Severe binge eaters .. How did you do it?

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Hypnosis. I use free videos on youtube. My favorite is the sleep hypnosis. You just put it on and go to sleep with it playing. Works really well for me

Have you been able to establish a pattern to your bingeing? Any particular times of day/ triggers/ food types? Do you still record it all when you do binge? Don't beat yourself up over it- we're all here to get healthier and happier.

Try to identify your food restrictions when you are not bingeing, are they the things you binge on? dont call it your 'diet' or 'healthy eating' because ultimatley what we crave is something we eliminate. Your body might need a little more of that - spread out strategically throughout the day, rather than one big feast at the end? For me it was animal fats, either as milk, butter or cream - once I stopped training due to injury - I couldnt get enough of those foods - I didnt think I was being restrictive at the time but really I was.

Its the mental game, of seeing those foods as ok in the right quantity, and at any time they fit your needs, if you really want something sweet / crunchy/ salty / creamy etc and excessivley or constantly delay the gratification then it will have the rubber band effect. Instead incorporate it with your next nutrition intake in a healthy proportion as a complete meal / snack of complex carb/ protein and healhy fat.

Ways to help 'eat until satisfied, not until full' : slow down, chew mindfully, use cutlery in your non dominant hand, or try chopsticks, turn off distractions, and pay attention to how much food you need to progress through your "hunger scale" (google this) portion out your serving size, "eating is finished" mantra - then get up go into another room or do something different, but most importantly ; stop often and Smile: Because eating should be a wholesome enjoyable experience, that we needent feel guilty about, even when its occasionally indulgent. Persistence not perfection. Good luck, for us all, as we are all on an imperfect journey to be a better version of ourselves, as joy to be shared with others.xo

I would eat so much I would get sick. I would literally throw up from eating so much. Did that stop me? Of course not, I would just get back to eating. The groceries I bought on Sunday generally were gone by Wednesday. The more I bought, the more I ate. While at work all I would do is think about stopping off on the way home, getting a pizza, chips, Doritos and a 12 pack of beer so I could sit and watch a movie while I ate everything. I would sit and stare at the clock waiting for the time I could leave to get my food, get home, and eat. Everybody at the local convenience store knew me by name because I was in there pretty near everyday buying chips, beer, Mac & Cheese, whatever I was craving that day. When I tried to change my habits, I would cut out all of that food and I would do okay for a few weeks, and then something would happen, often some little thing in my life, that I would use as a reason to revert back to my prior habits. When size 40 inch pants were barely fitting, I actually had to leave them unbuttoned and then cover that up with my belt, I knew I had to do something. I focused on my exercising and my diet followed. When I had that craving to revert back to my old eating habits, I would think about how many calories I would consume, and how many hours exercising it would take to burn those calories. I still eat chips, nachos, and gluten free mac & cheese, along with the other foods I love, but now I eat one, or sometime two servings, max. Completely cutting out the foods I loved only made me crave them more, and now I see I was simply setting myself up for failure. What I do now is allow myself one or two servings while staying under my caloric intake goal. I also don't watch TV while I eat.

LisaTcan wrote: »

I can empathize, I was bulimic for 10 years. Now I am heathy and happy and reasonably fit (had a baby this year). What worked for me was -

• Prozac
• Therapy (I saw both a dietician and a licensed social worker)
• Giving up dieting for several years
• Finding an physical activities I really loved so exercise felt fun and not like punishment. For me road cycling.
• Letting go of the all or nothing / good food bad good mentality

I agree with this. I hate to give credit to a medication but since I started Prozac almost two months ago I have not binged or even wanted to binge, once. I also started an exercise program (Insanity) and the endorphins released during it seem to really help. I haven't deprived myself of any food. I eat what I want as long as it fits in my calorie goal and I don't freak out if I go a little over. Having a different type of control (sticking to a workout and keeping track of my food) has significantly helped.

Will power, determination. Etc. I'm not cured. I've had a few recent episodes I'm not proud of, but I find... just sticking with a calorie plan, logging all my calories and most of all, keeping busy in a structured routine, help significantly.

I had to see counseling before I saw any type of improvement. I still binge occasionally but much less than I used to. I actually did it today and hadn't in about 2 months ☹️

I did this for 20 years. I'd start over dieting every Monday. I'd last a day, a week, a month. Low fat calorie restricted diet but could never deal with the feeling of deprivation, of being just off the edge of hunger, but never full or satisfied. In between these spates of dieting I would eat huge bought lunch at work (pasta or indian or even a gourmet roll) easily 1000 to 1500 calories. Often on the way home (4:30pm) I'd call through the Maccas drivethrough and buy 2 burgers (yes 2) and eat them in the car - hiding the evidence under the seat to get rid of later, and then go home and cook dinner, eat that, and another big "snack" at about 8-9pm. I'd go down to the petrol station after dinner telling my husband I needed to get petrol, and stuff a chocolate bar in on the way home. Absolutely disgusting behaviour, and something I thought I'd never be able to stop. My spates of dieting in between were probably the only reason I didn't balloon past 120kg (at 5'10"). Still, I hated myself.

What saved me was a pre-diabetes diagnosis, and the death of my dad from diabetes. That, and low carb. And before you all yell at me that you don't need to eat low carb to lose weight, I know that. BUT ... low carb allowed me to finally be free of that gnawing hunger. After 20 years of yoyo dieting I have been "clean and sober" (binge free) for over 4 years. Most of that time was at Keto levels, but the last 3 months I've increased my carbs to 50 - 70g a day, but nothing bread, pasta, potato, rice or sugary. I've reversed my pre-diabetes diagnosis and lost 90lbs. I THINK my binging days are over. And they are, unless I go back to eating the kind of high carb diet I ate before.