How do I stop the weekend binge eating cycle?
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ClosetBayesian wrote: »1. Are you restricting too much during the week?
2. Food is neither good nir bad. Weight loss is not moralistic. You are not "good" during the week and "bad" when you eat more than you need to.
3. Try this: for a week, pre-log everything you eat in a day, either that morning or the night before. Start your log with a piece of chocolate - a square of Dove, for example; you don't need to eat it for breakfast (unless you want to, I suppose), then build tbe rest of your calories (or macros, whichever) around that one piece of chocolate. When you do eat it - and this is important - enjoy every second of it, and acknowledge that you're going to have another piece tomorrow .
It takes time to get out of the "I can't have that because it's bad" mindset; eating it on a regular basis helps get rid of the "forbidden food " aspect. Additionally, pre-logging and planning your day around something makes you conscious of the fact that you have control over what you eat.
I am very strict during the week! I eat a lot of protein, veggies, drink plenty of water...usually always stay within my calorie range. I always plan a treat night Friday night for my son and I. Its usually pizza and a couple beers for me. Treat night, though turns into treat weekend and before you know it I'm back into the binge cycle until Sunday or Monday! I really hate the cycle! It make me so mad that let myself get so out of control!0 -
I eat at maintenance on Friday and Saturday nights when eating out, typically. If I'm staying home, I usually don't have too much trouble staying at a deficit. It really is about creating different habits than those that made you overweight in the first place. I've also been doing intermittent fasting, which has helped me tremendously with my night bingeing. I'm doing a 16:8, which means fasting for 16 hours and an 8 hour window that I eat all my calories in, so 1-9 for example. I like eating larger meals, so this has been great for me.1
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[1] Yes, not having it in the house [2] Have something to do with your hands when you are at your friends (I know people who knit/sketch/et)c - might prevent you from overdoing snacking at those places due to boredom.1
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cartersmom06 wrote: »Thanks to everyone for your very helpful advice! I am gonna plan for the weekend and keep the junk out of the house! If its not in the house, I won't be tempted! I will let you know how it goes!
Reaching your goal weight is only half of the weight loss battle. The other half is learning how to maintain a healthy weight for the rest of your life. Overly restrictive diets are generally a bad idea because they teach you nothing about moderation or weight maintenance. Cutting out the foods you enjoy makes losing weight a miserable process and more importantly, it leads to cravings, which lead to binges.
So unless you plan on living the rest of your life without the foods you enjoy, I think this is a bad idea that will likely set you up to fail. It's better to learn how to moderate your intake of treats, as many have suggested upthread.
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For some it's best not to have any splurge meals, but I can't do that. I get very creative with my healthy recipes. Pintrest is my friend, and a lot of the recipes are delicious so I have less cravings for junk. Also for me, I allow myself 1 and strictly 1 splurge meal a week. I normally save the 1 meal for the weekend and get excited. I actually plan my splurge meal. I may be craving pizza, so I go out and have a couple slices (no doggy bags for later), this week will probably be steak with cheese fries, etc. Everyone is different, but this seems to work best for me
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cartersmom06 wrote: »ClosetBayesian wrote: »1. Are you restricting too much during the week?
2. Food is neither good nir bad. Weight loss is not moralistic. You are not "good" during the week and "bad" when you eat more than you need to.
3. Try this: for a week, pre-log everything you eat in a day, either that morning or the night before. Start your log with a piece of chocolate - a square of Dove, for example; you don't need to eat it for breakfast (unless you want to, I suppose), then build tbe rest of your calories (or macros, whichever) around that one piece of chocolate. When you do eat it - and this is important - enjoy every second of it, and acknowledge that you're going to have another piece tomorrow .
It takes time to get out of the "I can't have that because it's bad" mindset; eating it on a regular basis helps get rid of the "forbidden food " aspect. Additionally, pre-logging and planning your day around something makes you conscious of the fact that you have control over what you eat.
I am very strict during the week! I eat a lot of protein, veggies, drink plenty of water...usually always stay within my calorie range. I always plan a treat night Friday night for my son and I. Its usually pizza and a couple beers for me. Treat night, though turns into treat weekend and before you know it I'm back into the binge cycle until Sunday or Monday! I really hate the cycle! It make me so mad that let myself get so out of control!
I'm certainly not a counselor, but this sounds like there's an underlying issue why you're (as you say) "out of control". Maybe consider a bit of counseling or therapy to understand why you're self-sabotaging like this. If you're good all week then you certainly have the tools to be successful.2 -
CafeRacer808 wrote: »cartersmom06 wrote: »Thanks to everyone for your very helpful advice! I am gonna plan for the weekend and keep the junk out of the house! If its not in the house, I won't be tempted! I will let you know how it goes!
