Craving = Binge?

oceangirl99 · January 2020

There is a HUGE difference between overeating and binging. I do both - but I can usually control just overeating. On another thread I just read some advice re. watching macros to help avoid cravings - I'm going to try this! Have any bingers out there (true bingers.... not "I went slightly over my calorie" people but people who uncontrollably eat everything in sight when they are not hungry and the food isn't even good had success with watching macros?
Personally I don't think a craving for a specific food necessarily leads to binging. For me, I have no idea what brings it on - hopefully it is as simple as macros but I suspect it is more of a disorder.

cmriverside · January 2020

I have trouble controlling sweets (sugary snack foods) and wheat in all it's many delicious forms. When I was in weight loss mode I cut back my carbs and stopped buying all the many foods I knew I'd over eat. That helped me a lot.

My designated split was 40%C 30%F and 30%P, of course I didn't usually hit that, but it was my goal.

paceycakes · January 2020

I have found cravings and binging due to eating food my body is allergic too and not dealing with my emotions go hand in hand. I made a choice to not use Sugar and Not eat simple carbs. Replacing that I eat more protein and healthy fats with complex carbs. I have seen a big change in how I think plus I have released 50 pounds.

tinkerbellang83 · January 2020

oceangirl99 wrote: »

There is a HUGE difference between overeating and binging. I do both - but I can usually control just overeating. On another thread I just read some advice re. watching macros to help avoid cravings - I'm going to try this! Have any bingers out there (true bingers.... not "I went slightly over my calorie" people but people who uncontrollably eat everything in sight when they are not hungry and the food isn't even good had success with watching macros?
Personally I don't think a craving for a specific food necessarily leads to binging. For me, I have no idea what brings it on - hopefully it is as simple as macros but I suspect it is more of a disorder.

Nope, my binge-eating triggers have little to do with my macros. I've been on all sort of different ratios when doing different training and I've binged all the same. My triggers are stress/emotion/boredom.

tinkerbellang83 · January 2020

oceangirl99 wrote: »

There is a HUGE difference between overeating and binging. I do both - but I can usually control just overeating. On another thread I just read some advice re. watching macros to help avoid cravings - I'm going to try this! Have any bingers out there (true bingers.... not "I went slightly over my calorie" people but people who uncontrollably eat everything in sight when they are not hungry and the food isn't even good had success with watching macros?
Personally I don't think a craving for a specific food necessarily leads to binging. For me, I have no idea what brings it on - hopefully it is as simple as macros but I suspect it is more of a disorder.

There's a great reading list in this group. https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/726-binge-eating-support-group

kshama2001 · January 2020

oceangirl99 wrote: »

There is a HUGE difference between overeating and binging. I do both - but I can usually control just overeating. On another thread I just read some advice re. watching macros to help avoid cravings - I'm going to try this! Have any bingers out there (true bingers.... not "I went slightly over my calorie" people but people who uncontrollably eat everything in sight when they are not hungry and the food isn't even good had success with watching macros?
Personally I don't think a craving for a specific food necessarily leads to binging. For me, I have no idea what brings it on - hopefully it is as simple as macros but I suspect it is more of a disorder.

I can binge for two reasons:
1. Not eating enough protein - my brain gets confused and wants lots of snacky low protein foods, which do not solve the problem and so I can eat and eat and eat and never feel full. Upping protein definitely fixed this.
2. Emotional reasons - protein does not help with this but wearing myself out with exercise does. I try to get in some exercise every day, and on increased stress days will increase the exercise duration and/or intensity.

If you have true Binge Eating Disorder you should probably seek professional help.

Danp · January 2020

For me restriction = binge which usually = guilt. And it happens in one of two ways

1. I will deprive or deny myself something I like until the cravings get too much and I 'break'. Then I think well, I've blown it now so I may as well make the most of it before I go back to depriving myself again and go crazy.
2. I will rebel against myself. I'll tell myself 'I won't eat X' anymore. Then it's as if I say. "Oh yeah, challenge accepted. Watch This!" and again. I go crazy just to prove no one can tell me what I can or can't eat. Not even Me!

