serious binge eating..

Try talking to a therapist. She/he will be able to teach you techniques that help you deal with the emotional issues in a healthy way and not turn to food everytime you get stressed/upset. I am doing this in combination with seeing a therapist and I believe that it is a good combo. A lot of my bad food behaviors were learned at a young age. Learned behaviors take time to unlearn.

PS - remember, you are not alone!

I totally second the therapist suggestion.

And between now and then, get rid of the junk you have access to. When you want to binge, binge on carrots. You will be sick before you do too much dammage. Before you go out to buy food when you are not hungry, call a friend or another supportive person, or send a message to a friend on MFP, anything to give yourself time to change your own mind between the impulse and the action of eating.

HTH.

I had the same kinda issues. Not so much with fast food, but bread, butter and crisps. I could literally sit and eat 4 packets of crisps with 4 slices of bread 3 times over...i.e. finish the first lot and grab a second and a third helping...so I would total maybe 12 slices of bread or toast with a topping plus maybe 10-12 packets of crisps and eat until I felt ill. I wouldn't be gorging or anything, it would take a few hours to get through that lot and I'd do it whilst reading or watching TV. It was kinda like I was doing it without thinking...the hand to mouth habit.

I was diagnosed with binge eating disorder about 6-7 months ago.

The trick for me was identifying why I used food as a comfort. I had some sessions with a counsellor who came to the conclusion that I used food as a way of numbing down feelings. So then I had to work out what those feelings were and work through those issues too. Took me a long time and a lot of self help books to unravel all my issues but I think I'm pretty much there as far as understanding why I use food in the same way another may use drugs or alcohol.

The only time I get the urge to eat when I'm not hungry now is when I'm bored or occasionally when I get triggered for example by the TV or when reading. Habits are hard to break.

Have you tried keeping a diary? When you get the urge to binge write down the day, the time, what you were doing when the urge hit, how you felt about yourself that day, your mood etc...Eventually you may start to see a pattern and be able to pinpoint the problem.

I totally know what you're going through. I lost nearly 20 lbs from March to May and then spent the better part of the last month binging like I was having my last meal. I must've been eating upwards of 6000 cals a day and I'm not even joking. Surprise surprise, I've put back on almost every pound I'd lost. Like you, I'd start off doing really well and for some reason or another it'd all go pear shaped and I'd binge in the evening.

I find restricting too much sets off a binge and so the last month I've gone back and forth between extreme restriction and massive binges - diet to counter the binge, then binge because it's too restrictive. I think you really just have to wash your hands of the past and start afresh with a reasonable weight loss goal if you want to stop the cycle. I've reset mine to 1 lb a week because 2 lbs obviously wasn't working for me. Of course I'd like to lose faster but realistically I'll gain instead, so I could either 'only' lose 4 lbs a month or I could gain probably twice that by pushing myself too hard. I know which I'd prefer!

You are not alone. I have been going through the 1-3 week cycle for the past couple of months.

My boyfriend told me that I am consistent at being inconsistent and I don't give my body a chance to adapt to new routines.

I know that I can be too rigid with my food and that usually leads to a binge or an unhealthy choice. I'm trying to work things like frozen yogurt or dark chocolate into my menu so I don't feel deprived or if I have a sweet I don't feel that I've done something wrong or eaten something bad.

Giving up is not an option.

Karen

This was suggested by a yoga master to me when i approached him with this problem. The best way to undo the binge eating ( only if its 1 meal) is to use a laxative ( optional) that night so all the food gets out of the system in the morning. OR fast the next day ( skip breakfast and lunch so that the food you ate the previous evening is all burnt out) and have something light ( low in fats) in the evening.

If you eat the next morning, our body will use the food that you had for breakfast and all of the fatty food you had the previous night will convert into fats and accumulate in the body.

I hope this suggestion will help. It always makes me feel better when I do this because I know I cannot quit binge eating. I also enjoy eating like that but I feel better the next day as I know I am doing my best to minimize the effect of all that food.

All the best!!

