Binging every 3 days
Jumpropegirl5467
Posts: 98 Member
I’ve been having a problem lately where I am just out right binging bread, cookies, and things of this nature every 3 days. I’ve been doing this for at least 3 weeks now and I am needing to get back in track. I have MFP set to 1,600 cal but I was exceeding that by a good amount every 3 days and now I am struggling to get back. Any tips ? I’m also worried about how this is hindering my weight loss and might even be causing weight gain.
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Replies
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Without knowing a little more about you it’s hard to know whether your 1600 calorie/day goal is realistic but the behaviour you describe suggests it might well be far too aggressive a deficit.
How much did you set as your weekly loss goal - I’m going to hazard a guess that you said 2lbs a week?
Try setting that to no more than 1lb (if you don’t have much to lose you’d be better selecting just half a pound a week) again, without knowing your height, current weight etc I don’t know which is more appropriate.
You may well find that eating even a little more than your current 1600 will tip the balance to a deficit you can stick to rather than one that has you struggling to stay within it. The end result may be slower than you felt you wanted but if it means you can stick to it, then you’ll see results!5 -
BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »Without knowing a little more about you it’s hard to know whether your 1600 calorie/day goal is realistic but the behaviour you describe suggests it might well be far too aggressive a deficit.
How much did you set as your weekly loss goal - I’m going to hazard a guess that you said 2lbs a week?
Try setting that to no more than 1lb (if you don’t have much to lose you’d be better selecting just half a pound a week) again, without knowing your height, current weight etc I don’t know which is more appropriate.
You may well find that eating even a little more than your current 1600 will tip the balance to a deficit you can stick to rather than one that has you struggling to stay within it. The end result may be slower than you felt you wanted but if it means you can stick to it, then you’ll see results!
Thank you! I’m 5”8 and weigh 163 right now, my 1,600 was based on a lightly active 1b a week. Most days however I am sedentary so I try to stay at 1,400 to lose 1lb a week.
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Have you always had a tendency to binge? I have, which makes it doubly hard to recover from. If you've read any of my more recent posts, you'll see I gained 20 lbs. in the past 3+ months. While it might not seem like a big deal to some, it was very frightening to me, because more than the pounds it was the lack of self-control I experienced. I couldn't get my head back into what I knew I needed to do.
So much easier to just stuff myself.
Are you up for adding a 20-30 minute walk to your days? Or what about jumping rope, that's such a fast calorie burner. And I see your name so just assumed.....
Maybe if you added some exercise to your daily routine, it might be motivation to eat better?
Good luck! Eating due to stress or to fill a void, or for whatever reason, is so challenging to overcome but it can be done. If you're not eating enough calories and that's what is causing you to crave food, then do as was suggested above and start anew. Also, try to fill in with more lower calorie foods such a veggies, see if that helps fill you up.2 -
Jumpropegirl5467 wrote: »BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »Without knowing a little more about you it’s hard to know whether your 1600 calorie/day goal is realistic but the behaviour you describe suggests it might well be far too aggressive a deficit.
How much did you set as your weekly loss goal - I’m going to hazard a guess that you said 2lbs a week?
Try setting that to no more than 1lb (if you don’t have much to lose you’d be better selecting just half a pound a week) again, without knowing your height, current weight etc I don’t know which is more appropriate.
You may well find that eating even a little more than your current 1600 will tip the balance to a deficit you can stick to rather than one that has you struggling to stay within it. The end result may be slower than you felt you wanted but if it means you can stick to it, then you’ll see results!
Thank you! I’m 5”8 and weigh 163 right now, my 1,600 was based on a lightly active 1b a week. Most days however I am sedentary so I try to stay at 1,400 to lose 1lb a week.
I'm a bit shorter than you at 5'6" but around the same weight and when I was around a lightly active level and I REALLY struggled with 1500 kcal a day and it would trigger binge cycles, making the lower calories pointless. I definitely recommend going for a slower loss, you can't have much to lose anyway?3 -
scarlett_k wrote: »Jumpropegirl5467 wrote: »BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »Without knowing a little more about you it’s hard to know whether your 1600 calorie/day goal is realistic but the behaviour you describe suggests it might well be far too aggressive a deficit.
