Scary encounter with a chocolate cake

I had a very thin slice of triple chocolate cake. Under 100 calories; I just wanted to taste it. It was really good. The scary thing was that my binge craving kicked in. I resisted but I had to remind myself that I would absolutely be found out by my wife and kids. The craving was short lived; this morning I was up before anyone else and the cake has dwindled down to a size where no one would be very surprised if the rest, or at least a big chunk of it, were to disappear. But today I reacted to it the way I had expected to yesterday; it wasn't a strong temptation. Anyway, the intensity of the craving I had yesterday really spooked me. I had dared to hope I had exorcised that demon. Binges were my downfall in the past.
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Replies

  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    I used to do this with ice cream. I didn't want to completely give it up so I continued to work with it. It took a long time, but I can now keep ice cream in my house and have reasonable portions and not even everyday. Keep working with it, it's not a simple on-off switch, it's ingrained habits.
  • kristen8000
    kristen8000 Posts: 747 Member
    I'll never be one to say to "cut food items out", but sometimes it's better to just not have had any. I made Chocolate Chip Cookies this weekend for my BF (I'm a good baker, but I rarely do it because well, it's not that good for us). I told myself I could eat 1 from the batch (I mean, you have to at least taste test). Well, 1 turned into 2. After that I kindly asked for him to take said cookies to work and get them out of the house.

    It's hard to have just "some" sometimes. Sometimes it's easier to just say "no".
  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    I used to do this with ice cream. I didn't want to completely give it up so I continued to work with it. It took a long time, but I can now keep ice cream in my house and have reasonable portions and not even everyday. Keep working with it, it's not a simple on-off switch, it's ingrained habits.

    I have managed this with ice cream, but have only had vanilla on baked apples. Over the course of 4 days, 3 days I had a half of a baked Apple with candied pecans and a half cup of French vanilla ice cream on top and the other day I skipped the ice cream. But I still don't want chocolate moose tracks ice cream in the freezer; too much binge history.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
    elphie754 wrote: »
    I find that you being concerned over your wife and kids "finding out" you ate something more worrying than the craving.

    Me too. I am not sure it counts as really beating the urge just for my own good. The embarrassment was the first thing that came to mind. It could be I subconsciously did a quick search for reasons not to give in to help me fight the urge. Just to be clear, I had the urge to binge eat the rest of the cake. There was no shame in taking the tiny piece.

    Hey whatever works! You beat the craving and that's the important thing.
  • Hi i just wanted to write and say I sympathise. There are certain a times whereby I think I will just have a small bit of cake and instead of it being satiating, I find it builds more of a craving.

    You did really well to moderate your intake when feeling like that. It’s tough isn’t it because banning anything isn’t meant to be helpful, it creates the “it’s banned so I want it all” however, for me sometimes it’s easier to just say no
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
    elphie754 wrote: »
    elphie754 wrote: »
    I find that you being concerned over your wife and kids "finding out" you ate something more worrying than the craving.

    Me too. I am not sure it counts as really beating the urge just for my own good. The embarrassment was the first thing that came to mind. It could be I subconsciously did a quick search for reasons not to give in to help me fight the urge. Just to be clear, I had the urge to binge eat the rest of the cake. There was no shame in taking the tiny piece.

    Hey whatever works! You beat the craving and that's the important thing.

    No. Connecting food to shame and embarrassment is not a good thing at all. It is a gateway to an eating disorder.

    Maybe it can be, but it most certainly is not always a gateway to an eating disorder.
  • dinadyna21
    dinadyna21 Posts: 403 Member
    I struggle when it comes to ice cream but I help myself by buying individual sized portions, like the tiny containers of ben & jerrys with only one serving in them. For me it was easy to keep eating an entire tub but now my amount is limited.
  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
    elphie754 wrote: »
    elphie754 wrote: »
    I find that you being concerned over your wife and kids "finding out" you ate something more worrying than the craving.

    Me too. I am not sure it counts as really beating the urge just for my own good. The embarrassment was the first thing that came to mind. It could be I subconsciously did a quick search for reasons not to give in to help me fight the urge. Just to be clear, I had the urge to binge eat the rest of the cake. There was no shame in taking the tiny piece.

    Hey whatever works! You beat the craving and that's the important thing.

    No. Connecting food to shame and embarrassment is not a good thing at all. It is a gateway to an eating disorder.

    The embarrassment would be about an eating disorder. I don't know anyone who binges and isn't ashamed of it.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    elphie754 wrote: »
    elphie754 wrote: »
    I find that you being concerned over your wife and kids "finding out" you ate something more worrying than the craving.

    Me too. I am not sure it counts as really beating the urge just for my own good. The embarrassment was the first thing that came to mind. It could be I subconsciously did a quick search for reasons not to give in to help me fight the urge. Just to be clear, I had the urge to binge eat the rest of the cake. There was no shame in taking the tiny piece.

    Hey whatever works! You beat the craving and that's the important thing.

    No. Connecting food to shame and embarrassment is not a good thing at all. It is a gateway to an eating disorder.

    The embarrassment would be about an eating disorder. I don't know anyone who binges and isn't ashamed of it.

    I think I understand what you meant.

    I haven't binged for a while (knock on wood!), but I still feel a flush of shame and anxiety when my husband will ask where a food is or comment that we ran out of something really quickly, even though me eating it had nothing to do with a binge (the anxiety is something that I'm working on).

    My shame about eating didn't *cause* my binges, but it was certainly part of the terrible feelings afterward. I think it's perfectly understandable that it's a thought you had when thinking about eating more of the cake.

    If you've binged and struggled with either hiding it from your family or disclosing to them, it's hard to imagine being at a place where you can be like "Haha, I actually ate all the cake!" or have it be no big deal. Imagining how people will respond or what they would do when they noticed is part of the whole thing.
  • 150poundsofme
    150poundsofme Posts: 523 Member
    You overcame the need to not eat more of the cake; a great success. Right now I don't think I can keep food I love in the house for fear of eating more than one portion. You have worked hard and maybe you would feel your wife and kids would be disappointed in you. On the other note, I never feel ashamed about my binging. I mean that I understand that sometimes the binge eating feels so out of our control, whether you think of it as a drug/alcohol. And there are so many factors/reasons to feel the need to binge. I do though would hide my food so I guess I am embarrassed what others would say. Idk. But congrats for another step in crushing that binge.
  • HellYeahItsKriss
    HellYeahItsKriss Posts: 906 Member
    edited November 2017
    I think the problem here is.. in the attempt to just want a taste that a taste just wasn't enough. And I don't mean that in a binge sort of way but visually if I was to see this 100 calorie thin slice of cake I would automatically feel deprived and disappointment. Like really.. is that it?

    I find my will power is stronger if I haven't tasted it yet. I know I love chocolate cake but I can walk away from it temporarily if the flavor hasn't touched my taste buds yet. (When I'm in control of my B.E.D of course)

    I would save calories tomorrow for a more visually satisfying piece. If it's a rich cake it may help keep you to one slice since you've eaten more of it in one serving.

    Like going to a restaurant. If you order dessert usually that's enough at least for a little while. If you eat the cake closer to bed time you could be asleep before a re-craving happens.

    Sometimes people with binge eating tendencies just need to plan ahead by recognizing their own patterns and putting those plans into practice.

    You could also try eating some salty deli meats. It might remove the taste from your mouth and allow you a little more will power for few calories.