Fell of the Wagon HARD...need help!

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tneiba
tneiba Posts: 8 Member
in Motivation and Support
Hi, so this is my actual first post ever but I've been browsing the messages boards and gaining helpful information ever since I started on this site. I started in November, lost 20 lbs and up until three weeks ago, I've been doing well. I ate healthy and exercised 5-6 days a week. I really felt like I had made a good lifestyle change and I was pretty happy about my eating.

However, within these past three weeks, and all of this past week, I have been binging! Everyday has been 4000-5000 calories. I'm not even doing this because I particularly enjoy it. I stuff myself even though I KNOW I'm full and that I shouldn't be doing this. I just don't feel satisfied until I'm stuffed and feel like I'm sick. Right now as I'm typing this, I'm sooo full and I've already eaten about 5000 calories for the day. Pizza, cookies, chips, cakes, pies, noodles, ice cream, granola bars... I've eaten it all! I thought I didn't need these things anymore but I've just been stuffing my face full of them. It doesn't help that I'm a college student (campus food, restaurants everywhere!) so I have VERY easy access to food. I feel horrible about this but I don't feel like I can stop. It doesn't help that I think about food all the time and what I can eat. I can't tell if I'm really hungry anymore and I KNOW my digestive system is very messed up. :grumble:

I need help in getting back on track! I'm afraid of eating tomorrow because I feel like I'm going to start binging again. It's like I get this "hunger" everything I eat something. I just keep wanting more and more even though I know that I'm full and that I'm not hungry. How can I come back from this? I've already gained back 8 of the lbs I lost.... I don't want to lose all of my hard work and start having health problems because of this. Please help! :sad:

Sorry that this is really long but I just feel like crying and I really needed to vent. I don't know what to do tomorrow because I'm sure it's going to happen again.

Replies

  • tneiba
    tneiba Posts: 8 Member
    Options
    Hi, so this is my actual first post ever but I've been browsing the messages boards and gaining helpful information ever since I started on this site. I started in November, lost 20 lbs and up until three weeks ago, I've been doing well. I ate healthy and exercised 5-6 days a week. I really felt like I had made a good lifestyle change and I was pretty happy about my eating.

    However, within these past three weeks, and all of this past week, I have been binging! Everyday has been 4000-5000 calories. I'm not even doing this because I particularly enjoy it. I stuff myself even though I KNOW I'm full and that I shouldn't be doing this. I just don't feel satisfied until I'm stuffed and feel like I'm sick. Right now as I'm typing this, I'm sooo full and I've already eaten about 5000 calories for the day. Pizza, cookies, chips, cakes, pies, noodles, ice cream, granola bars... I've eaten it all! I thought I didn't need these things anymore but I've just been stuffing my face full of them. It doesn't help that I'm a college student (campus food, restaurants everywhere!) so I have VERY easy access to food. I feel horrible about this but I don't feel like I can stop. It doesn't help that I think about food all the time and what I can eat. I can't tell if I'm really hungry anymore and I KNOW my digestive system is very messed up. :grumble:

    I need help in getting back on track! I'm afraid of eating tomorrow because I feel like I'm going to start binging again. It's like I get this "hunger" everything I eat something. I just keep wanting more and more even though I know that I'm full and that I'm not hungry. How can I come back from this? I've already gained back 8 of the lbs I lost.... I don't want to lose all of my hard work and start having health problems because of this. Please help! :sad:

    Sorry that this is really long but I just feel like crying and I really needed to vent. I don't know what to do tomorrow because I'm sure it's going to happen again.
  • ibcausa
    ibcausa Posts: 6
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    Sounds like emotional eating to me. I have the same problem sometimes. It's like trying to fill a bottomless pit. For me it helps to find something else to fill the void. When it gets really bad, I try to get out of the house and go to an environment where food isn't as accessible, like the park or shopping.

    Most importantly, you need to forgive yourself, realize you are human, and remember to take it one day at a time. Try to reach small goals, like giving up sugary snacks for one day, and see how you do.

    Remember you are not alone! Everyone has their own journey here, and it's never too late to get back on the wagon. One of my favorite quotes that has helped me: the only way you'll never lose weight is if you stop trying.

    Good luck!

    Kristy
  • LosingIt4good
    LosingIt4good Posts: 1,214 Member
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    Well, first of all... youre here now, so go set up your food journal for tomorrow. Try to plan out your meal for the day with good options instead of bad ones and take healthy snacks with you so you arent stopping at the fast food and getting stufff thats bad for you.

    If this is something you really want to get control of, you can do it. On the plus side at least you know what your eating isnt good and you know just how much damage its doing....so remind yourself of this, then reach for your good options!

