Binges?
OuterSpaceFace
Posts: 1 Member
How many times a month/week do you binge and what do you consider a binge? For me a binge is over 2,000cal and I binge around 1-2 times a week. I'm trying to cut down on the binges though, and limit them to 1-2 a month.
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Replies
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What is "considered" a binge is a medical/ psychological definition. Below is from the NHS website, as a simple definition.Binge eating disorder involves regularly eating large portions of food all at once until you feel uncomfortably full, and then often upset or guilty.
...
Symptoms of binge eating disorder
The main symptom of binge eating disorder is eating very large amounts of food in a short time, often in an out-of-control way. But symptoms may also include:
eating very fast during a binge
eating until you feel uncomfortably full
eating when you're not hungry
eating alone or secretly
feeling depressed, guilty, ashamed or disgusted after binge eating
People who regularly eat in this way may have binge eating disorder.
The calorie amount doesn't matter. I can eat 250kcal feeling out of control and guilty which is a binge episode or I can eat 3000kcal on christmas day and feel fine about it, which is not a binge episode.14 -
For me a Binge is when I’m not hungry and I start eating (whatever) thinking but not caring, not stopping for a few hours until my stomach hurts and obviously losing track of cals consumed...
This happens to me 1-3 times a week, disorder? Nah Bad habit IMHO
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To me, a binge is when I'm sitting on the floor eating food I don't want to eat, begging my body to stop because I'm so full that I'm fantasizing about cutting myself open to relieve the pressure, but I can't stop and it feels like someone has taken control of my body and I'm just watching it happen, powerless and sick.
But I recognize some people use the word more colloquially to mean that they overate some chips or something.21 -
OuterSpaceFace wrote: »How many times a month/week do you binge and what do you consider a binge? For me a binge is over 2,000cal and I binge around 1-2 times a week. I'm trying to cut down on the binges though, and limit them to 1-2 a month.
Obviously I don't know if this is relevant to you, but for binges that happen because one is under-eating like this, there is a simple solution:
https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/1200-calorie-diet/4 -
OuterSpaceFace wrote: »How many times a month/week do you binge and what do you consider a binge? For me a binge is over 2,000cal and I binge around 1-2 times a week. I'm trying to cut down on the binges though, and limit them to 1-2 a month.
Eating 2000 calories is the average calorie intake at maintenance for a woman. Not sure why you would class this as a binge?5 -
For me a Binge is when I’m not hungry and I start eating (whatever) thinking but not caring, not stopping for a few hours until my stomach hurts and obviously losing track of cals consumed...
This happens to me 1-3 times a week, disorder? Nah Bad habit IMHO
Honestly this sounds like a disorder to me. Do you feel like it’s hard to stop? Why do you need it - even at 2-3 times a week is a lot.
If it’s a conscious feeding episode to take break from dieting, it’s a different story. If you feel out of control (eating for hours till you stomach hurts..) that may signal something more thank a bad habit..
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I describe my binges eating at least one, usually 2 big loaves of bread. And whatever goes onto and into the bread totaling over 3.000 calories for that meal. Since I have realized that bread is my trigger food, I just don't have any of it at home. A bread basket in a restaurant is still a big problem for me. I do eat other carbs and stay within the MFP calculated daily calories.2
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I have recovered from binge eating disorder. My binges were uncontrollable urges, I would eat until the food was gone. I would be painfully full and could feel food filling into my throat but would keep eating anyway. I couldn’t stop. Literally. I would hide in a corner and often cry while I was doing it because I couldn’t stop and was so ashamed.
I binged on anything from pounds of cherry tomatoes or grapes, to entire pork shoulders and packages of cookies, entire cakes. Calories are irrelevant. Some binges were a few hundred, some many thousands (over 10k on more than one occasion).
I did this a couple times a week at least. And even managed to lose a good chunk of weight while continuing to have these binges because I would run enough to fully punish myself and “purge” the calories.
I got treatment, Life is good now. Food is stress free. I routinely ate 6-8k calories on long run days in marathon training and nary a binge to be had.