How much did you set as your weekly loss goal - I’m going to hazard a guess that you said 2lbs a week?
Try setting that to no more than 1lb (if you don’t have much to lose you’d be better selecting just half a pound a week) again, without knowing your height, current weight etc I don’t know which is more appropriate.
You may well find that eating even a little more than your current 1600 will tip the balance to a deficit you can stick to rather than one that has you struggling to stay within it. The end result may be slower than you felt you wanted but if it means you can stick to it, then you’ll see results!
Thank you! I’m 5”8 and weigh 163 right now, my 1,600 was based on a lightly active 1b a week. Most days however I am sedentary so I try to stay at 1,400 to lose 1lb a week.
I'm a bit shorter than you at 5'6" but around the same weight and when I was around a lightly active level and I REALLY struggled with 1500 kcal a day and it would trigger binge cycles, making the lower calories pointless. I definitely recommend going for a slower loss, you can't have much to lose anyway?
I want to get to 135-140. I have MFP set to sedentary and 1 lb a week which gives me 1,400 something calories.
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Jumpropegirl5467 wrote: »scarlett_k wrote: »Jumpropegirl5467 wrote: »BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »Without knowing a little more about you it’s hard to know whether your 1600 calorie/day goal is realistic but the behaviour you describe suggests it might well be far too aggressive a deficit.
How much did you set as your weekly loss goal - I’m going to hazard a guess that you said 2lbs a week?
Try setting that to no more than 1lb (if you don’t have much to lose you’d be better selecting just half a pound a week) again, without knowing your height, current weight etc I don’t know which is more appropriate.
You may well find that eating even a little more than your current 1600 will tip the balance to a deficit you can stick to rather than one that has you struggling to stay within it. The end result may be slower than you felt you wanted but if it means you can stick to it, then you’ll see results!
Thank you! I’m 5”8 and weigh 163 right now, my 1,600 was based on a lightly active 1b a week. Most days however I am sedentary so I try to stay at 1,400 to lose 1lb a week.
I'm a bit shorter than you at 5'6" but around the same weight and when I was around a lightly active level and I REALLY struggled with 1500 kcal a day and it would trigger binge cycles, making the lower calories pointless. I definitely recommend going for a slower loss, you can't have much to lose anyway?
I want to get to 135-140. I have MFP set to sedentary and 1 lb a week which gives me 1,400 something calories.
ARE you actually sedentary? You look young in your photo...are you working at all or taking care of kids or a house? Almost no one is sedentary.
163 and 5'8" is already at your healthy BMI.
You're having binge/restrict cycles.
Are you exercising at all? On those days do you eat 300-500 more calories?
I'm 5'8" and retired (in my sixties, female.) Even I am not set at sedentary. I live in a tiny condo and have very little "required" movement at all, but I am set at moderately active; so two levels above sedentary. To lose my last 20 pounds (from 160 to 140) I was set at 1600 PLUS exercise calories, so on most days I was eating 1900-2100 calories to lose those last pounds.
I think you're under-eating which sets off that binge/restrict cycle you're in.8 -
Yes to what others are saying above. Also:
* On your low calorie days, are you making treat foods off limits? Sometimes that kind of over-restriction also creates problems.
* How is your sleep and stress level, among other factors? If my stress level is high, or my sleep quality/quantity is bad, I'm much more likely to cave in to comfort foods. (Boredom is another possible factor.) Sometimes other things like this can cause an eating issue, but it's more direct to recognize and deal with the actual trigger - the sleep, stress, boredom or what-have-you.
You say you're set for a pound a week. Have you been losing a pound a week? Or have you not been able to stick with this long enough to know? (It's unclear from your post whether the problem arose in the last 3 weeks when you've been calorie counting longer, or you just started counting 3 weeks ago.)
