binge eating

Kylandme wrote: »

I know the more I feel pity the more im in this cycle... I guess I have to put up my sleeves and change my diet and count everything... im trying to eat at maintainance for few weeks

You can eat cookies and crisps in maintenance or a deficit. I really recommend logging everything you eat. You might find it's not as many calories as you think when you look at your week as a whole.

I struggle a lot with binge eating too, and I have found that the two things that help me the most are tracking calories, and exercise. If I exercise, I am less likely to want to eat junk food overall. So if you can get on a regular schedule, you'll hopefully have less cravings...and log everything you eat, no matter how painful. It will help motivate you to not want to do it again tomorrow. I also limit myself to one "bad" item per grocery trip, and intentionally measure one or maybe two portions of that food to eat at a time, and let myself enjoy eating it, savor it -- but in a healthy portion size. If I have a bunch of junk that I love in the house, I get tempted to jump from craving to craving and stuff myself, but if I keep it to just one, and make sure I measure it out, I still get to enjoy the things I love, but not in such an unhealthy and out of control way. I used to stuff myself until I felt like throwing up almost every day...and I still struggle with it, but now it's down to once or month or so that I really go over my calorie limit. I'm hoping to get it down to even less often. It's incredibly hard, but you can do it!

Some people have cravings for carbohydrates because they are not getting enough sleep. Perhaps you need more sleep.

1. We tend to reach for sugar-dense foods when we deprive ourselves/don't eat enough, since sugar is a quick-fix for energy, but not a healthy one, nor does it help energy wise as it's not sustainable (like with healthy fats, or protein since it's a spike and crash). So your being deficient in protein could be why you reach for such sugary foods.
2. Over-eating due to deprivation is not the same as binge eating. You may have secondary reactions to over-eating, but it's important to realize first and foremost where the problems with your eating comes from. I've come a lot of people who equate over-eating in large amounts with binge eating, which surely isn't the case. There are a lot of people who aren't in tune with their hunger cues, but binge-eating is a very specific experience in which you eat for emotional, and specifically emotional reasons. It may be exasperated by hunger and whatnot, but when it comes down to it, the triggers for eating such massive amounts are always emotional. From what you've said thus far, the emotions you mention have been secondary (in reaction to the situation, not precipitating it) and surrounding how you see yourself after you eat. I'm not saying you can't have a problem with binge eating because i don't know you and the situation personally, and i'm only going by what you've mentioned. Also, depriving yourself/restricting yourself in the end usually leads to over-eating.
3. I agree with what was mentioned about. Regardless of what's causing this problem, lose the self-pitying attitude. It'll get you nowhere. It really sucks that you have to deal with this, but there are sucky things we all have to deal with, and what defines you as a person is how you choose to deal with, and hopefully overcome your problems. The things in life worth having tend to take hard work, and your health is definitely something worth having.
4. If you do have a problem with binge-eating, counting every calorie obsessively is not what you do, and if anything quite the opposite. You should learn to eat with moderation and to eat mindfully, see a therapist for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or Dialectal Therapy (or psychotherapy, but the first two are the most statistically supported), and once you're recovered, think about going back to using something like a MFP app. If you were obsessively counting calories, it could easily trigger binges, since black and white thinking is at the base of Binge Eating Disorder, Bulimia, Anorexia B/p type, etc. Like i mentioned above, binges are emotionally based - so if you find it has an emotional basis, you can't only focus on the food and tangible aspects. You need to also focus on the emotions driving your food choices, find support groups, and focus on self-care.

Best of luck!

mbrough58 wrote: »

Some people have cravings for carbohydrates because they are not getting enough sleep. Perhaps you need more sleep.

Yes, if I don't get enough exercise, I don't sleep well, and then I don't feel like exercising and want carbs. It's a viscous cycle.

Last night, first the thunder, then my neighbors, then the trash truck woke me up, but I forced myself to get a little exercise at lunch and will force myself to exercise a little more after work, and am making sure I eat enough protein in relationship to carbs today.