No wonder. Years of binge eating.

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taypop5
taypop5 Posts: 41 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey!

Just something I wanted to share. I started tracking my calories just a bit back more seriously as I've recently had a baby and would like to get back going again. I've always been very active and I've also as early as I can remember binge ate. Around 13/14 years old I had issues with exercise bulimia ( where you overexercise to purge your calories) and later into my early adult years soley binge eating. Now, getting closer to 30, I still have the occasional binge or overeat but I've come to learn that a lot of those "episodes" are often triggered by anxiety or how I'm feeling internally...and actually has nothing to do with the food itself...until (and back to where this started) recently I started tracking calories more seriously and wearing my fitbit religiously (I avoided these for years as it often makes ED worse) I realized my typical TDEE is exceptionally higher then I thought...considering I for years always tried to restrict to 1500 calories. NO WONDER I WAS BINGING. On the average day for me I burn anywhere from 2300- 3300 calories!!! Now that I'm breast feeding it's even higher. Since I've been eating significantly more calories with just a small deficit I no longer feel the urge to binge or overeat like I use to....in fact some days I actually DON'T want to eat more because I'm eating so much more in general I feel like I'm non stop eating. I still occasionally get emotionally triggered...but it's way less. amazing what properly fuelling your body can do ;) thanks for reading! food for thought. literally tehehe!

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  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Congratulations for getting this insight! I found it useful to respect my unconscious drivers from the analogy of the rider and the elephant.

    https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-rider-and-the-elephant-metaphor
  • taypop5
    taypop5 Posts: 41 Member
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    jgnatca wrote: »
    Congratulations for getting this insight! I found it useful to respect my unconscious drivers from the analogy of the rider and the elephant.

    https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-rider-and-the-elephant-metaphor


    That's a interesting way to look at it ...I completely agree. We will never win a battle against our biological drivers or even against ourselves emotionally is challenging!
  • dida0721
    dida0721 Posts: 107 Member
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    Not eating enough calories is a trigger for me as well. I also found that being tired is a huge trigger. After my divorce, insomnia was a big issue. Gained more than 30 pounds in just 10 months. Melatonin and limited screen time after 8 pm are helping me sleep again.
  • taypop5
    taypop5 Posts: 41 Member
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    dida0721 wrote: »
    Not eating enough calories is a trigger for me as well. I also found that being tired is a huge trigger. After my divorce, insomnia was a big issue. Gained more than 30 pounds in just 10 months. Melatonin and limited screen time after 8 pm are helping me sleep again.

