

If only drug hangovers were accompanied with the levels of regret and lowered esteem that a binge is. But the above poster is correct, professional help is probably the best course of action. I also know how trite and moronic some of the "practical" advice is that people give out who have never dealt with anything like anxiety, depression, or binge eating. Nonetheless, I've managed to cope with it and maintain a fairly low bodyfat percentage while partaking in moderate binges on weekly or biweekly occasions.

The first is to control it to an extent. This means identifying the emotional factors that cause you to binge eat and trying to work your way around them. Anyone with anxiety knows how much things can be over thought. So when you realize that you've just spent the last 20 minutes in a mind battle brooding over some damn calories it's best to realize you're doing it, look up, and do something else. In treating it similar to a drug addiction, the most effective method for me is to not even have the kind of food that prompts a binge to be on the premises, or even to distance yourself from people who can enable. Bodybuilders do the same thing, so you're not alone. You can also nip it in the butt in a way. Often we eat way past the point of satiety and think, 'well, I f&cked up now, no point in stopping at this point.' That is fundamentally very stupid thinking. Lastly, it might be good to just make peace with where you're at. Binge eating disorder is often preceded by a very restrictive diet. Getting down this low may just produce too great of hunger pangs to ignore.

Hopefully this helps, and of course take it with a grain of salt because those are just tips that help me, whilst trying to avoid idiotic advice like, 'go do something that burns calories'. Try and not identify with anxieties or depression. Best of luck, keep us/me updated if you can; I've never had the gall (social anxiety too) or financial priorities to seek professional help for this.

Hi @sonoona I too am a bit of a forum lurker normally but saw your post and just wanted to offer my support. I suffer with severe depression, anxiety and some rather infuriating binge/purge issues.

Like others have said, the first thing to do is to identify your personal emotional triggers. I find for me it's a combination of restricting too intensely after a binge in an unsustainable way leading to even the slightest thing happening causing a serious binge. For example, for the last few weeks I have been doing 5:2 fasting but being very strict on my non-fast days, I then had an argument with my sister at the weekend and ate an ENTIRE large pizza, garlic bread and some chicken wings. I completely understand how disgusted you end up feeling with yourself because I still feel it writing it out again, but my trick is to turn that inner voice away from beating myself up to being kind to myself. Easier said than done, I know! But if you binge the best thing you can do is look at it objectively, say, "well that wasn't ideal but it happened so let's deal instead with why it happened".

If you can feel a binge coming on, as others have said, definitely try to distract yourself with something else. Go for a walk, do some yoga or even download a mindfullness app to help you think about those triggers. Flowygame is also a really good app game for dealing with anxiety, I get straight on it as soon as I feel a panic coming on and it calms me right down as it makes you focus on your breathing. Of course these are things that help me and I acknowledge that even for myself they don't work 100% of the time, it's all about finding the things that help you. If your family's comments are upsetting you though I would just maybe quietly say to them that you're really struggling with binging and that their comments are making your feel worse than you already do. The trouble with binging cycles is the more you binge the worse you feel and then the more you binge!

I do find lurking on these forums super helpful too. In addition to dealing with my emotional triggers the posts on here are really helping to educate me about fitness and food as I try to change my mindset towards my weight. At 112lbs you really don't need to worry about weightloss, but I know that's hard to accept. I'm 5'4 and 117lbs and I'm still convinced I'm a whale even though logical me screams that I'm not. MFP is really helping me to see that logical me might just be right... Why not have a look through all the posts about healthy eating for satisfying meals to help prevent binging, and at the fitness/lifting pages? After lurking on here I'm definitely psyching myself up to start lifting, I know I'll have to eat and that I will gain weight and it scares the bejeezus out of me, but I KNOW that I will be strong, fit and healthy (and might finally crack this binging habit!) Take a look and see if maybe that's something that would appeal to you?

I hope all goes well with therapy today, they obviously will be able to give you much more advice than any of us on here can offer. It's so frightening going at first but you are absolutely taking the right steps for yourself and your mental health. Feel free to add me/message me if you want to chat more or just need a bit more support. Look after yourself.

Just wondering are you eating too few calories the rest of the time?
I had bulimia and I found the best way for me to stop was to not restrict calories... but to eat enough