Help! I have started bingeing again!

skinny0000
skinny0000 Posts: 90 Member
edited November 2015 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hi, I am 26 years old. Over the last 1-2 year I have lost a little over 100 pounds. I cured my sleep apnea. I felt better. I thought all of these things would be enough motivation to keep me going. But now I am struggling with binge eating and portion sizes, fat content, all of the things that I thought I had put behind me. I rarely go a day where I log everything. Help! Is anyone else struggling in this way?
I was down to 240 and now I am hovering around 255

Replies

  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    Make a list of the things you feel you're losing control over. Then pick one to focus on. Give yourself a few days (or longer depending on how much effort it takes) to focus on that, and then add another item from your list. Repeat...
  • wearmi1
    wearmi1 Posts: 291 Member
    Don't put yourself around the things that you like to binge on.... I for instance have no self control and will eat an entire bag of potato chips... so I don't buy them. So there's no temptation. If it's not around to eat, you can't over eat it. Good luck!
  • Raynne413
    Raynne413 Posts: 1,527 Member
    Unfortunately I have a lot of experience with binging, and people that haven't ever had the issue don't understand how HARD it is to stop or redirect when the urge starts. It's not just a matter of self control.

    I started out losing weight by only counting calories when I was 300 lbs, and I was eating 1500 calories a day. Then I moved to only counting calories and eating 1200 calories a day. Then I plateaued and added exercise. Eventually I moved to eating around 1000 calories and working out for around 3 hours a day when I could manage it. I thought, well, if a little exercise is good, more must be better. And if 1200 calories was good, less must be better. On top of that, I was eating very little fat. I was good for about a year, and ended up losing down to around 110. Then, out of nowhere, uncontrollable binges would start. I would go crazy with anything that contained carbs and fat. And then after my binges, I would go crazy again with over restricting and over exercising to "make up" for those binges. I got desperate because I was gaining weight back, and I just couldn't get out of the cycle, so I decided to get help (with the strong urging of several friends).

    I ended up seeing a nutritionist that specialized in eating disorders. She taught me several things that were a BIG help. The first thing was that I was sleep deprived because I was getting up at 4 am to work out, but going to bed around midnight (I had just started dating my boyfriend). Being sleep deprived can make you crave carbs. The second was that my body was going crazy craving carbs and fat because I was expending energy like crazy, but never replenishing. I needed to start eating more, and working out less.

    It's still hard to find a balance, but as long as I listened to her AND listen to my body, I have very little issues now. The below is what I try to keep in mind, and what I suggest for anyone else having problems:

    1) Make sure you get enough sleep
    2) Make sure you are eating enough (especially enough fat)
    3) Don't over exercise, and make sure you eat enough for you level of activity
    4) DON'T try to "make up" for binges.

    Also, I've found the best thing for my binge urges, besides not working out too much, is doing keto. As long as I keep my fat high, I am generally good.
  • skinny0000
    skinny0000 Posts: 90 Member
    Thank you everyone so far! These are all really helpful hints.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Log everything. It's the first step.

    I have those 'binges' two days a month too, when I have PMS (although in my case I guess I just eat to make my hormonal hunger go away, so it's still relatively controlled, even if it's a LOT of food). But I log everything.. and it's often ugly. Makes me feel awful every time too,but I guess that's what keeps me on track the rest of the time.
  • DrewHardy
    DrewHardy Posts: 6 Member
    Journal your feelings to help get to the root of what has caused you to loose focus of reaching your goals. :)
  • andyluvv
    andyluvv Posts: 281 Member
    Raynne413 wrote: »
    Unfortunately I have a lot of experience with binging, and people that haven't ever had the issue don't understand how HARD it is to stop or redirect when the urge starts. It's not just a matter of self control.

