Binge eating!!!!

I am also a binge eater. I am really good for weeks then out of the blue I will just eat anything that isnt nailed down! I try not to have too many treats in as I tend to binge on sweet things. Sometimes it happens after a week where I have cycled more than usual. I have tried many things, brushing teeth, taking dogs out, early bed but last week I managed to not binge on Saturday and felt really good, then on Sunday I went mad ! Then felt ill for 2 days. Good luck xx

Actually it was total food but some missing (I forgot about the birthday chocolate (another 500 cals) I also under estimated cashew nuts by 60grams )
Oh well- back to being good today
Although my head is screaming EAT EAT EAT

I do it too. For me it's stress and boredom eating mostly. I don't keep much in the house but there are still thinks I keep because I do eat them (peanut butter and peanuts) that I will also binge on. Sometimes I'm great measuring, other times I keep going back for more. Feel free to add me

Look up binge eating on qualified sites written by experts. It is defined as eating HUGE amounts food and completely unable to control yourself. Diet and food disorder experts all agree that when we restrict ourselves it typically creates a desire to overeat. Over eating is one thing. A true binge disorder is somewhat rare although many classifies themselves as having this disorder. It does exist but before classifying yourself with this disorder, it is important to be diagnosed by an eating disorders expert.

Here are some tips from my multiy year binge eating experience. I can elaborate on more if need be:)

First, admit there was a problem. For three going on four years, I blamed externals, my drive, and my dreams for my actions. Ignoring people in my life hinting at me that I may have a problem, including family, close friends, and girlfriend. I lied to myself, rationalizing it with the mask of a cheat meal. As the punishment for binging increased so did the amount of times I binged. At first once a week, then every couple days, every other, until it consumed my thoughts. At times I would drive to Walmart just to eat it all before coming home. Chances are if you are reading this it is because you are looking for help. Good for you, you are lightyears ahead of where I was!

Second, I learned to love myself for me, as a matter of fact I am still learning how to do this. Today, the emulated physique is seen as happiness. It is published on social media, magazines, and posters as the symbol of happiness. I believed it, I chased it and chased it. I had it for some time and I was still just as miserable. How you look will not make you happy! Now don’t twist those words as an excuse to just let ourselves become overweight. Chances are you will break step 1 which is lying and rationalizing it. We have to learn to accept our imperfections. We all have them and everyone tries to hide them. Here are my flaws (some I can fix, others are what they are):
Relationships: I am aweful. I wrecked a 15 year friendship with a highschool sweetheart, I was selfish and an *kitten*. I can also be abrasive and brutal with little to no compassion. However ever since I shared this personal story, I have gotten better. Although I am by no means finished working on this.
Skin Damage: I never wore sunscreen as a kid. Now I have moles, freckles, and scars. Some I wish weren’t there. Some girls won’t talk to me because of them. I am not “sexy” enough. They aren’t “interested”.

Don’t let your imperfections stop you from loving yourself. You are the only you this world will ever see, embrace yourself. Perhaps the worst thing about this cycle was I hated myself, I hated my life, I did not want to look in the mirror, I thought I was a failure that I would never make it, I contemplated suicide. When I would binge, I would punish myself. Don’t do that we are human, life is meant to be enjoyed. Life is much too short to never treat yourself to what you love to eat whatever that maybe for you. Look yourself in the mirror directly into your eyes saying “I LOVE myself” at least 10 times a day, if not more. P.S. try not to smile when you say this (harder than you think).

Thirdly, there is no such thing as good food, bad food. Placing labels on food, leads us to ban them from our intake. We say, “No, No, No, No, No…” We push for the perfect diet, once we eat this food that does not fall into this neat diet box; we throw our hands up, saying we failed so now is the time to eat everything we can. This leads to punishment. Which leads to more restrictions. This is the vicious cycle we as binge eaters face. I used to believe it myself, that there was clean food and bad food. It simply is this manifested idea. If you ask a vegan, he/she will say animal based foods are not clean. Someone who is a vegetarian will disagree, and say it is just animal products that are not clean. Then a paleo guy runs in screaming about how meat is clean, but grains aren’t. So someone has to be right? They are all wrong. Instead, adopt my grandmother’s wise old adage of “everything in moderation.”

Fourth, going along the lines of moderation. You can eat whatever you want just not all at once. I believe I heard Layne Norton say this, I believe this, like the 11th commandment, in fact it should be an amendment to the constitution. When I first began to escape cycle, I would eat one “treat” at every meal. Nothing crazy, but it will allow you still get your “fix” but you won’t binge on it. Any action in the right direction gave me more motivation and encouragement to keep improving. The small wins kept snowballing into large victories later that slammed the door on binging. Disclaimer, it is wiser to eat this food item from a plate not from the container. Don’t test your will to fight binging if you do not have too. As the old saying goes, “work smarter, not harder.”

Fifth, no more crazy spreadsheets and tracking of nutrients line item by line item like an accountant. I did not worry about counting calories and the works. I would instead eat (3) meals, breakfast, lunch and supper possibly a snack if I was hungry. I would eat slowly, and as I began to feel fuller I would stop eating. You may be like me and scared that you’ll get fat. Well what is our other choice? We can keep binge eating which is not working, because you wouldn’t be reading this. Or we can reach out and try something new. I need to be conscious of my eating, instead of speed eating (still struggle at times).

