binge eating and don't know what to do

You are setting yourself up to binge by reducing your intake. Knowing that you are binging because you don't want to deal with your emotions is a good first steps. Awareness usually results in us feeling like we are doing something more than usual.

The next step is some kind of action. One possibility is forgiving yourself. By stopping the judgment, the action will take on less importance and give you some space to change.

And additional possibility is to get professional help to deal with those emotions that are so difficult to sit with.

As others have said, log all the food you eat including binges. Set your diary to private if you are embarrassed. Not only does the act of logging show you how much damage the binge can cause, it can also help in preventing binges. If you are tracking your food accurately, you will have to put your food on a scale before you consume it. This in itself can help prevent a binge, because you will probably give yourself a reasonable portion.

Also, even though it is hard, try and figure out and address the emotional reasons you are binging. They may already be apparent to you, or you may need a counselor or therapist to help you through it. Either way, until you address the core issue you are going to have binge eating issues or other avoidance behaviors.

I had a period of binge eating a couple years ago when I moved to a new city. I didn't know anyone and was lonely. I joined MFP and lost some of the weight I gained, but still had periods of overeating. When I finally addressed the issue (I put myself out there and made a new group of friends), the binge eating stopped.

You are using food to "zone out" and avoid your problems. Instead of avoiding your underlying problems, face them head on and try and fix the things are can and accept the things you cannot change.

P6O9B wrote: »

Thank you for the words of advice and encouragement. I took time for myself today to really feel emotions when they come up and I was really surprised that I felt annoyed/angry when a friend yet again asked me to do a favor for them and asked me to drop something off to their sister on the other side of the city at 7:30pm because I have a car and they don't. By the time I got back my dinner had gone cold and reheated salad felafel is not so great as the salad goes all limp. Usually I wouldn't feel annoyed or angry I would just do what my friend had asked and binge later. I did still drop the stuff off but at least I let myself feel entitled to be annoyed and to have the feeling (of course I didn't let anyone else see I was feeling this). So thank you to everyone who has given me the encouragement and advice to take the first steps today into feeling feelings I would normally push away.

Don't beat yourself up. Be kind to yourself. Log everything you eat and be honest with yourself. If you feel like having a binge, go for a walk, take a hot bath, papmper yourself and try and take your mind off food. Drink lots of water to curb your hunger. Theres a lot of great advice from all the above members, take it.

Oh, and also drink a glass of water every hour if you can. That helps me too.

I'm a binge eater. It started after I had my 2nd child in may of last year. I don't know why I do it. It's something I'm struggling with myself. I'll do great all day, then nighttime comes and it's like I'm possessed by a starving demon. I'll eat around 1000 calories. I eat so much I feel sick. Then I feel ashamed that I did it. For the past 2 days, I have not binged. I made myself a nice little chart with the title "days binge free" and so far I have 2 checks. I'm trying really hard. I got rid of any trigger foods (cake, cookies, ice cream, chocolate ) so try getting rid of your trigger foods. If it's not there you can't eat it. Also you're more than welcome to add me and we can help each other through this fight.