Binge Eater what’s the best way to eat and lose?

cristylee12
cristylee12 Posts: 9 Member
edited November 27 in Health and Weight Loss
I’ve tried everything (weight watchers, low carb, calorie counting,etc) and have a hard time sticking to it. I’m a binge eater and wonder if a certain way of eating would work best for me. Most recently I’ve tried low carb but I can’t seem to stick to it and when I fall off the wagon I fall hard and long. I can’t keep going like this, struggling to lose the weight that has snuck up on me over the last 10 years. I am now at 200 pounds and would like to lose 50. Any suggestions or help would be appreciated.

Replies

  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,753 Member
    You could try tracking your intake for a week or two, the good, the bad and the ugly. Just log what you eat and see if you can make any small changes for next week. In other words, figure out what your maintenance calories are and then subtract 500 or even 250 calories from your day. I find that, for me, binging occurs if my calorie intake gets too low.
  • Danp
    Danp Posts: 1,561 Member
    Perhaps try volume eating. Find foods that you can eat a large quantities while not blowing out your calorie intake and binge on them.

    Alternatively, if you can do it, perhaps try a different eating pattern. Using myself as an example I realised some time ago that during the week while I was at work I was only eating lunch because it was 'lunch time' and that I could skip lunch entirely if I had a light Breakfast at around 7am and a small snack at around 4pm. This left me with a huge amount of calories left over for dinner and I could have a much larger/satisfying meal at night when I was genuinely hungry. If you find yourself bingeing at a particular time of day then make that your 'main meal' and cut back at other times.

    In the end whatever works for you is what you should do. G'luck
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    I recommend eating planned and regular meals, made up from foods you like from all the food groups, portioned out to hit your calorie target, after you've set up your account to lose 1.5 pounds (or less) per week.
  • rikkejohnsenrij
    rikkejohnsenrij Posts: 510 Member
    I was that too once but using MFP I'm controlling it. I actually do 5:2 to increase my deficit in the start of the week, and end up having enough calories for a "controlled binge" in the weekend. I log everything - including cake, white bread and snacks...which means I overeat less than before I started logging. Not sure if it will work for you though, you need to find a way that will work
  • xelsoo
    xelsoo Posts: 194 Member
    As a lot of the other users said, I recommend setting a reasonable goal in MFP that will allow you to have treats while eating mostly healthy (volume) food.
    Even try to just track what you eat for a week with NO restrictions, eating whatever you feel like eating. Even though this might sound counterintuitive, it's the start of letting your body know it's not going to be deprived of any of the foods it enjoys and that there's no need to binge. It will also give you an idea of how many calories your body really needs to have energy and feel satiated (listening to your body, not stuffing in food like there's no tomorrow), and how much over this you actually go when you binge.

    Binge eating has underlying issues that usually have little to do with hunger. Seeing a therapist, talking to someone with good advice or even reading an informative book are steps to start understanding why binge eating occurs and how to stop it. I found the book 'Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program That Works' by Evelyn Trybole and Elyse Resch particularly helpful and full of insight.

  • Deviette
    Deviette Posts: 978 Member
    edited June 2018
    It sounds like there might be an underlying issue which is the reason for your bingeing. It may well be nothing to do with food at all, but without dealing with that issue, you're never going to easily be able to control your binge. This is on the assumption that your binges are regular (more than once a week). If you have a binge day once a month or so, well that's not actually the end of the world.

    One of your problems may have something to do with an all or nothing attitude. When it comes to weight loss, to make real changes, its not a case of "well today's ruined, might as well eat the rest of this pizza, and then some cake, and then all the biscuits in the house". There's not a line when suddenly your day has turned bad. I have a sliding scale of calorie intake that I mentally judge how well a day is going. And only when that scale goes above my maintenance amount that it even becomes anything less than, an "okay" day. (for reference I have: 100 under goal - amazing, goal - perfect, 100 over goal - good, maintenance - okay, 200 over maintenance - must do better, anything above that - not great now move on and make sure tomorrow is better)

    Some tips:
    - If you know you have vices, do not have them in the house
    - Try prelogging your meals
    - 5:2 could work well for you (or as a friend did 4:2:1, where the "1" day was a designated pig out day, and the "4"s were slightly under what you'd normally have for "5" days. This meant that the total weeks calories were still at a deficit)
    - Don't deprive yourself of food you actually like, just have it in much smaller portions, or less frequently.
    - If you feel hungry (or bingey), do something to distract yourself. Preferably something moving or using your hands, being bored can make you hungry. Go for a walk, tidy a room, dust the shelves, finally get around to polishing your jewelry. Anything that's more than sitting on the sofa watching tv, or scrolling through your feed.

