binge eating and don't know what to do

I am so sorry you are struggling with this. Binge eating is a terrible, difficult habit to break.

First and foremost, I want to tell you that you CAN stop it, you CAN break the cycle, and you CAN be healthy. It takes a lot of work, without a doubt, but you CAN do it! I would urge you to log the binges. Accountability is the first step. You can't change something you don't acknowledge exists. You've already eaten the food; pretending like you didn't doesn't change anything. There is no shame in a binge; it happened, move on. But don't lie to yourself, you deserve better.

Next I would encourage you to research and find some binge prevention strategies. There are stories all over the internet of people who have conquered binge eating, and they all have something in common. They DID SOMETHING about it. Maybe you need to drink a glass of water and reevaluate whether or not you still want the food afterwards. Maybe go for a walk. Maybe its a specific food? Stop buying it. But whatever you do, don't do NOTHING. You have to prepare for it and deal with it when it happens.

Lastly, you need to be really, really honest with yourself about why it is happening and what you want to do about it. Do you really want to stop? Do you really want to be healthy? Lose weight? If so, then you have to dig down and make it happen. It isn't easy. It takes work. Its hard. But living this way is hard, too. You have to decide which is worth the effort. If you commit to working on yourself and the "why" of your binges, you will giving yourself a gift that can help lead you to your goals.

I wish you the best of luck!

I'm bipolar.. Do binge eating was and still is an issue with me.. I managed to lose 137 lbs and am keeping it off. I've learned to love active life.. Every day I do active things until the afternoon, when I kind of tucker out.. I don't keep unhealthy food in the house. All the food we keep is good, nutritious, energy producing fuel type food.. So I generally focus on creating energy production through eating and every day activity.. Every day I prepare for tomorrow's activities.. So when I have a binge.. If I get ahold of something bad.. Or binge on health food, I truly get a hangover lol, and can't perform the way I want.. So I suffer the consequences, and just move forward.. The day after a binge.. I flush out with water, kind of a sick day.. Then next day... Back on the horse.. So my advice is... Try to binge less.. But if/when you do, make sure you give yourself the next day to recover, then back on the horse.. Until your binges become small enough to not effect you.. At this point, my binges are so small they don't effect me much anymore.. Like 3 Safeway cookies.. That's a binge.. Or 3 cups of 1/2 fat ice cream.. That's a binge.. This is a huge jump from the 5,000 calorie binges I used to have!!!!! Slow and steady!!! And don't forget to stay active!!!

LegalMom0928 wrote: »

I am so sorry you are struggling with this. Binge eating is a terrible, difficult habit to break.

First and foremost, I want to tell you that you CAN stop it, you CAN break the cycle, and you CAN be healthy. It takes a lot of work, without a doubt, but you CAN do it! I would urge you to log the binges. Accountability is the first step. You can't change something you don't acknowledge exists. You've already eaten the food; pretending like you didn't doesn't change anything. There is no shame in a binge; it happened, move on. But don't lie to yourself, you deserve better.

Next I would encourage you to research and find some binge prevention strategies. There are stories all over the internet of people who have conquered binge eating, and they all have something in common. They DID SOMETHING about it. Maybe you need to drink a glass of water and reevaluate whether or not you still want the food afterwards. Maybe go for a walk. Maybe its a specific food? Stop buying it. But whatever you do, don't do NOTHING. You have to prepare for it and deal with it when it happens.

Lastly, you need to be really, really honest with yourself about why it is happening and what you want to do about it. Do you really want to stop? Do you really want to be healthy? Lose weight? If so, then you have to dig down and make it happen. It isn't easy. It takes work. Its hard. But living this way is hard, too. You have to decide which is worth the effort. If you commit to working on yourself and the "why" of your binges, you will giving yourself a gift that can help lead you to your goals.

I wish you the best of luck!

I totally agree!! Log the binges!! That's how I knew I had upwards of 5,000 cals!!! Totally eye opening!

Therapy, cardio, and yoga.

How Yoga Can Help End Binge Eating

One breath at a time, end the suffering of binge-eating

...According to Juliano, yoga gives people the skills to stay with what they are feeling, rather than turning to food to escape. People who are obese or suffering from eating disorders have a tendency to dissociate from their bodies -- to choose not to feel what they are feeling when they are angry, anxious, or sad. Often, they turn to food to numb themselves. "There's this sense that I have to feel better right now, " Juliano says. "There is a complete intolerance of what is happening right now." This need to escape unpleasant feelings triggers a binge.

When you eat to escape what you are feeling, you lose touch with the experience of eating, as well. This is one reason binges can spiral out of control. "You have no understanding that you are full, way past full, into uncomfortable, because you're so out of it," Juliano explains. "You have no connection to what you're eating. You're eating a pint of ice cream and can't even taste it. Or you go to make yourself some toast and before you know it, half the loaf is gone."

Mindful yoga directly challenges the habit of dissociating from your body and your present-moment experience. "The whole point of yoga is to stay connected to your body. You learn it through practice, through breathing, and through breathing through the sensations."

Read more: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-science-willpower/201007/how-yoga-can-help-end-binge-eating

I will always struggle with this... What I do is a bit different. I don't trust myself with binge worthy food, so I don't have anything. My kitchen is filled with things I have to cook to eat, and most of them healthy. I always binge eat at night, so I count on me being lazy. If I don't have it, I'm too lazy to go out and buy stuff... Hence no binge eating.

If I truly need to eat, then the cooking time will allow me to think about why am I eating, sometimes it could be hunger. Of course from time to time I'll buy something and eat it, but it's once in a while, so not a lot of damage...

About logging or not, I would say it's up to you, but it helps.

That's true that it happens at night!! I went two years going to bed at 8pm for that reason!! Lmao!! It worked though!

I eat dinner later at night now (around 7-8pm) to keep from being hungry by bedtime (10 - 10:30pm). Been working for me for about a year now and that's the only thing that has helped. Good luck!

There is stacks of good advice here.
I want to echo Asher_Ethan, if I restrict too much I have more problems with bingeing. I like to have a little bit of room for something yummy in the evening if I have to go over for it I risk a binge.

Also when I was suffering from postnatal depression I wasn't in the right place mentally to lose weight. I put on a fair bit till I got back in control and managed to maintain for 6 months before coming back and now I'm on track for losing again.

in my experience I tended to binge when I tried to cut my calories to much. I tried to go from 3000 calories a day to 800. that doesn't work. reduce slowly if you are eating 3000 now try to cut maybe to 2000-2500 calories. log everything. don't underestimate the portion sizes, overestimate instead.