Diet, exercise, or both?
inked1013
Posts: 18 Member
I’m a recovering binge eater. It’s a huge work in progress right now. But since I feel like binging when I restrict a lot I’m going the route of eating more (closer to maintenance) until I can get some sort of control of myself. My question is, is I used to be an avid gym goer. Now I can hardly walk without getting winded and I’m not obese. Should I focus on both the gym and the eating? Or go slow and focus on eating first and then add in the gym? Advice from anyone who struggles/struggles with binge eating would be helpful
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Replies
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This would be a good thing to discuss with your therapist/team treating you for you BED.6
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Do you have professionals involved in your recovery? If so, what are their recommendations?5
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It's a good question.. some people say "You can't outrun a bad diet." Depending on how you feel about a relapse, try just managing th eating first so you don't have too much on your ...plate. /no pun3
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You’re taking one of the most important steps, allowing yourself to eat without restriction. This can be a prison for binge eaters that trigger them the most.
My personal experience- I didn’t eat at maintenance. It was territory I wasn’t prepared for. However I ate a small deficit (maybe 300-350 cals), had NO off limits foods, and made sure I had chocolate everyday if I wanted it (my favorite treat I never allowed myself to have without insane guilt).
I logged everyday, and it didn’t take long for the psychological hold food had on me to dissipate, because I never felt restricted. And as I slowly lost weight, I realized I CAN do this in a practical way without strict rules and deprivation. Very empowering.
ETA- sharing so you know you’re not alone, but not advising you how to handle your treatment. Clearly not a professional here
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Ok, so I’ve been in therapy dealing with my issues related to binge eating. I totally hear you.
Do both, but don’t go nuts (which can be characteristic to those of us who binge and restrict in a disordered way). Just start with walking every day. Start with just 15 mins a day and move up. Same with food, be mindful but not restrictive. You want to change thought process and your relationship with exercise and food. For me, overdoing it too intense early in n has always resulted in a binge/failure/restrict/punish cycle.5 -
Go slow and focus on eating first. From what I've seen here, a lot of people try and do everything at once, jumping in with an over-the-top exercise routine, and then they get overwhelmed and frustrated.3
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IDK...I look at these things as two completely different things. Diet for weight control, exercise for fitness and overall health and well-being. I've been in maintenance for years...I still exercise regularly because it's very good for me...I maintain because my diet consists of the calories required to maintain weight.
If you're getting back into exercise, ease into it...there's zero reason to go from 0 to 100 overnight.2 -
Depends on your goals. If you're only after weight loss focus on diet. If you want improved health and tone, adding exercise will help with that. I don't exercise to eat more as it takes a lot of exercise to burn through calories!0
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I would do both. It can be as simple as walking 15 min in the morning. Just do some kind of physical activity in addition to nutrition.0
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I would also do both. Exercise can help you feel better emotionally as well as physically. Just don't go overboard. Start easy and gradually increase the duration or intensity.0
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Both! Exercise is insanely good for your mental state. Even if I just jog in my living room for 30 minutes, I feel better about things that would normally lead me to binge.2
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if you have an eating disorder, the only people you should be speaking about recovery options with is your medical team.2
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Thank you for the insightful response! And yes you have helped me with your response. Personal experience is what I was asking for in this post because I am not seeing a therapist for my recovery. So a useful response is much appreciated!❤️You’re taking one of the most important steps, allowing yourself to eat without restriction. This can be a prison for binge eaters that trigger them the most.
My personal experience- I didn’t eat at maintenance. It was territory I wasn’t prepared for. However I ate a small deficit (maybe 300-350 cals), had NO off limits foods, and made sure I had chocolate everyday if I wanted it (my favorite treat I never allowed myself to have without insane guilt).
I logged everyday, and it didn’t take long for the psychological hold food had on me to dissipate, because I never felt restricted. And as I slowly lost weight, I realized I CAN do this in a practical way without strict rules and deprivation. Very empowering.
ETA- sharing so you know you’re not alone, but not advising you how to handle your treatment. Clearly not a professional hereYou’re taking one of the most important steps, allowing yourself to eat without restriction. This can be a prison for binge eaters that trigger them the most.
My personal experience- I didn’t eat at maintenance. It was territory I wasn’t prepared for. However I ate a small deficit (maybe 300-350 cals), had NO off limits foods, and made sure I had chocolate everyday if I wanted it (my favorite treat I never allowed myself to have without insane guilt).
