Binge Eating Help!

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TayTayDrenDren
TayTayDrenDren Posts: 65 Member
in Motivation and Support
I've never had this problem until maybe a month ago and it's really starting to worry me. It used to happen only every once in a while but now it's happening about once a week and it needs to stop now! I notice it happens after I get home from work at night and even when I try to plan a treat it still happens. I know if the binging continues it can jeopardize my fitness goals. What should I do?

Replies

  • goldenday
    goldenday Posts: 204 Member
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    I don't have personal experience, but I would suggest seeing a therapist to explore the underlying issues here.
  • LaRelicHunter
    LaRelicHunter Posts: 38 Member
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    There is a couple of ways to tackle this.
    It's normal to crave the junk your use to eating.
    What ever your poison is try just tasting a small spoon of it to let the mind get its fix.
    Secondly eat early and go to sleep early.
    If it continues try
    Yogurt light is 90 calories and stops my craving.
    Last resort I look in the mirror and think hard do I really need this?
    Try some exercise before bed if possible.
    Boredom=binging thoughts.
  • TayTayDrenDren
    TayTayDrenDren Posts: 65 Member
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    Here's another thing I notice. I believe I still have a little bit of control whenever I do this because I don't just go binging on everything that I see. I always take time to search around and think about what I want and I don't like eating huge packages of things. It's more like, "I'll have a little bit of this and a little bit of that" but I know it still adds up. It might also be because of my restricted caloric intake which I'm trying to fix through a reverse diet but sometimes after work I'm so tired and hungry that I just say screw it and the cycle continues.
  • igor1187
    igor1187 Posts: 11 Member
    edited February 2017
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    I had the same issue and found what I was missing. It might be the same for you or it might not but this is what I found.

    Look at your macros. I found that I wasn't eating enough protein (only eating an average of 15% of my caloric intake). Adding more protein to my diet reduced those cravings, hunger and urge to keep eating by a whole lot (I aim for 25% of my calories to be protein but usually hit around 20% which is still a big improvement).

    I don't crave chocolates or junk nearly as much as I used to. I don't feel hungry as often as I used to either which has helped the most with my binging. I added more high protein snacks to my diet like greek yogurt, string cheese, protein shake, etc. Things that have a good amount of protein but still relatively low cal.

    You can try the same. Even though you might be within the recommended ball park of your macros, it might not be enough for you and your lifestyle. I'd suggest you play around with those just a bit and try it out for a week or two and see how you feel.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    I went through this last November. I broke it by exercising instead of eating in the evening after my scheduled dinner. That is, I have a couple of cardio machines in my living room. When I recognized a desire to eat the snacks which are in the house because my family like them, I instead hopped up on one of the machines and started exercising, going at least 30 minutes vigorously. That made me forget about that urge to eat, on the one hand, and on the other hand it earned the right to eat something. I made sure to burn exercise calories in excess of what I ate.
  • saintor1
    saintor1 Posts: 376 Member
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    I had a binge eating problem. My strategy was to limit it to a day per two weeks. It worked so well that I no longer 'need' to do that. I still entertain this strategy and try to coordinate with social happenings.
  • kaleebrenner
    kaleebrenner Posts: 8 Member
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    Honestly, I found myself doing this a lot. I had to start packing a snack to eat while I drove home from work, otherwise as soon as I walked in the door I would feel like I was starving and stuff my face with whatever sounded good (which usually was NOT my pre-planned, healthy dinner!). Even just an apple and piece of cheese eaten in the car on the way home would keep me satisfied enough to not binge out on junk when I got home.

    As far as the evenings, that is still a struggle for me. I am always tempted to snack (like you said, graze around the kitchen having a taste of this and that) a few hours after dinner. To avoid this, I have been trying to find activities that either a) engage me mentally so I don't think about snacking or b) find activities that keep me out of the house, like taking a walk (bonus calorie burn!).
  • bethdrc
    bethdrc Posts: 6 Member
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    Thank you for your posts, this is really helpful. After work is my most difficult time also - tired, stressed, my willpower feels sapped from staying on plan all day. Then I get home from work and the house needs cleaning, the kids need help with homework- sometimes I do just want to say "screw it" and eat those unhealthy foods. You guys have given me some strategies - go for a walk, exercise, look in the mirror and ask "do I really need this?" We also started keeping a bowl of fruit on the kitchen counter - if I really want a snack I can have an apple or orange instead
  • TayTayDrenDren
    TayTayDrenDren Posts: 65 Member
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    igor1187 wrote: »
    I had the same issue and found what I was missing. It might be the same for you or it might not but this is what I found.

    Look at your macros. I found that I wasn't eating enough protein (only eating an average of 15% of my caloric intake). Adding more protein to my diet reduced those cravings, hunger and urge to keep eating by a whole lot (I aim for 25% of my calories to be protein but usually hit around 20% which is still a big improvement).

    I don't crave chocolates or junk nearly as much as I used to. I don't feel hungry as often as I used to either which has helped the most with my binging. I added more high protein snacks to my diet like greek yogurt, string cheese, protein shake, etc. Things that have a good amount of protein but still relatively low cal.

    You can try the same. Even though you might be within the recommended ball park of your macros, it might not be enough for you and your lifestyle. I'd suggest you play around with those just a bit and try it out for a week or two and see how you feel.

    If there's one thing I know I'm getting enough of, it's protein. I'm about 115 lbs and I'm eating close to 120g of protein per day. I'm doing a reverse diet right now because I have been restricting my calories and I'm trying to boost my metabolism back up but I will definitely play around with my macros. Thank you so much!
  • TayTayDrenDren
    TayTayDrenDren Posts: 65 Member
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    kaleebrenner wrote: »
    Honestly, I found myself doing this a lot. I had to start packing a snack to eat while I drove home from work, otherwise as soon as I walked in the door I would feel like I was starving and stuff my face with whatever sounded good (which usually was NOT my pre-planned, healthy dinner!). Even just an apple and piece of cheese eaten in the car on the way home would keep me satisfied enough to not binge out on junk when I got home.

    As far as the evenings, that is still a struggle for me. I am always tempted to snack (like you said, graze around the kitchen having a taste of this and that) a few hours after dinner. To avoid this, I have been trying to find activities that either a) engage me mentally so I don't think about snacking or b) find activities that keep me out of the house, like taking a walk (bonus calorie burn!).

    We'll I'm going to start school soon so that will keep me occupied. It's tough because my family does NOT eat healthy and I'm just surrounded by junk. Other than that I will definitely try this. Thank you!
  • fishcat123
    fishcat123 Posts: 74 Member
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    For me, eating small snack-y things, even fruit doesn't help to curb cravings really - I'll have one, then another, then one more...And on. What helps me more is to have something substantial but boring around, like a lean cuisine I don't especially like, and tell myself that if I'm hungry and need to eat I'll have that. Usually I don't want to actually eat it, maybe once in a few weeks I will, I figure that if I'm hungry enough to eat it I need the food.
  • CampLondon
    CampLondon Posts: 239 Member
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    Write a contract saying you will not binge eat put it somewhere you will see it everyday.
  • chezinkflo
    chezinkflo Posts: 19 Member
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    Have a couple of glasses of water first, and then see if you really need to eat.

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