    I also agree I tend to want to binge or overeat when I'm tired....it's helps being able to name it as "tired"
  • BarneyRubbleMD
    BarneyRubbleMD Posts: 1,092 Member
    edited June 2017
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    Not eating enough calories seems to be a binge trigger for me too. The last time I reduced my calories/day to 1200 from 1500-1600 (1600 was the MyFitnessPal recommendation for me for 2 lbs/wk), it triggered binge episodes for me (this was about 2 years ago). Reducing to about 1200 calories/day seemed the right thing to do since I had stopped losing on the 1600 calories that MyFitnessPal (MFP) had recommended for me (& that calorie level had been working well for at least 6 months), so, it seemed like a logical idea to continue my weight loss. However, with all the binge episodes that happened after that lowering of calories/day to 1200, I ended up binge eating my way back up to where I started plus another 17 pounds by 1/1/2017 to 317 pounds--and starting here all over again! My Binge Eating Disorder Specialist, who I started seeing in Feb2017, had me keep my calories/day at about 2000 which I would have "bet the bank" I'd gain weight on since I didn't exercise (mobility issues) but instead I've lost weight (62 pounds since Jan2017 & still losing) & now I'm back down to about where I was 2 years ago BUT eating 2000 calories/day which is FAR more enjoyable than 1200! Now, I just keep my calories/day at 2000 & I'll see how that goes over the next month or so. If I make it to mid August2017 without a binge, I'll no longer meet the Binge Eating Disorder criteria (i.e. 3 months without binge eating) that's eluded me for so long. I'll also be curious if I'm still loosing weight at that time too as I don't plan to change my 2000 calorie/day plan until after that mid-August date & only (maybe) IF I stop losing weight at that time (I'm hoping my weight just keeps dropping so I can just stick with that I've been doing & gotten use to over these last few months since what I've been doing feels like it's sustainable for me.
  • taypop5
    taypop5 Posts: 41 Member
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    BarneyRubbleMD wrote: »
    Not eating enough calories seems to be a binge trigger for me too. The last time I reduced my calories/day to 1200 from 1500-1600 (1600 was the MyFitnessPal recommendation for me for 2 lbs/wk), it triggered binge episodes for me (this was about 2 years ago). Reducing to about 1200 calories/day seemed the right thing to do since I had stopped losing on the 1600 calories that MyFitnessPal (MFP) had recommended for me (& that calorie level had been working well for at least 6 months), so, it seemed like a logical idea to continue my weight loss. However, with all the binge episodes that happened after that lowering of calories/day to 1200, I ended up binge eating my way back up to where I started plus another 17 pounds by 1/1/2017 to 317 pounds--and starting here all over again! My Binge Eating Disorder Specialist, who I started seeing in Feb2017, had me keep my calories/day at about 2000 which I would have "bet the bank" I'd gain weight on since I didn't exercise (mobility issues) but instead I've lost weight (62 pounds since Jan2017 & still losing) & now I'm back down to about where I was 2 years ago BUT eating 2000 calories/day which is FAR more enjoyable than 1200! Now, I just keep my calories/day at 2000 & I'll see how that goes over the next month or so. If I make it to mid August2017 without a binge, I'll no longer meet the Binge Eating Disorder criteria (i.e. 3 months without binge eating) that's eluded me for so long. I'll also be curious if I'm still loosing weight at that time too as I don't plan to change my 2000 calorie/day plan until after that mid-August date & only (maybe) IF I stop losing weight at that time (I'm hoping my weight just keeps dropping so I can just stick with that I've been doing & gotten use to over these last few months since what I've been doing feels like it's sustainable for me.

    congratulations on your achievements! binging is SOOOO frustrating - and such a compulsive thing. I've always said if I just didn't binge I'd be in super shape. now that my binges are less it sure is becoming a closer reality!!
  • Dr__Girlfriend
    Dr__Girlfriend Posts: 100 Member
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    I am so proud of you for figuring this out!!!!!! It took me way too long, too. Hugs!!!!
  • 150poundsofme
    150poundsofme Posts: 523 Member
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    For JGNATCA, OMG, I looked at the site. That just might explain how I have been dieting/binging for over 45 years. I only just skimmed it but it really seems on point. Thank you!!!
  • BarneyRubbleMD
    BarneyRubbleMD Posts: 1,092 Member
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    My diabetes was also a complication with the binge eating stuff. If my blood sugar would get too low, I'd get way too hungry & would binge. If my blood sugar got above 180 mg/dL, it would trigger a binge that was difficult to stop (now I know what to do if that happens--start injecting Novolog insulin every 2-3 hours until I get my blood sugar under 140 mg/dL)--sometimes it takes a lot of Novolog insulin if I've binged on a lot of carbs. If my blood sugar gets above 140 mg/dL but is under 180 md/dL, it makes me hungry which makes it difficult to make good food choices which can also trigger a binge and start the whole binge cycle over again! Also, not getting enough sleep or poor sleep can also make me more likely to binge the following day & also messes with my blood sugars.

    The best investment I made to help combat my binge eating was a glucometer (blood glucose meter at CVS Pharmacy for about $20) & learned how to use it to keep track of what my blood sugars where before each meal and 2 hours after each meal and how various foods (bread, noodles, rice, crackers, cupcakes, etc. which were awful for my blood sugar) affected my blood sugar readings 2 hours after eating them and even longer like 5 hours later. After a while I could determine what I needed to avoid (like rice, noodles, limited bread) to keep my blood sugar from climbing over 180 mg/dL and re-triggering another binge episode again!

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