I logged everyday, and it didn’t take long for the psychological hold food had on me to dissipate, because I never felt restricted. And as I slowly lost weight, I realized I CAN do this in a practical way without strict rules and deprivation. Very empowering.
ETA- sharing so you know you’re not alone, but not advising you how to handle your treatment. Clearly not a professional hereYou’re taking one of the most important steps, allowing yourself to eat without restriction. This can be a prison for binge eaters that trigger them the most.
My personal experience- I didn’t eat at maintenance. It was territory I wasn’t prepared for. However I ate a small deficit (maybe 300-350 cals), had NO off limits foods, and made sure I had chocolate everyday if I wanted it (my favorite treat I never allowed myself to have without insane guilt).
I logged everyday, and it didn’t take long for the psychological hold food had on me to dissipate, because I never felt restricted. And as I slowly lost weight, I realized I CAN do this in a practical way without strict rules and deprivation. Very empowering.
ETA- sharing so you know you’re not alone, but not advising you how to handle your treatment. Clearly not a professional hereYou’re taking one of the most important steps, allowing yourself to eat without restriction. This can be a prison for binge eaters that trigger them the most.
My personal experience- I didn’t eat at maintenance. It was territory I wasn’t prepared for. However I ate a small deficit (maybe 300-350 cals), had NO off limits foods, and made sure I had chocolate everyday if I wanted it (my favorite treat I never allowed myself to have without insane guilt).
I logged everyday, and it didn’t take long for the psychological hold food had on me to dissipate, because I never felt restricted. And as I slowly lost weight, I realized I CAN do this in a practical way without strict rules and deprivation. Very empowering.
ETA- sharing so you know you’re not alone, but not advising you how to handle your treatment. Clearly not a professional hereYou’re taking one of the most important steps, allowing yourself to eat without restriction. This can be a prison for binge eaters that trigger them the most.
My personal experience- I didn’t eat at maintenance. It was territory I wasn’t prepared for. However I ate a small deficit (maybe 300-350 cals), had NO off limits foods, and made sure I had chocolate everyday if I wanted it (my favorite treat I never allowed myself to have without insane guilt).
I logged everyday, and it didn’t take long for the psychological hold food had on me to dissipate, because I never felt restricted. And as I slowly lost weight, I realized I CAN do this in a practical way without strict rules and deprivation. Very empowering.
ETA- sharing so you know you’re not alone, but not advising you how to handle your treatment. Clearly not a professional here
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For those saying speak to your medical team... no question is a dumb question. Maybe I should have been more clear with my background. My medical team has suggested that I do whatever I feel like I mentally can take day by day. Explaining I can do a little of both or focus on one or the other. which is why I asked for opinions of those who have had a binge eating disorder. If you don’t personally have an experience with this eating disease then no response is appreciated as I have already have sought medical advice from professionals0
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For those saying speak to your medical team... no question is a dumb question. Maybe I should have been more clear with my background. My medical team has suggested that I do whatever I feel like I mentally can take day by day. Explaining I can do a little of both or focus on one or the other. which is why I asked for opinions of those who have had a binge eating disorder. If you don’t personally have an experience with this eating disease then no response is appreciated as I have already have sought medical advice from professionals
If your treatment team's advice is to do what you can mentally take day-by-day, what are the obstacles to trying that? Or asked another way, what are your thoughts on what is the best fit for where you are right now?2 -
For me, mild exercise keeps me busy without making me appreciably more hungry: walking, stretching/light yoga, splashing around in the pool with no real purpose...1
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I’m a recovering binge eater. It’s a huge work in progress right now. But since I feel like binging when I restrict a lot I’m going the route of eating more (closer to maintenance) until I can get some sort of control of myself. My question is, is I used to be an avid gym goer. Now I can hardly walk without getting winded and I’m not obese. Should I focus on both the gym and the eating? Or go slow and focus on eating first and then add in the gym? Advice from anyone who struggles/struggles with binge eating would be helpful
Focus on diet 80% and exercise 20%. Go slow until new habits stick.1 -
Thanks! I just recently started swimming just because. Doggy paddling is about all I can do!0
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I knew from experience that exercise made me hungrier, so I did 2 weeks with diet only, then started exercising (by that I mean trying to survive a 5 minutes exercise video warm up. BABY steps lol).1
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Whatever you do take this slow and be patient. Never tackle more than one bad habit at a time. You must replace each "bad" habit with a "good" habit...just how our brains are wired.2
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I’m a recovering binge eater. It’s a huge work in progress right now. But since I feel like binging when I restrict a lot I’m going the route of eating more (closer to maintenance) until I can get some sort of control of myself. My question is, is I used to be an avid gym goer. Now I can hardly walk without getting winded and I’m not obese. Should I focus on both the gym and the eating? Or go slow and focus on eating first and then add in the gym? Advice from anyone who struggles/struggles with binge eating would be helpful
I did not have BED, but I did suffer from bulimia for a verrrrrry long time. I am just now able to eat where I am supposed to not binge (calorie counting has been a trigger in the past because mentally I knew if I went over I could purge, and I don't want to be that person).
