Unplanned Eating/Borderline Binge

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spacelump
spacelump Posts: 233 Member
in Food and Nutrition
How do you feel, what do you tell yourself when you've eaten whatever you perceive as 'too much'? It's all too easy to want to throw in the towel or shame oneself, but how unproductive and unkind to do so to oneself.

I'll say ahead of time I am very aware of how to avoid binges and not looking for advice in those regards.

Honestly. I would like to learn healthy coping skills around feelings of failure when these binges do occasionally occur. How does one negate their mistake? I find it's an unhealthy pattern for me if I aim to restrict calories or over workout to compensate.

Guess I'm not sure what the wise thing is to do. Thank you all in advance.

Replies

  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    Try to let it go. I use deep breathing (belly breathing) to help regulate emotions:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uxbdx-SeOOo&index=10&list=PLhiNtEBsgk1QROKO-EmhYAPvWwz5d2a7y
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd94Gh4lKOA&index=9&list=PLhiNtEBsgk1QROKO-EmhYAPvWwz5d2a7y
  • anitaghigi
    anitaghigi Posts: 13 Member
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    I make a list of alternate activities that I enjoy and focus on those after I feel that I have eaten too much. I write in my journal about any feelings I have associated with the episode of over eating. I pray for strength to make better choices in the future. I tell myself that this is a life style change and that it did not take a short period of time to develop the pattern of over eating, so I can not be perfect with eating all the time. Calling a supportive friend that will listen to your feelings without judgement is a good idea. I tell myself that I can make the next best good choice for myself and that means not giving up. I also accept that in this instance I made some poor choices but also acknowledge the good choices that I have made recently. I tell myself that I will be successful and not give up. Then I plan upcoming meals and let the thought that I screwed up pass. The way I do this is to again focus on the progress I have made and remember the days when I followed my eating plan and went to exercise even when I didn't particularly feel motivated to do so. I remember that I will have really good days again. Hope some of this helps.
  • ModernRock
    ModernRock Posts: 372 Member
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    spacelump wrote: »
    How do you feel, what do you tell yourself when you've eaten whatever you perceive as 'too much'? .........I would like to learn healthy coping skills around feelings of failure when these binges do occasionally occur.

    I've learned how to do a lot of things, and several of them I do pretty well, but not one of them did I learn without making a lot of mistakes. Why should learning new eating habits be any different?
  • Azuriaz
    Azuriaz Posts: 785 Member
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    If I only overeat one day I usually get a nice spike of energy next day, so I use it to get off on the right foot (so to speak) for getting back into weight loss mode.

    If I overeat crap foods two days in a row it's a lot harder because on day 3 I have zero energy and mad cravings. Which is more incentive to make sure I don't do that to myself.

    So my advice: Keep it to one day and get out the next day and use any energy boost it gives you to workout extra (just don't overdo and injure yourself!)
  • louubelle16
    louubelle16 Posts: 579 Member
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    I try to use the energy to fuel an epic workout the next day, it turns a negative into a positive! You do have accept that bad meals/binges happen, but that doesn't mean you or your diet have to be defined by it.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    I log them, then eat more lightly the rest of the day and make sure to stick to my deficit the next couple days. Believe me, I'm the queen of high calorie days... but it really doesn't break a diet. I've maintained my 80 pounds loss for over a year and I have 2500-3000 calorie days pretty much every other week.

    But yes, I log them, then I do the math. Even if you ate 1000 extra calories, you'll make up for it in 2 days of 500 deficit... seriously not the end of the world. Just can't do that every day, obviously.
  • spacelump
    spacelump Posts: 233 Member
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    anitaghigi wrote: »
    I make a list of alternate activities that I enjoy and focus on those after I feel that I have eaten too much. I write in my journal about any feelings I have associated with the episode of over eating. I pray for strength to make better choices in the future. I tell myself that this is a life style change and that it did not take a short period of time to develop the pattern of over eating, so I can not be perfect with eating all the time. Calling a supportive friend that will listen to your feelings without judgement is a good idea. I tell myself that I can make the next best good choice for myself and that means not giving up. I also accept that in this instance I made some poor choices but also acknowledge the good choices that I have made recently. I tell myself that I will be successful and not give up. Then I plan upcoming meals and let the thought that I screwed up pass. The way I do this is to again focus on the progress I have made and remember the days when I followed my eating plan and went to exercise even when I didn't particularly feel motivated to do so. I remember that I will have really good days again. Hope some of this helps.

    This was what I did today. Thank you. I'm also noticing a trend as I keep track that binges happen every Sunday. It's likely from not eating enough calories throughout the week. I think I'll start planning for a maitnance day.

    Thank you everyone for your advice!

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