    Also, drink water... not soda, juice or other stuff. Staying hydrated might help with some of those cravings as well.

    YOU CAN DO THIS!!!! Just make a you-turn and get back on track. Tomorrow is a new day.
  • etrips
    etrips Posts: 22
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    I have had the same issue, not so much on such a level but I find myself eating food I not only don't want/need to eat but lots of it, I find its because my body is craving certain 'healthy' things so I just feed it...but it still wants to eat because I havn't given it what it wants...basically your trying to fill a circle with a square, eat some really nutrishous food and you'll probably find the compullsive eating will go away
  • gilly88
    gilly88 Posts: 114
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    one thing that is always surprising to me is how much protein fills you up.
    i am not saying you should go on a low carb diet, but one thing that helps me after i have binged or gone mental in the kitchen is to have a day where i really reduce my carbs to almost nothing.
    for example,
    breakfast: omelette with ham, spinach, mushrooms, LF cheese
    snack: natural yoghurt with protein powder and PB
    lunch: huge chicken salad with seeds and LF dressing
    snack: turkey roll ups (houmous, sliced turkey rolled in lettuce leaves)
    dinner: lean meat with tons of veggies
    snack: LF hot chocolate or SF jello

    i know this might seem hard, but it's only a day and it really helps you feel full and healthy again. if you want a baked potato with lunch or can't handle not having carbs for the day, have some - but have wholegrain, bland carbs that aren't going to make you crave more. remember, those things you listed are all simple carbs (essentially sugar) that are addictive.

    i hope this helps - just keep repeating to yourself that YOU are in control. you CAN DO IT!

    p.s - do use this site to post more if u want - the people here are amazing and there's never a stupid question (i know b/c i have asked a lot haha!) :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:
  • bigdawg62
    bigdawg62 Posts: 127 Member
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    I can really identify, I did awesome last year up till November and then I gave myself permission to eat thinking this time it will be different, this time I will be able to control my eating. Boy was I wrong again, once I started I couldnt stop. I'm addicted to food and when I eat foods that have lots of simple sugars like cakes, cookies, pasta, breads it sets up a complulsion to want more and more. It also does a number on my digestive system. I found that it takes about a week to break the cycle and get back to the point where I can eat healthy and feel good again. Hang in there and plan out your food ahead of time and just stick to the plan no matter what until you get past the point where the cravings stop. If you excersise that does help a bit, although in the begining it does have the negative consequence of making you hungry so be careful what you eat. Good luck.:happy:
  • tneiba
    tneiba Posts: 8 Member
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    Thank you all for your responses! It makes me feel much better and that I'm not alone. I really hope I can make it through tomorrow.

    Thanks ibcausa. I never thought it could be emotional eating but I looked up some information on it and it sounds like it's the right diagnosis! I guess it's the stress of midterms in combination with my social life. Thanks for the quote and encouragement!

    Thanks losingit4good. I'll be sure to stay hydrated and try to assert more control.

    Thanks etrips, I agree. Probably feeding into my compulsion isn't helping.

    Thanks gilly for the meal plan and encouragement! I'm going to follow it and hope that I can control my urges tomorrow. I'll be sure to post more too. I love this site and the people! :D

    Thanks Bigdawg for letting me know that it can be fixed! I guess I need to eliminate sugars completely since it IS like an addiction. I guess I have to see if I can last this first day before it can turn into a week.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    I'm not normally the "shoulder to cry on type" tn, it's just not how I'm built usually. But I do understand how this type of stuff happens. We all have different ways to deal with our emotional baggage. Personally, I retreat into my computer world, others (like my wife) dive into some activity, and others (maybe yourself?) find comfort in food.

    Sometimes it's easy to find the cause of the implosion, sometimes it's buried deep down and we don't know what set it off.

    My suggestion to you is to really dig deep emotionally, maybe go see someone, either a trusted friend or a therapist (where ever you feel comfortable), studied indicate, binge eating usually has an emotions base. And in many, many cases, just finding out what the root emotional cause is (not necessarily resolving the internal conflict), can halt the binge. I don't know if this will help you or not, but I hope you will think about it, because we all want to see you become healthy, both physically and emotionally!

    best wishes,

    -Banks
  • kpnuts23
    kpnuts23 Posts: 960 Member
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    Boy was I wrong again, once I started I couldnt stop. I'm addicted to food and when I eat foods that have lots of simple sugars like cakes, cookies, pasta, breads it sets up a complulsion to want more and more. It also does a number on my digestive system. I found that it takes about a week to break the cycle and get back to the point where I can eat healthy and feel good again.

    I do the same - once i have one bit of chocolate i want more of that - or i go looking for something that is equally as sugary.. and fruit does not curb the craving!!!

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