    Remember, all you need to do is eat less calories than you're currently doing to lose weight. It doesn't have to be a big difference, you don't need to become a super health freak, just eat a little bit less :smile:
  • categ78
    categ78 Posts: 47 Member
    I’d maybe suggest eating and if you need to tracking at maintaince for a while, consider the triggers for binges when you’re not restricting and lookat ways to address them , set up a healthy but realistic exercise schedule,tweak your macros and practise healthy habits that will set a foundation for losing later. Only then look to start cutting kcal.

    I had to do something similar over the last year albeit for very different reasons and although it was hard emotionally to stand still or in my case reverse with my weight loss goals it has defo been a positive experience and I feel ultimately healthier for it.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    The best way to eat is the one that helps with your binging tendencies the most. Or, at the very least, doesn't trigger them. In most cases, that will be less restrictive, not more.

    Figure out why you're binging and work on that. As it is, you're coming at it from the wrong end.
  • cristylee12
    cristylee12 Posts: 9 Member
    Thank you all for your responses. You’ve given me a lot to think about. It scares me to not be so restrictive but I can see how that would hopefully lessen the urge or at least frequency to binge. It’s so embarrassing to admit and I could never tell my family or friends so I really appreciate your support, it means everything!
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    edited June 2018
    As long as you can admit it to yourself, then you can start working on it. It took me a long, long... long time to to get to that point.
  • mkculs
    mkculs Posts: 316 Member
    If you haven't yet, see a therapist. One thing that seems to help me is putting away all the food I've used to make a meal before I eat the meal. So if I'm having a peanut butter sandwich, I put away the peanut butter and bread, etc., before I eat. I'm a "clean as you go" cooker, so my kitchen is spotless before I eat, and that helps me avoid dipping back in when putting things away after a meal. I keep all food out of site (my daughter is getting better at this, for my sake). Bring it out, prepare meal, put it away, then eat. Good luck, whatever you try.
  • teebirderv8
    teebirderv8 Posts: 11 Member
    This is tough since you're a female and (probably) don't want to get stacked. lol.

    I was always a bit of a binge eater. My solution? Nutrient dense low calorie foods and intense training.

    If you want to eat more.... put in the work so your body needs more! Start training like an athlete. Lift heavy weights. Increase the intensity of your conditioning. I can guarantee if you starting working towards training like a high level athlete your body will use the excess.

    When you binge, binge on healthy things. Lean meats, chicken, fish, fruit, and vegetables. If you're eating a lot then make up for it in the gym! Calculate what your eating, and how many calories you need to burn to have a deficit.

    You might find after awhile that you'd rather eat less then not run that extra two miles ;D. Either way it's a win-win.
  • cristylee12
    cristylee12 Posts: 9 Member
    How many calories would you recommend? I would usually try around 1300 but I wonder if 1600 might be better. I need to lose 50 pounds but more importantly get my eating problem under control.
  • nicolehorn0114
    nicolehorn0114 Posts: 51 Member
    If you plug in your stats, activity level, and desired weekly weight loss (preferably a pound) into MFP, it’ll give you a number.
  • peggym4640
    peggym4640 Posts: 156 Member
    For me, therapy helped ease my binges. Until I got the underlying issues under control I didn’t keep weight off. It was a long and painful path and worth every step. Good luck.
  • xionax
    xionax Posts: 19 Member
    I have my diary set to a lot even though I want to be eating around 1500 to lose weight. It makes me feel like I can eat more. It doesn't make me feel stuck eating less.
    (Does that make sense?
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    teebirderv8 wrote: »
    This is tough since you're a female and (probably) don't want to get stacked. lol.

    I was always a bit of a binge eater. My solution? Nutrient dense low calorie foods and intense training.

    If you want to eat more.... put in the work so your body needs more! Start training like an athlete. Lift heavy weights. Increase the intensity of your conditioning. I can guarantee if you starting working towards training like a high level athlete your body will use the excess.

    When you binge, binge on healthy things. Lean meats, chicken, fish, fruit, and vegetables. If you're eating a lot then make up for it in the gym! Calculate what your eating, and how many calories you need to burn to have a deficit.

    You might find after awhile that you'd rather eat less then not run that extra two miles ;D. Either way it's a win-win.

    Well, it's REALLY hard for women to get stacked, and it doesn't happen overnight, so I think she's safe ;)

    I have found exercise extremely useful to curb my desire for emotional eating. I love getting "high" from exercise instead of food - one of the many advantages is there's none of the guilt.

    Also, MFP base calories for weight loss simply aren't enough for me. I need to earn at least 500 exercise calories to get enough food to feel satisfied.
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