If you have out of control binge urges, treatment will change your life.19 -
TavistockToad wrote: »OuterSpaceFace wrote: »How many times a month/week do you binge and what do you consider a binge? For me a binge is over 2,000cal and I binge around 1-2 times a week. I'm trying to cut down on the binges though, and limit them to 1-2 a month.
Eating 2000 calories is the average calorie intake at maintenance for a woman. Not sure why you would class this as a binge?
Maybe it was meant as "in one sitting?" I don't know. I could do that, but don't thankfully.
I may fall face first into a box of cereal, but I usually stop after two bowls...0 -
As others point out, BED has nothing to do with calories or an arbitrary threshold. It's having a couple cookies, going back for more because the first were gone before you knew it, swinging by the kitchen for just one more, saying screw it and getting the rest of the box, and eventually ending up with a horrible stomach ache wondering why the hell you did that to yourself again.
Part of the way I lost weight was finally getting my BED under control by permanently removing trigger foods from my diet. I never buy chips, cookies, or pastry. I try not to binge at all now and I certainly don't allow myself 1-2 binges a month. Why would I WANT to torture myself like that if I don't have to???6 -
diannethegeek wrote: »To me, a binge is when I'm sitting on the floor eating food I don't want to eat, begging my body to stop because I'm so full that I'm fantasizing about cutting myself open to relieve the pressure, but I can't stop and it feels like someone has taken control of my body and I'm just watching it happen, powerless and sick.
But I recognize some people use the word more colloquially to mean that they overate some chips or something.
Agree2 -
kshama2001 wrote: »OuterSpaceFace wrote: »How many times a month/week do you binge and what do you consider a binge? For me a binge is over 2,000cal and I binge around 1-2 times a week. I'm trying to cut down on the binges though, and limit them to 1-2 a month.
Obviously I don't know if this is relevant to you, but for binges that happen because one is under-eating like this, there is a simple solution:
https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/1200-calorie-diet/
Not necessarily
I don’t restrict, or forbid, I can eat at Maintenance and still...It’s just the urge that goes away more quickly by giving in, again BAD HABIT, I think...
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I have been a binge eater in the past. My advice is do not have your calories set too low. Doing this made me hungry and miserable and led me to binge- especially on foods I had told myself were “bad”. My advice? If you want a cupcake, EAT THE DAMN CUPCAKE. Eating one cupcake when you feel like it is a lot better than restricting yourself for days then all of a sudden giving up and eating all 12 in one sitting!!! Everything in moderation is key- don’t make the same mistake I did of labelling foods as “good” and “bad”. this will only make you want the things you can’t have more. Eat a sensible portion of what you crave and that urge to binge will go away!
Good luck😀4 -
Kittyy1994 wrote: »I have been a binge eater in the past. My advice is do not have your calories set too low. Doing this made me hungry and miserable and led me to binge- especially on foods I had told myself were “bad”. My advice? If you want a cupcake, EAT THE DAMN CUPCAKE. Eating one cupcake when you feel like it is a lot better than restricting yourself for days then all of a sudden giving up and eating all 12 in one sitting!!! Everything in moderation is key- don’t make the same mistake I did of labelling foods as “good” and “bad”. this will only make you want the things you can’t have more. Eat a sensible portion of what you crave and that urge to binge will go away!
Good luck😀
If only it were that easy. Binge eating does not go away because you "satiated" yourself with a sensible portion of a food you crave. @diannethegeek nailed it, at least for me.4 -
My binges start mentally, as in what can I eat to satisfy (insert emotion here). I get the food, eat as much as possible until it's gone (usually in secret) and sometimes something else in the house to eat until said feeling is gone or I feel physically sick enough to ignore it. Followed by planning how to negate 3000 to 5000 calories worth of damage with exercise or more calorie cutting. And freaking out about the scale.
Yes this is a problem. Yes I'm getting help.5 -
Kittyy1994 wrote: »I have been a binge eater in the past. My advice is do not have your calories set too low. Doing this made me hungry and miserable and led me to binge- especially on foods I had told myself were “bad”. My advice? If you want a cupcake, EAT THE DAMN CUPCAKE. Eating one cupcake when you feel like it is a lot better than restricting yourself for days then all of a sudden giving up and eating all 12 in one sitting!!! Everything in moderation is key- don’t make the same mistake I did of labelling foods as “good” and “bad”. this will only make you want the things you can’t have more. Eat a sensible portion of what you crave and that urge to binge will go away!