    I started out losing weight by only counting calories when I was 300 lbs, and I was eating 1500 calories a day. Then I moved to only counting calories and eating 1200 calories a day. Then I plateaued and added exercise. Eventually I moved to eating around 1000 calories and working out for around 3 hours a day when I could manage it. I thought, well, if a little exercise is good, more must be better. And if 1200 calories was good, less must be better. On top of that, I was eating very little fat. I was good for about a year, and ended up losing down to around 110. Then, out of nowhere, uncontrollable binges would start. I would go crazy with anything that contained carbs and fat. And then after my binges, I would go crazy again with over restricting and over exercising to "make up" for those binges. I got desperate because I was gaining weight back, and I just couldn't get out of the cycle, so I decided to get help (with the strong urging of several friends).

    I ended up seeing a nutritionist that specialized in eating disorders. She taught me several things that were a BIG help. The first thing was that I was sleep deprived because I was getting up at 4 am to work out, but going to bed around midnight (I had just started dating my boyfriend). Being sleep deprived can make you crave carbs. The second was that my body was going crazy craving carbs and fat because I was expending energy like crazy, but never replenishing. I needed to start eating more, and working out less.

    It's still hard to find a balance, but as long as I listened to her AND listen to my body, I have very little issues now. The below is what I try to keep in mind, and what I suggest for anyone else having problems:

    1) Make sure you get enough sleep
    2) Make sure you are eating enough (especially enough fat)
    3) Don't over exercise, and make sure you eat enough for you level of activity
    4) DON'T try to "make up" for binges.

    Also, I've found the best thing for my binge urges, besides not working out too much, is doing keto. As long as I keep my fat high, I am generally good.

    Thank you so much for sharing this and I hope it'll be useful to other people as it was for me!I find that I binge I'd having too many days on low calorie intake so all that makes sense. Thanks!
  • Raynne413
    Raynne413 Posts: 1,527 Member
    andyluvv wrote: »
    Raynne413 wrote: »
    Unfortunately I have a lot of experience with binging, and people that haven't ever had the issue don't understand how HARD it is to stop or redirect when the urge starts. It's not just a matter of self control.

    I started out losing weight by only counting calories when I was 300 lbs, and I was eating 1500 calories a day. Then I moved to only counting calories and eating 1200 calories a day. Then I plateaued and added exercise. Eventually I moved to eating around 1000 calories and working out for around 3 hours a day when I could manage it. I thought, well, if a little exercise is good, more must be better. And if 1200 calories was good, less must be better. On top of that, I was eating very little fat. I was good for about a year, and ended up losing down to around 110. Then, out of nowhere, uncontrollable binges would start. I would go crazy with anything that contained carbs and fat. And then after my binges, I would go crazy again with over restricting and over exercising to "make up" for those binges. I got desperate because I was gaining weight back, and I just couldn't get out of the cycle, so I decided to get help (with the strong urging of several friends).

    I ended up seeing a nutritionist that specialized in eating disorders. She taught me several things that were a BIG help. The first thing was that I was sleep deprived because I was getting up at 4 am to work out, but going to bed around midnight (I had just started dating my boyfriend). Being sleep deprived can make you crave carbs. The second was that my body was going crazy craving carbs and fat because I was expending energy like crazy, but never replenishing. I needed to start eating more, and working out less.

    It's still hard to find a balance, but as long as I listened to her AND listen to my body, I have very little issues now. The below is what I try to keep in mind, and what I suggest for anyone else having problems:

    1) Make sure you get enough sleep
    2) Make sure you are eating enough (especially enough fat)
    3) Don't over exercise, and make sure you eat enough for you level of activity
    4) DON'T try to "make up" for binges.

    Also, I've found the best thing for my binge urges, besides not working out too much, is doing keto. As long as I keep my fat high, I am generally good.

    Thank you so much for sharing this and I hope it'll be useful to other people as it was for me!I find that I binge I'd having too many days on low calorie intake so all that makes sense. Thanks!

    You are very welcome. I just hope my bad experience can prevent others from going through the same thing.

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