I can totally relate to this. I am just recently working on not binge eating everyday anymore. Working out has really helped me because I keep asking myself why I would want to re-eat all of those calories I just burned. Baby steps. This problem really requires substituting something else for the food that you are eating. Maybe binge on something healthier instead....my choice has been watermelon and grapes. Now don't get me wrong, it is not an overnight transformation. I have just recently been better at it and still "let" myself do it at least once a week....usually on a Friday. I tell myself that I did it Friday or that I WILL do it Friday and that has helped me stop doing it every day. I hope to one day not look forward to Friday anymore and take the feelings of regret and hatred towards myself with it. I knew that was not a healthy way to live and I had to find a way around it. Some people will tell you to "just not do it" but those people won't understand the compulsion.

I am still working on it and sometimes the things I want to eat just turn over and over in my head until I go to sleep at night. I haven't lost any weight, but I know that it will take time. Good luck! I hope things work out for you.

You can do it girl......I am the same way I do good & then I fall off the wagon! I exercise like a fool and still can't lose it's discouraging-trust me I know!

okay, so i'm a HUGE binge eater. i'm pretty sure i've linked it to stress and emotinal issues, but for some reason i can't seem to stop it!

i'm not talking about eating a few chips, or having a bowl of ice cream. i will indulge in a whole meal, usually something TOTALLY unhealthy (fast food, pizza, ramen noodles, cookies), and eat until i feel like i'm going to throw up.

if you look at my food diary you will see that yesterday i was doing really well. i ate dinner before i went to class at 6 and i got home around 9, and i went and got a 4 pc. chicken strip basket from DQ. WTF! i don't understand. i want to be skinny so bad and after i eat like that all i want to do is cry. i sit there and talk about how much of a failure i am and how disgusting i am and how disgusting it is that i eat so much at one time.

so has anyone else had this problem? or have any tips or advice for me? i can do really good for usually about 1-3 weeks and then i fall off, have a bad week or 2, and then on again for 1-3 weeks. i want to just be able to consistently eat healthy and exercise and quit the binge eating! i'm so frustrated!

I understand the feeling. I have binged to the point of actually making myself throw up (not on purpose), then eating again! It's a psychological issue - just like alcoholism. When I finally admitted this to myself I ended up going to a psychiatrist and AA meetings. This has helped me stay "on-the-wagon" for 2 months now! My main focus everyday is controlling my food intake - doesn't really matter if I lose weight so long as I don't binge.

Binge eating is not at all unusual. If I were to tell you about some of my binges, they would scare you silly. It probably IS related to stress, or boredom, or any number of emotions that you are trying to suppress. If you can, I strongly advise counseling. Without it I would not have lost the weight I have. And this wasn't the kind of scraping through my past, what did my parents do to me kind of counseling. It's called "Cognitive Behavior Therapy" and it's about changing the way you THINK about things to enable you to reach a result. It is working for me.

A book that will give you a little overview of this and help you a little (I really did find the one-on-one with the therapist helpful) is called "The Beck Diet Solution" by Judith Beck.

This was suggested by a yoga master to me when i approached him with this problem. The best way to undo the binge eating ( only if its 1 meal) is to use a laxative ( optional) that night so all the food gets out of the system in the morning. OR fast the next day ( skip breakfast and lunch so that the food you ate the previous evening is all burnt out) and have something light ( low in fats) in the evening.

If you eat the next morning, our body will use the food that you had for breakfast and all of the fatty food you had the previous night will convert into fats and accumulate in the body.

I hope this suggestion will help. It always makes me feel better when I do this because I know I cannot quit binge eating. I also enjoy eating like that but I feel better the next day as I know I am doing my best to minimize the effect of all that food.

All the best!!

No offense to the poster, but you've been given some very bad advice. Yoga instructors are not medical professionals and this is a really bad idea. You cannot undo the damage of a binge by using laxatives to "purge". Laxatives make it easier to go by adding more water to your stools. They don't push the food through your system any faster. By the time you excrete the food, you've already absorbed all of the nutrients and calories.

Laxative abuse is not any better than the binging which, for some, brings about the use of the laxatives. You're doing your body a disservice by using them when they aren't needed, too. It is actually possible to become addicted to them to the point where you can't go regularly without them. Laxatives should be used sparingly and only when needed.

Agh sorry, my quote is at the bottom of the previous post.