Help With Binge Eating

adrianegenette582 · June 2018

About 6 months ago I was at my goal weight, training for a marathon and weight lifting. Then my health started to slide and I was diagnosed with an intestinal condition and developed IBS symptoms. I have adopted the FODMAP diet, which didn't seem to help, and have been taking multiple lab tests to try and discover the cause of my IBS symptoms. I will be having surgery for the intestinal condition this month. The problem is that my weight has been creeping up, partly due to periodic binge eating episodes where I will go 2600 calories or more over my maintenance. Today, for example, I woke up and tried to go to the gym, felt tired, so I went home and ate 1200 calories worth of cookies and slept for 3 hours. I went back to the gym, only to follow it with another 2000 calorie binge. This happens to me every 3-4 weeks. I feel absolutely horrible when it happens, especially because I am frustrated by the weight gain. Between binges, I feel like I track my calories fairly well. Yet I am still gaining weight. I'm up 10 pounds from January. I could really use some wisdom and advice about how to control these episodes and get back on track. Thank you.

Zinka61 · June 2018

I struggle with the same eating pattern and share your frustration. My best advice would be to bring it up with your doctor. Some forms of therapy may be helpful. I haven't taken my doctor up on this yet, but I'm considering it.

dannicaburson622 · June 2018

I have sugary binges too. I am trying, again, to begin the process of getting my sugar binges and weight under control. I have health conditions that are exacerbated by the weight and sugar also. I have found that, for me, logging hurts rather than helps. I become obsessive and it triggers binges. So, instead, I am setting simple, attainable goals. Choose the sugar and sweetener free option when possible, avoid "sweets" limit coffee sugar to 1 tsp; Drink water; do something physical every day; and keep a positive attitude. The last one is really important if I slip, because the positive, "I can do this," attitude allows me to make a mistake, reflect on how/why, then brush myself off and start again immediately rather than saying/thinking "I've already screwed up, so I may as well just have this too." I'm only on day two, but I am determined to make changes, and use reflection as a tool to help me get there when I make mistakes. I'll be using some of the other tools on here, like periodically checking in, just not logging food or fitness.

jungefrau · June 2018

binge eating, in my opinion, is a behavior that deserves some tough work rather than hoping a trick or method can overcome it. I binged for years and even though my rational mind was like, "this is not good; you don't need to eat an entire bowl of brownie batter!" I did it anyway. I did it again and again and again. I watched YouTube videos about how to stop it, I read magazine articles, I read discussion group posts where ppl who had overcome it (or said they had) gave their story and tactics. Nothing helped. It looks like a problem that is so easy to solve -- just don't do it -- and I admit it's simple but it is definitely not easy. You might need to see someone about your habits and feelings about all this. For me, going to Adult Child of Alcoholic meetings made all the difference. I was able to be completely open and BS free with a group of ppl who were not going to judge me or give me advice, and even though it was not specific to binge eating, that part of my behavior just sort of fell away. When I slip back into it I know something else is wrong and it has nothing to do with the food or why I think I am doing it. I still don't actually have a handle on why I cram cookie dough and ice cream when I don't even feel stressed or upset, but when I do I make a point to unload more at the next ACA meeting, and it works for me. Good luck with this, and don't give up hope!

lasttwenty · June 2018

Hello,
I struggle with binge eating too. I was introduce to a coffee "Smart Coffee" and to my surprise it is actually keeping me from the vending machines. Additionally, it suppresses my appetite. I will be glad to share more if you are interested. Nonetheless, I will report my progress, so far one month,down 13lbs without changing my alcohol intake. Starting today, I will give up all alcohol until my family reunion - July 19-24. I hope to be down another 15 lbs, but I will be happy with any amount of reduction in fat. Good luck to all.

Billbegood · June 2018

My advice would be to throw out any junk food like cookies that you might binge on in one of those episodes.

Diatonic12 · June 2018

Sit down with someone. Face-to-face. Are they removing the damaged portion. Wishing you a good recovery.

mimibabby · June 2018

Don’t buy junk food ! That way if you do binge eat, it can be with healthier foods that make you feel better and have fewer calories. Going to the gym and doing cardio also helps my hunger !

Geocitiesuser · June 2018

So, just from personal experience.....

When I finally lost "the weight" and got down to a healthy BMI (150lbs lower than my peak weight), I developed that same issue. It went from a binge every few weeks, to every weekend, until eventually I locked myself in the house and ate so hard and fast I put on 50lbs over the winter.

I'm not sure what the solution is, and I don't know how much you've lost, but our hormone's get all messed up from massive weight loss. They've done studies on biggest loser contestants and the prospects aren't good.

I do not know if time will fix the hormone levels (particularly ghrelin, the one that makes us hungry or not), but I can say this. The ONLY thing you can do is practice will power. It sounds like a crappy solution, but really, that's all there is. If there was a drug that legitimately curbed appetite 80% of the west would be taking it.

It's my hope that maintaining long enough will help those intense hunger pangs go away. Best of luck to all of us!

Geocitiesuser · June 2018

Follow up, as a coping method...

"volumetrics", or.... eat things that have a lot of volume with low calories. A whole pint of egg beaters and a whole pound of riced cauliflower is negligable calories. Binge on vegetables, seriously.

Unknown · June 2018

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adrianegenette582 · June 2018

These were all helpful ideas. I know its a serious issue because it is a form of self-harm...so I probably should talk to my doctor or a therapist. In the meantime thank you for the ideas to throw out junk food and use "volumetrics."

Help With Binge Eating

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