What's the worst binge you've had, how did you recover?

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DetectiveCookieMonster
DetectiveCookieMonster Posts: 51 Member
edited September 2017 in Food and Nutrition
Binge eater here ...
I've been trying really hard to handle it better. I still have some pretty bad days but nothing like it used to be.

Just curious what the worst binge you've had was ?

How did you recover ?

I'm ashamed of mine as I'm sure it was well over 8-10,000 calories over a couple hour span. I couldn't snap back to reality. Cereal, ice cream, peanut butter, nutella, cookies, cinnamon buns, m&ms, candies anything I could whip up basically.

I remember feeling so ashamed and embarrassed after.

It's hard to stop once you've basically left your own body and something else has taken over.

Replies

  • cmtigger
    cmtigger Posts: 1,450 Member
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    If this sort of thing is happening, it's probably time to talk to a professional.
  • DetectiveCookieMonster
    DetectiveCookieMonster Posts: 51 Member
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    cmtigger wrote: »
    If this sort of thing is happening, it's probably time to talk to a professional.

    Been there ;)
  • DetectiveCookieMonster
    DetectiveCookieMonster Posts: 51 Member
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    AMV91 wrote: »
    The worst one that I logged was a year and a half ago. It was 12k calories, in a matter of hours. It started out because I wanted a cinnamon bun from the bakery near my house. But I had gone like a month without eating "junk" food so I didn't want to get one.

    I basically ate a weeks worth of "clean" meal prep, then all the other random things I could find (PB on a spoon, a bunch of salad dressing on crackers, oatmeal with a bunch of brown sugar in it.) I sent my SO to go and get chips since the bakery was closed, I went out after the chips and got chocolate. I then attempted to do a few hours of HIIT to counter act it during a heat wave + then had a massive break down.

    For me, I was very restrictive and then would binge. I also talked to a professional which helped me to figure out some of the core reasons that I am prone to binge eating, that helped a lot. Having a smaller deficit and taking morality out of food helps as well. I still feel like binge eating when I get very emotional but its getting so much better.

    ETA: If it happens now I recover by just moving on. I eat my next meal as planned and when I'm in a better head space I try to work out what was wrong that caused the binge in the first place.

    Awesome that you got help. I feel like you're my twin when you explained all of that.

    Also proud of you for seeking help and figuring out where it was generating from. It's a tough first leap to take.

    It's definitely and "out of body" experience when you're in it. It's hard to just stop yourself. I've also been trying a smaller deficit and little pieces of what I'm craving when I'm craving them so I don't turn rabid on the food later lol
  • lauracups
    lauracups Posts: 533 Member
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    Just had one last night, spawned by alcohol (I'm also working at sobriety, I don't drink every day, maybe once every couple of weeks but when I do I have too many and then eat everything in sight so I'm better off not even having one) I am seeing a professional, and I'm in tune with my triggers. My next leap is to honestly and completely log them. I'm aware of the binge /fast method is a vicious cycle, but today I am going to limit my calories, my stomach is achy. The day after I usually bounce back by drinking A LOT of water and meditation and that gets me back on track.
    Good luck to you!
  • mndamon
    mndamon Posts: 549 Member
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    I do it occasionally and try not to get too down on myself. I make some small adjustments the next week or two to try and even it out. I think my last one involved a burger at Five Guys, chinese food and a bag of mini donuts. To be fair, I didn't hate it by any stretch. I just can't make a habit of it since I'm an easy gainer.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
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    AMV91 wrote: »
    The worst one that I logged was a year and a half ago. It was 12k calories, in a matter of hours. It started out because I wanted a cinnamon bun from the bakery near my house. But I had gone like a month without eating "junk" food so I didn't want to get one.

    I basically ate a weeks worth of "clean" meal prep, then all the other random things I could find (PB on a spoon, a bunch of salad dressing on crackers, oatmeal with a bunch of brown sugar in it.) I sent my SO to go and get chips since the bakery was closed, I went out after the chips and got chocolate. I then attempted to do a few hours of HIIT to counter act it during a heat wave + then had a massive break down.

    For me, I was very restrictive and then would binge. I also talked to a professional which helped me to figure out some of the core reasons that I am prone to binge eating, that helped a lot. Having a smaller deficit and taking morality out of food helps as well. I still feel like binge eating when I get very emotional but its getting so much better.

    ETA: If it happens now I recover by just moving on. I eat my next meal as planned and when I'm in a better head space I try to work out what was wrong that caused the binge in the first place.
    AMV91 wrote: »
    The worst one that I logged was a year and a half ago. It was 12k calories, in a matter of hours. It started out because I wanted a cinnamon bun from the bakery near my house. But I had gone like a month without eating "junk" food so I didn't want to get one.

    I basically ate a weeks worth of "clean" meal prep, then all the other random things I could find (PB on a spoon, a bunch of salad dressing on crackers, oatmeal with a bunch of brown sugar in it.) I sent my SO to go and get chips since the bakery was closed, I went out after the chips and got chocolate. I then attempted to do a few hours of HIIT to counter act it during a heat wave + then had a massive break down.