If you haven't been able to stick with the calorie level (most of the time) for at least one full menstrual cycle, then it may be worth my pointing out that it's possible for MFP to underestimate a person's calorie needs, even with correct settings (i.e., not using sedentary/not very active if you're above 4-5000 step-equivalents). It's a rare thing, but it can happen. MFP underestimates my calorie requirements by 25-30%, based on comparison with careful logging for most of a year while losing, and 4+ years of maintenance since. I lost fine at 5'5" and a lower weight than your current one, on 1400-1600 net calories (so eating 1700-2000 or so gross calories once exercise was added), even at age 60. While that's unusual, it can happen. Your actual multi-week average weight loss rate at a given calorie level is the only real way to know.)2 -
I do work out 6 times a week and usually log in the calories and have lately been eating them back but try not to. I have been logging in for about 4 months and I haven’t lost any weight in about a month and a few weeks, not sure if this is a plateau but I’m sure it is. At this point I’m not sure what to do about the binging and getting down to my desired 135-1400
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I actually saw my weight stall when I upped my calories to 1,600. Which is why I’m considering bringing it back down to1,4000
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Jumpropegirl5467 wrote: »I actually saw my weight stall when I upped my calories to 1,600. Which is why I’m considering bringing it back down to1,400
Keep in mind that if you raise calories, you usually also usually increase the amount of carbs, sodium, and fiber you eat, which will increase water weight and digestive contents in transit, neither of which are fat, but do show up on the scale. So, it's common to see a scale jump quickly with a calorie increase, but it's nothing to worry about. It takes eating around 3500 calories *above maintenance* to gain a pound of fat.
If you gain a pound or two basically overnight, and didn't do anything remotely like eat 3500-7000 excess calories, it's not fat. Things will settle out and you'll start seeing loss on the scale again.
Waaaayyyy too many people see that scale jump and think "I was losing at 1400, now I'm gaining at 1600" and back off. Even if 1400 were maintenance calories (and I'll bet it's not), it would take almost 18 days of consistently eating 1600 calories to gain a pound of fat.
If you were logging food consistently, hitting goal, losing well on average per week for weeks, then stalled out, without any significant reduction in daily life activity level or exercise, and without eating more, then there can be water weight weirdness behind that, as well. If I'm following you, you've been restricting for 4 months, binging every 3 days for 3 weeks, and stalled for around a month plus a few weeks maybe overlapping the recent 3 weeks?
I'd suggest you find a level you can stick with - maybe 1600, even 1600 + a reasonable fraction of exercise calories? - and stay there consistently for a full menstrual cycle, and see what happens. It's really, really hard to diagnose and resolve what's going on, if one keeps changing things up in kind of frantic mode, before getting the multiple weeks of consistent data that will provide a good, insightful picture.
Consistency is pretty important - more so in diagnosing issue, even, than in sustainable long-term loss. You need to have a sound, data-based estimate of your personal calorie requirements, IMO, before you can decide how to flex that. The calculator estimates (like MFP's) are just a rough starting point.
You're within the normal BMI range now, so slow loss would be a good plan anyway. Any loss level takes a few weeks to sort it self out, in average weekly loss terms. For a slower lost rate, that's extra super true. (I've been losing a few vanity pounds myself over the last several months, at 0.5 pounds a week *or less*, intentionally, and there are plenty of times when I'd have thought I was gaining, if I didn't trust the process as much as I do after 5 years of counting, 4+ of them maintenance. But I'm down around 10 pounds since last October, so it's working exactly as planned. I'm not suggesting you need to lose that slowly, that's just me - but if you're going for a pound a week, there will be multi-week chunks when it's zero (maybe even up a bit), I'd predict, and other weeks when 2-3 pounds loss suddenly pops up on the scale. Bodies are weird 
).
Best wishes!7 -
Jumpropegirl5467 wrote: »I do work out 6 times a week and usually log in the calories and have lately been eating them back but try not to. I have been logging in for about 4 months and I haven’t lost any weight in about a month and a few weeks, not sure if this is a plateau but I’m sure it is. At this point I’m not sure what to do about the binging and getting down to my desired 135-140
Well, if you aren't going to use the tools we are giving you, then I guess you will continue to have these binge days. If you are going to continue on the path you're on (under-eating) then at least try to have a plan. Make sure you're getting all your necessary nutrients.
1400 is super low for someone who works out and is 5'8".