Good luck😀
Binge eating disorders have a wide variety of causes and expressions and it isn't really fair to present a solution that works for you as somehow universal.
I thought this was also my solution until "everything in moderation" failed to stop the behaviour. The over-restriction was another symptom of the anxiety and poor mental health that leads to my binging problems, it wasn't the cause.6 -
Kittyy1994 wrote: »I have been a binge eater in the past. My advice is do not have your calories set too low. Doing this made me hungry and miserable and led me to binge- especially on foods I had told myself were “bad”. My advice? If you want a cupcake, EAT THE DAMN CUPCAKE. Eating one cupcake when you feel like it is a lot better than restricting yourself for days then all of a sudden giving up and eating all 12 in one sitting!!! Everything in moderation is key- don’t make the same mistake I did of labelling foods as “good” and “bad”. this will only make you want the things you can’t have more. Eat a sensible portion of what you crave and that urge to binge will go away!
Good luck😀
Binge eating disorders have a wide variety of causes and expressions and it isn't really fair to present a solution that works for you as somehow universal.
I thought this was also my solution until "everything in moderation" failed to stop the behaviour. The over-restriction was another symptom of the anxiety and poor mental health that leads to my binging problems, it wasn't the cause.
Yes, this is true for me too. Over-restriction was just another manifestation of the mental process that was causing me to binge (Hello anxiety!). While avoiding excessive restriction is an important part of my overall wellness, it wasn't going to control binges all by itself.3 -
For me a binge revolves around how I'm feeling mentally and also how I act to obtain and eat the food that I'm binge eating. I've had severe struggles with binge eating and I feel there's a distinct difference between between how I feel when I'm binge eating and how I feel when I'm overeating. How much of or the type of food is honestly not that important.
I think the biggest different is with binge eating, I have a strong need to hide that I'm eating, whereas with overeating, I do not. With binge eating, I am uncontrollably compelled to eat, whereas with overeating, I have chosen to eat.. I might think that I shouldn't be eating something when I'm overeating, but I want it. With binge eating, I don't want it, but I feel as if I have no choice.
I have done some pretty disgusting things because of the binge eating. I think that's when I stopped thinking of it as a disordered behavior and started thinking of it as "I have a disorder".6 -
Well this thread has been pretty eye opening. I'm definitely not going to call my instances of careless overeating 'binges' anymore as going by some of the examples given in this thread the term really does seem to refer more to something psychological at work way beyond anything I've ever experienced.1
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Well this thread has been pretty eye opening. I'm definitely not going to call my instances of careless overeating 'binges' anymore as going by some of the examples given in this thread the term really does seem to refer more to something psychological at work way beyond anything I've ever experienced.
In my experience, people use the word in two ways here. Some people are referring to overeating, some people are referring to an actual ED. When it's not clarified, it can sometimes get confusing.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »Well this thread has been pretty eye opening. I'm definitely not going to call my instances of careless overeating 'binges' anymore as going by some of the examples given in this thread the term really does seem to refer more to something psychological at work way beyond anything I've ever experienced.
In my experience, people use the word in two ways here. Some people are referring to overeating, some people are referring to an actual ED. When it's not clarified, it can sometimes get confusing.
Yeah, a lot of people will use binge and overeat interchangeably, which is common irl. I will sometimes clarify the disordered binge eating as a "true binge" to distinguish it from emotional or mindless overeating.2 -
I don't have BED but have a few techniques for dealing with the urge to eat when I'm not actually hungry: I drink copious amounts of water and tea, or I chew gum (a lot of it.) The gum chewing probably isn't good for me, either (sucralose volume) but sometimes I just really want to chew something, and this way, I'm not getting any extra calories that I'd later regret. Apologies if this is more about the serious side of bingeing vs. simply eating when you're not hungry....2
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Running_and_Coffee wrote: »I don't have BED but have a few techniques for dealing with the urge to eat when I'm not actually hungry: I drink copious amounts of water and tea, or I chew gum (a lot of it.) The gum chewing probably isn't good for me, either (sucralose volume) but sometimes I just really want to chew something, and this way, I'm not getting any extra calories that I'd later regret. Apologies if this is more about the serious side of bingeing vs. simply eating when you're not hungry....