So the only successful approach for me is to have nothing off limits. Allow myself to have whatever I want knowing that I either moderate my intake and have what I want guilt free, or I don't and just have to accept that no bodies perfect, there will be consequences for over-indulging and continue on guilt free.

megtulip10 · January 2020

If you have a true binge disorder, a lot of the above information won’t help. If you suffer from the disorder, simply not buying the food in a weekly shop won’t help as you’ll simply find another way to access the food. Tracking macros won’t help in the long term as binge eating is a pyschological disorder. If you have access to therapy, then please utilise that. It is so important to get to the true reason of why you binge and it normally has nothing to do with what else you are eating.
With the help of a therapist, I was able to give up binging. Things that particularly helped were sticking a calendar in the kitchen where I crossed off days I hadn’t binged, making sure to spend less time alone and having the accountability of being honest with my therapist. If therapy isn’t an option then joining a support group of any kind may help. For me, it was 100 times more important to recover from my binge eating (which I found was linked to despression) before trying to lose weight and I recommend you do the same.

ahoy_m8 · January 2020

I agree with you, OP, that cravings for some specific food are not necessarily binge triggers.

Protein and fat help me feel satisfied which lowers my interest in off budget snacks which helps me stick to my plan. Even when emotions whirl. So macros help. What helps even more is eating at an appropriate calorie level. Undereating for more than a couple days makes me a binge waiting to happen, regardless of macros. So it really pays to double check the math in determining the caloric deficit to undertake. For YEARS I would over-restrict after bingeing, and I’m here to say that never really ends well.

So for me, I would say macros help control overeating, but overall caloric intake is the key to minimizing binge risk. Hence, I lose with a small deficit (0.5 lb/wk) for no longer than 10 weeks then eat at maintenance a while. I hope you find strategies that work for you, OP.

Fflpnari · January 2020

Ive struggled with binge eating disorder. Some days are better than others.
A smaller deficit has helped. I eat higher protein. More carbs makes me crave more carbs, which can lead to binging. im learning what will cause me to binge. It has been a long road

sophia162 · January 2020

oceangirl99 wrote: »

There is a HUGE difference between overeating and binging. I do both - but I can usually control just overeating. On another thread I just read some advice re. watching macros to help avoid cravings - I'm going to try this! Have any bingers out there (true bingers.... not "I went slightly over my calorie" people but people who uncontrollably eat everything in sight when they are not hungry and the food isn't even good had success with watching macros?
Personally I don't think a craving for a specific food necessarily leads to binging. For me, I have no idea what brings it on - hopefully it is as simple as macros but I suspect it is more of a disorder.

I have no advice, but I just want you to know I go through the exact same thing. Everything you described. And people tend to say it's emotional or triggered by something mental, but honest to god, usually it just... happens. I see no emotional trends (although I do admit its a disorder for sure).

The only thing that I've gotten better at - and it's allowed me to stay on this journey - is getting back on track after a day or two (three tops >.<) of chaos. No overcompensating, no senseless restriciting, just getting back on track. And yeah, those epidodes slow me down a bit (just a bit), but they don't throw me off the wagon like in the past. And I can live with that.

(Hell, what I hate about binges is that half of the food isn't even enjoyed properly. It's so weird. But I accept them and try to limit them as best I can.)

Edited to add: now that I think about it, working with smaller deficits has definitely helped in the long run. Slow and steady wins the race with this binger --the times I've aimed at higher deficits I ended up undoing all the hard work with big old binges. And that, my friends, sucks.

healthykaitlin · January 2020

I’m a binge eater. A lot of times, I don’t even know it’s going to happen until I’m already well into it. Like cookies, for instance... I could eat maybe 6 good sized cookies before realizing what I’ve done & then I tell myself I’m done, but ultimately just continue binging & tell myself I’ll get back on track tomorrow. It’s 100% emotional. I eat a lot and quickly when I’m upset or bored. It has nothing to do with hunger and I don’t think it has anything to do with macros. For me, the only thing that works is distraction... Listening to podcasts (especially motivational ones, could be for healthy lifestyles or finance or whatever), journaling, getting into habits like commenting on these threads, reading a good book, or (& especially) exercising all help. I’ve just started counting macros, which I guess will serve as a distraction & is helping me to better map out what I’m eating, so maybe it will help after all.. but I don’t think that for me it’s as simple as eating x grams of protein/fat/carbs to put an end to it... it’s all about getting myself into a healthier frame of mind

Craving = Binge?

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