We are telling you that you would lose at 1600 PLUS exercise calories. There will be a temporary glycogen replenishment which WILL show as a weight tick upward for a few days, but you'll start losing again and the binging will be under control when you're properly eating. Your body is screaming out for more food and if there is more food available it will get some! Try to not make it be cookies and bread.
These last few pounds are difficult. It takes time and it's a very fine balancing act finding the right number of calories. Your binges tell me you're under-fueling.9 -
Jumpropegirl5467 wrote: »I do work out 6 times a week and usually log in the calories and have lately been eating them back but try not to. I have been logging in for about 4 months and I haven’t lost any weight in about a month and a few weeks, not sure if this is a plateau but I’m sure it is. At this point I’m not sure what to do about the binging and getting down to my desired 135-140
You are binge eating because your daily calories are way too low. If you increase your daily calories to a sensible amount you will be at a much lower risk of feeling the need to binge and thus will be able to sustain a calorie deficit and lose the weight you wish to lose. If you continue eating too little you will continue going around in circles bingeing and restricting and going nowhere.8 -
Do you guys suggest that I put lightly active and stick to my 1,600 cal ? To lose one pound a week ? Maybe this could give me more of the calories I need to not be in such a big deficit2
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I would put in what you think is an accurate activity level for you (you don't sound sedentary) go for a lower rate of loss - half a pound a week - and eat back your exercise calories.3
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You may be actually hungry... Search for satiating foods. I turn to oatmeal and cottage cheese for this.2
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Jumpropegirl5467 wrote: »Do you guys suggest that I put lightly active and stick to my 1,600 cal ? To lose one pound a week ? Maybe this could give me more of the calories I need to not be in such a big deficit
Outside of deliberate exercise, how much do you move around? Are you really sitting at home pretty much all day? If so, I'd agree you're sedentary, but if you're out and about during the day, you're not sedentary. Also, MFP is designed such that you're supposed to enter your exercise and eat back those calories. You've already said you're trying to not do that, which is probably why you're hungry - you're under-eating and, after several months of doing so, your body is fighting back.
My activity level changes daily so I have mine set to Sedentary - but I log all movement apart from walking around my house and walking around my office. I do log my walk to and from the station etc - basically everything outside plus any gym exercise. I then eat my exercise calories because that's what fuels my workouts. The deficit that MFP built in to my calorie numbers is what fueled my weight loss.
If you truly are Sedentary most days, stick with that but ensure you log all activity above that and eat those calories. Do that for 6 weeks. Don't chop and change anything during those 6 weeks. Then compare your weight now to your weight in 6 weeks and see what rate you've lost at. If it's averaging at 1lb a week, you're on track. If it's more / less, you can adjust how much of your exercise calories you eat.
Go in to the Guided Set up and change / save your set-up so that it picks up your current weight, an accurate activity level and reflects what you're trying to achieve. Eat the number of calories given, plus exercise calories and stick to that for 6 weeks to see how you get on. In the meantime, remember that the scales fluctuate for multiple reason, exercise may be causing your body to hang on to water, changes to what you eat can do the same thing etc etc. Give it 6 weeks of consistency.2 -
Jumpropegirl5467 wrote: »Do you guys suggest that I put lightly active and stick to my 1,600 cal ? To lose one pound a week ? Maybe this could give me more of the calories I need to not be in such a big deficit
Lightly active, whatever MFP says to lose a pound a week, AND eat back at least 50% of your exercise calories.
Pretend that the 1200 is 1400 and you are shorter, and this sounds like you:
https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/1200-calorie-diet/
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Jumpropegirl5467 wrote: »I do work out 6 times a week and usually log in the calories and have lately been eating them back but try not to. I have been logging in for about 4 months and I haven’t lost any weight in about a month and a few weeks, not sure if this is a plateau but I’m sure it is. At this point I’m not sure what to do about the binging and getting down to my desired 135-140
If you use MFP to set your calorie goal, exercise, but don't eat back any exercise calories, you are not using MFP the way it was designed.
Unlike other sites which use TDEE calculators, MFP uses the NEAT method (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis), and as such this system is designed for exercise calories to be eaten back. However, many consider the burns given by MFP to be inflated for them and only eat a percentage, such as 50%, back. Others, however, are able to lose weight while eating 100% of their exercise calories.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1
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