Honestly the thing that has helped me the most has NOTHING to do with my diet/exercise. I took a lot of time to really know and appreciate my body (sounds weird, but it helped). This included actually facing my body, when i used to hide from myself and feel shame...and accepting "this is me, this size and all." I am also an emotional eater and emotions trigger binges....I had to work hard on learning how to channel those feelings without food.
I had to set goals that have NOTHING to do with my weight...I actually don't even own a scale. My main goal was to lower my (now) high blood pressure. Logically, I know the best way to do this is by cardio...so I have been doing cardio because I know its good for my heart. losing weight and looking better is just a side benefit to my primary goal of getting that cardiovascular health on.
Now that I am working on my CV health...I need to eat in a way that fuels that. Chips, cookies, etc do not fuel that. They make me feel lousy and I can't do my workouts when I eat lousy. So I plan my meals that way. I plan some heavier meals for lunch before my workout, and then I also plan a 3pm meal that has some energy in it to keep me from a pre-dinner, late afternoon snacking/binging (a big trigger time for me). I eat a meal I prepared in advance and since bedtime is another time I likely overeat/binge I plan a measured amount of popcorn and a seltzer for snacking and drinking in bed. If I feel more hungry one day, I eat a little a little more because the calorie goal is just a goal...thats a floating number that can change based on how we are feeling, special events, etc.
I did have a big binge eating victory for new years. Social events/holidays are huge binge triggers for me. I planned the menu in advance and planned out my food. I knew I wasn't going to stick to a deficit that day...so I picked a calorie amount that wasn't too crazy (I think it was like 300cals over maint.) and reminding myself to just have fun and that one night was okay. I stuck to the calories I more or less had planned on. I knew I would want pizza, etc so I planned those in there and I enjoyed the food without feeling like I needed to eat it all. Planning is HUGE if you are prone to binges. You need to plan ahead and plan smart. A lot of people will think "I'll just plan on eating low calorie, etc" that doesn't work. Plan out the day as best as you can in the morning and as the day goes in if you feel like you need a little more now, then shuffle an item around here or there. Keep working on it everyday and if you stick with it you will get better at avoiding your triggers.2 -
spiriteagle99 wrote: »I would also do both. Exercise can help you feel better emotionally as well as physically. Just don't go overboard. Start easy and gradually increase the duration or intensity.khaleesikhaleesi wrote: »Both! Exercise is insanely good for your mental state. Even if I just jog in my living room for 30 minutes, I feel better about things that would normally lead me to binge.
Agreeing with exercising to help with mental state. I used to self medicate with food, but have since learned managing stress with exercise is much more effective.
Another vote for easing into it.0 -
Weight is lost through diet.
I hate exercise but still do 30 minutes walk.
Hope that helps.0 -
Weight loss happens in the kitchen first and foremost but exercise helps create more calorie deficit and also is good for our general well being and heart health.0
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Eating maintenance and getting more NEAT might help you whilst you get control
Gradually increase the time you spend doing household chores (polish the windows, mirrors and furniture daily maybe?), standing, having a little boogie to your favourite music, use stairs whenever possible
You can burn several hundred calories a day doing this stuff. If you get really active you could set your maintenance cals higher. Logging everything you eat, recording activity and weighing in regularly will help you work out what your actual TDEE really is.
Then you can decide if you want to go in deficit, make some smart food choices, drop a few calories here and there without getting hungry and you'll be on your way to healthy weight loss and healthy habits
I was an anxiety driven emotional over eater. I gained 140lbs in 5 years eating myself into an early grave. I have got control now by logging everything I eat. Wish you good luck0
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