Sixth, 180, 190, 160, 225, 200…what number was it going to be today I thought I as I closed my eyes scared to look down at the scale after a night of binging (these were all weights I reached during this cycle). You do not need a scale to help you. It’s about small wins, small wins, they add up trust me; I have been there too. Most people overestimate the damage of a binge. You need to eat in excess of 3500 calories over your normal intake to gain a pound of fat. It is not as bad as we create in our minds. Additionally, when we stand on the scale after a binge our body is bloated, full of food, sodium, and other goodies. This only compounds the guilt feeling.

It is your lucky day! I said six, but here is a seventh tip. So, what about eating at restaurants and parties? Parties were my kryptonite, the amount of food that I saw and I thought I had to eat three people’s worth of everything. What helped me to win at parties was I made this a game in my head (who cares no one else knows..plus now you know I did it). I am very competitive; I hate losing even if it’s go fish with a girlfriend (I will be a terrible father I will never let my kids win). Since eating slower and not getting seconds was a struggle at first. The game I created was to be the last one done eating, and the last one to get seconds. This helped me in many ways, first to help me eat slower I talked with people, this helped to repair the relationships I had damaged in the past, plus I was not over eating (win/win). Which is why I was last to get seconds, so often I would eat so quick that my stomach didn’t even know it was fed until I was already 4-5 plates of heaping food deep.

Make that eight, workout for fun! For so long in this process I trained for results no I do not mean goals; I simply worked out to look good that’s it! It was the complete wrong direction, it made training no fun, I dreaded every gym session, and was having a miserable time. It doesn’t matter if you are into bodybuilding, figure, physique, cross fit, powerlifting, strongman, marathons, etc. just train for fun, train to get better and challenge yourself. For me this was powerlifting.

shaunafrica2 wrote: »

Moring to all of you wonderfull people thank you for replying and please dont stop katiestenton you are more than welcome to be friends with us so we can all learn and help eachother jeromebarry1 my calorie dificit was not anymore after my feast here is wat i ate on sunday after the whole day of good eating tracking my macros and everythin,however 18:00 came
10 oreos
10 topper biscuits
1 nougat bar 100g
2 tbsp peanut butter

Thats what i ate but after last nights training i did cardio and weight training and i still feel bloated and "fat" before the binge i weighed 191lb and after it i weighed 193 lb not fun at all.

Bellabonbons thank you i really thought in my mind i had a disorder and was in serious trouble I hope not.

While @jahillegas_51 wrote the final word on binge eating, and bravo to him for it, your list of off-plan additions for a Sunday night don't look like a binge to me. 10 Oreos is more than one serving, but it's not the whole bag. You stopped. Binge sufferers don't stop. Likewise for the other items. You indulged, and you stopped. Don't do self-loathing over this. If the issue is that you were in an unusual circumstance with those foods available, learn from it. It's not the end of a good health journey. Speaking of journeys, your car gets better fuel economy when it's rolling along at a steady highway speed. You don't burn the car just because you come to red light, do you? Don't beat yourself up over a rare day of retrograde nutritional progress.

JeromeBarry1 wrote: »

shaunafrica2 wrote: »

Moring to all of you wonderfull people thank you for replying and please dont stop katiestenton you are more than welcome to be friends with us so we can all learn and help eachother jeromebarry1 my calorie dificit was not anymore after my feast here is wat i ate on sunday after the whole day of good eating tracking my macros and everythin,however 18:00 came
10 oreos
10 topper biscuits
1 nougat bar 100g
2 tbsp peanut butter

Thats what i ate but after last nights training i did cardio and weight training and i still feel bloated and "fat" before the binge i weighed 191lb and after it i weighed 193 lb not fun at all.

Bellabonbons thank you i really thought in my mind i had a disorder and was in serious trouble I hope not.

While @jahillegas_51 wrote the final word on binge eating, and bravo to him for it, your list of off-plan additions for a Sunday night don't look like a binge to me. 10 Oreos is more than one serving, but it's not the whole bag. You stopped. Binge sufferers don't stop. Likewise for the other items. You indulged, and you stopped. Don't do self-loathing over this. If the issue is that you were in an unusual circumstance with those foods available, learn from it. It's not the end of a good health journey. Speaking of journeys, your car gets better fuel economy when it's rolling along at a steady highway speed. You don't burn the car just because you come to red light, do you? Don't beat yourself up over a rare day of retrograde nutritional progress.

Correct, I agree with JeromeBarry1! Although, I have not been a habitual binge eater in over a year. I still sometimes will slide into my old ways, just now I am better at halting that train before it gets rolling like you did.

The best time to stop overeating is now. And the next best time is the next bite. Its hard as hell I get that, sometimes you just need to walk away. It sounds silly, stupid whatever, but the reality it works. We are humans and our willpower is only so strong, regardlesss of who you are it all fails us at some point. Testing that will power everyday till the point of stress will not end well.

Saving the best for last. Guess what its okay to go over your macros, you are not going to die, your not going to gain a ton of fat overnight. Sure, you may weigh heavier the next day, but 2-3 days later of hitting the targets your back down all things staying constant. For example, (2) weeks ago I went to all you can eat wings...I ate 50:) It was damn good and I loved it. I have not done that in years with some buddies during my whole clean eating/binging phase..

Going in I knew that I would well go over my macro limit, that my weight would increase, and I was okay with that. Its temporary and 2-3 days later I am back down. Life is to short to get so stuck to hitting the same weight everyday. I can go on a rant and I did a while back in this video about how, having abs or a certain weight will not make you happy.

I could go further, but thats all for today:) Keeping dominating man!!

@mom23mangos Thanks:))