You are good, I think the OP didn't realize there tends to be a difference and thought it was based on calorie count. I think those are good tips to prevent mindless eating and cravings. I definitely chew gum because sometimes I just want something in my mouth.2 -
RelCanonical wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »Well this thread has been pretty eye opening. I'm definitely not going to call my instances of careless overeating 'binges' anymore as going by some of the examples given in this thread the term really does seem to refer more to something psychological at work way beyond anything I've ever experienced.
In my experience, people use the word in two ways here. Some people are referring to overeating, some people are referring to an actual ED. When it's not clarified, it can sometimes get confusing.
Yeah, a lot of people will use binge and overeat interchangeably, which is common irl. I will sometimes clarify the disordered binge eating as a "true binge" to distinguish it from emotional or mindless overeating.
I was just coming back to this thread to say something similar and to add that it's not uncommon for these threads to become more about tips like "chew gum" or "brush your teeth" which absolutely never helped me but maybe they'll help other people. It just gets very frustrating sometimes to see the more serious side of binging overlooked in favor of the more colloquial use of the word.2 -
I think the word binge is used universally to indicate someone has eaten something or somethings they wish they hadn’t.
It becomes a challenge to understand whether the binge was one rooted in pieces of BED where the solution is eating disorder treatment (and really nothing else), or whether someone ate a cookie they didn’t mean to - where a number of techniques can be helpful.
I’m not begrudging anyone choosing to indicate that cookie incident as a binge. The word “binge” has become commonplace in our language for all kinds of behaviors.
But it does muddy the waters some and make it difficult to provide real help if someone needs ED treatment but is told to just distract themself or up their calories - or someone who ate a cookie is told to seek ED treatment.0 -
Duck_Puddle wrote: »I think the word binge is used universally to indicate someone has eaten something or somethings they wish they hadn’t.
It becomes a challenge to understand whether the binge was one rooted in pieces of BED where the solution is eating disorder treatment (and really nothing else), or whether someone ate a cookie they didn’t mean to - where a number of techniques can be helpful.
I’m not begrudging anyone choosing to indicate that cookie incident as a binge. The word “binge” has become commonplace in our language for all kinds of behaviors.
But it does muddy the waters some and make it difficult to provide real help if someone needs ED treatment but is told to just distract themself or up their calories - or someone who ate a cookie is told to seek ED treatment.
It's definitely still a muddy situation, and still is for more commonly talked-about disorders like anorexia. I think people have gotten a lot better in this forum about questioning the person about how they feel about whatever poor eating action they took, and it's helped to distinguish the two. I agree that's it's far from perfect, though, and have gone into some threads thinking people are totally overreacting, and gone into others thinking "why is no one seeing the red flags?"4 -
RelCanonical wrote: »Duck_Puddle wrote: »I think the word binge is used universally to indicate someone has eaten something or somethings they wish they hadn’t.
It becomes a challenge to understand whether the binge was one rooted in pieces of BED where the solution is eating disorder treatment (and really nothing else), or whether someone ate a cookie they didn’t mean to - where a number of techniques can be helpful.
I’m not begrudging anyone choosing to indicate that cookie incident as a binge. The word “binge” has become commonplace in our language for all kinds of behaviors.
But it does muddy the waters some and make it difficult to provide real help if someone needs ED treatment but is told to just distract themself or up their calories - or someone who ate a cookie is told to seek ED treatment.
It's definitely still a muddy situation, and still is for more commonly talked-about disorders like anorexia. I think people have gotten a lot better in this forum about questioning the person about how they feel about whatever poor eating action they took, and it's helped to distinguish the two. I agree that's it's far from perfect, though, and have gone into some threads thinking people are totally overreacting, and gone into others thinking "why is no one seeing the red flags?"
Exactly.0
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