Reaching your goal weight is only half of the weight loss battle. The other half is learning how to maintain a healthy weight for the rest of your life. Overly restrictive diets are generally a bad idea because they teach you nothing about moderation or weight maintenance. Cutting out the foods you enjoy makes losing weight a miserable process and more importantly, it leads to cravings, which lead to binges.
So unless you plan on living the rest of your life without the foods you enjoy, I think this is a bad idea that will likely set you up to fail. It's better to learn how to moderate your intake of treats, as many have suggested upthread.
You are so right! That is probably why I binge! I need to get the all or nothing mentality out of my head! This is a lifestyle not a diet...1 -
CafeRacer808 wrote: »Perhaps you're being too restrictive with the foods you enjoy during the week? Figure out how many calories of "treats" you consume during a normal weekend, reduce that number to an amount that fits into your weekly calorie goal, and spread those treats out throughout the week.
Once you reach your goal weight, moderation will become a fact of life, so you might as well start working on that skill now.
This. Try eating what you're drawn to on the weekends during the week. Just keep an eye on calorie intake and make sure you're following serving sizes (so you know how many calories you're eating). Also, depending on how many calories you have a day you can also eat a little less during the week days and roll the extra calories to the weekends to accommodate the alcohol One beer is usually 200 calories or less so just 'pro-rate' that throughout the weekdays 1 -
cartersmom06 wrote: »ClosetBayesian wrote: »1. Are you restricting too much during the week?
2. Food is neither good nir bad. Weight loss is not moralistic. You are not "good" during the week and "bad" when you eat more than you need to.
3. Try this: for a week, pre-log everything you eat in a day, either that morning or the night before. Start your log with a piece of chocolate - a square of Dove, for example; you don't need to eat it for breakfast (unless you want to, I suppose), then build tbe rest of your calories (or macros, whichever) around that one piece of chocolate. When you do eat it - and this is important - enjoy every second of it, and acknowledge that you're going to have another piece tomorrow .
It takes time to get out of the "I can't have that because it's bad" mindset; eating it on a regular basis helps get rid of the "forbidden food " aspect. Additionally, pre-logging and planning your day around something makes you conscious of the fact that you have control over what you eat.
I am very strict during the week! I eat a lot of protein, veggies, drink plenty of water...usually always stay within my calorie range. I always plan a treat night Friday night for my son and I. Its usually pizza and a couple beers for me. Treat night, though turns into treat weekend and before you know it I'm back into the binge cycle until Sunday or Monday! I really hate the cycle! It make me so mad that let myself get so out of control!
That is probably part of the problem.2 -
It's helpful to not have the really tempting stuff around the house (for me self control is an issue with certain foods)..but I will buy single servings of them when I'm out (especially after a run). The quickie mart/bodega/candy shop will generally have more options for single servings of treat items (cheese, snack cakes, ice cream novelties, sponge candy, etc) than the supermarket will.1
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RaeBeeBaby wrote: »cartersmom06 wrote: »ClosetBayesian wrote: »1. Are you restricting too much during the week?
2. Food is neither good nir bad. Weight loss is not moralistic. You are not "good" during the week and "bad" when you eat more than you need to.
3. Try this: for a week, pre-log everything you eat in a day, either that morning or the night before. Start your log with a piece of chocolate - a square of Dove, for example; you don't need to eat it for breakfast (unless you want to, I suppose), then build tbe rest of your calories (or macros, whichever) around that one piece of chocolate. When you do eat it - and this is important - enjoy every second of it, and acknowledge that you're going to have another piece tomorrow .
It takes time to get out of the "I can't have that because it's bad" mindset; eating it on a regular basis helps get rid of the "forbidden food " aspect. Additionally, pre-logging and planning your day around something makes you conscious of the fact that you have control over what you eat.
I am very strict during the week! I eat a lot of protein, veggies, drink plenty of water...usually always stay within my calorie range. I always plan a treat night Friday night for my son and I. Its usually pizza and a couple beers for me. Treat night, though turns into treat weekend and before you know it I'm back into the binge cycle until Sunday or Monday! I really hate the cycle! It make me so mad that let myself get so out of control!
I'm certainly not a counselor, but this sounds like there's an underlying issue why you're (as you say) "out of control". Maybe consider a bit of counseling or therapy to understand why you're self-sabotaging like this. If you're good all week then you certainly have the tools to be successful.
Oh ya...lots of underlying issues, but that's a whole other story and very personal! I have seen therapists, but they don't help very much. I have had terrible anxiety since I have been a teenager and am on anti-depressants for panic disorder.0 -
Thanks for all the wonderful comments from this community...you are all amazing!
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