    For me, I was very restrictive and then would binge. I also talked to a professional which helped me to figure out some of the core reasons that I am prone to binge eating, that helped a lot. Having a smaller deficit and taking morality out of food helps as well. I still feel like binge eating when I get very emotional but its getting so much better.

    ETA: If it happens now I recover by just moving on. I eat my next meal as planned and when I'm in a better head space I try to work out what was wrong that caused the binge in the first place.

    I've come to realize that if you want a cinammon bun, just eat one. You could save a lot of calories in the long run. Same as this poster, one day I wanted peanut butter. Instead of just eating some, I had 6k worth of PB favored crap. THEN ate peanut butter.

    I truly believe the best way to prevent binging is to keep a modest defect and don't deprive yourself when you really, really want something.
  • Danimri84
    Danimri84 Posts: 262 Member
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    I had a particularly bad one a few days ago. PMS, coupled with not eating nearly enough the day before (like not even 500 net calories) and a heavy emotional blow, resulted in a binge I didn't even bother to log. I ate a Big Mac meal, a Beef N Cheddar meal from Arby's with mozzarella sticks on the side, and for dinner an entire order of cheese breadsticks from Pizza Hut and two pieces of stuffed crust pizza. Not to mention 3 individual bags of chips, a large Dr. Pepper with both combo meals, and more cinnamon bears than I could begin to count. I snapped out of it and did just fine the next day and every day since. My binges are under much better control than they used to be, and happen far less often, but I know they will still happen occasionally.
  • sofchak
    sofchak Posts: 862 Member
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    Wow.... first and foremost, I appreciate the honesty in this thread. Sounds like we all have our own issues to face - really puts things in perspective. Thanks for sharing your stories.

    My own binging has never equated to more than 5000 calories for any given day and normally just seem to be my body telling me I need a refeed - with a focus on craving fats (binges are usually on chocolate, cheese, fatty meats like salami, or peanut butter). I just log the calories as honestly as I can and look for patterns in the previous days/weeks that might have caused the need to eat more than usual. I try to get back on track with the very next meal and move on as quickly as possible.
  • KeepRunningFatboy
    KeepRunningFatboy Posts: 3,055 Member
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    Maybe check out Brain over Binge by Kathryn Hansen. ? She shares her struggle which I related to. I'm not 100% sold on her Binge beast solution but it helped me to relate and begin to address some of my disordered eating.

    I don't really like to share Binge details because I prefer to not think about trigger foods. But I will share this - I once was fighting that Binge beast and I knew I was in trouble, it was a strong strong urge. So I ate about 250 grams of raw broccoli. I ended up avoiding the Binge of trigger foods, but after eating all that broccoli, I was so sick to my stomach.
  • Gallaghergirl11
    Gallaghergirl11 Posts: 20 Member
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    Wow. I can't even explain how comforting it was to read the other stories. I've struggled with binge eating for years, especially in time of stress. Every time I have a bad one, I always end up giving up on MFP for a while so it erases any progress I made. Thank you for the honest thread guys. Hopefully this can remind me not to give up on it after a bad day.
  • JustRobby1
    JustRobby1 Posts: 674 Member
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    In my own experience, the times when I have been overtaken with a seemingly uncontrollable compulsion to eat was on days when I foolishly ran up extremely high deficits from long runs but did not adjust my calorie intake accordingly. What would end up happening is I would wake up in the middle of the night starving and head to the fridge and attack the first thing I could get my hands on. Back then I was convinced there was something wrong with me and I had some kind of binge eating disorder. What was really going on is that my poor bod was screaming out in agony for food that I was depriving it of. I have since learned my lesson.
  • aeloine
    aeloine Posts: 2,163 Member
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    I was in a pretty bad spot in grad school and didn't even realize it. I haven't binged since I earnestly started my MFP journey but I didn't even know that I was binging back then.

    1. Ate an entire bag of kit kats... that were my roommate's! I would grab a couple at a time and then was too embarrassed to admit that I'd eaten as many as I had so I bought her a whole new bag and downed the rest of the first on the same day.
    2. I once ate a family sized lasagna in two days during a snow storm in a new city. I'd just moved there from Texas, had no internet, no friends, and was very lonely.
    3. I can eat half a sheet cake in one sitting. I could probably eat an entire sheet cake in one day.
    4. Growing up, I used to sneak to the fridge after my mom was asleep and hide ice cream bowls under my bed. Honestly, if I'd just HAD ice cream after dinner, it probably wouldn't have been such a big deal.

    Again, I didn't even realize that they were binges. I thought it was normal at the time. Since I've started coming to these blogs and actually taking ownership of my CICO, I don't binge anymore. I have whatever I want, in moderation. I'm also becoming acutely aware of my trigger foods - alcohol, chocolate, etc.

    I think the trick is to take the GUILT out of a binge, and the SHAME. Take ownership of your actions, learn from them, and move on with your life.
  • DetectiveCookieMonster
    DetectiveCookieMonster Posts: 51 Member
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    Guys, I absolutely love that you've shared your stories. It gives me a sense of relief in a weird way knowing I'm not the only one who battles against this (even though I'm obviously not the only one) it's just not something people talk about often so I feel like when I talk about it, it really helps me cope with whatever I have going on.

    Thank you for being so wonderful. I'm so proud of you guys and the progress you've made.

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