Food Addiction/ Overeating and Bingeing?

I believe I have this same problem. I feel like I'm always thinking about food...it consumes me. I know the feeling of being always hungry. I want to be healthy, happy, skinny, sexy but food wins every time!

I have the same problems, I can go three or four days following a healthy eating plan, then by day five I am so hungry I just eat everything. Then I just feel horrible. It doesn't help that almost everyone I know tells me that I am skinny, so I have to diet in 'secret', or I get eye-rolls. I have a small frame, and I am almost 5'9", so I can hide the extra weight. The point is that I don't want to hide it, I want it gone!! No more muffin top!! I have such a hard time staying motivated.

I was contemplating starting a thread very similar to this, I feel like I have to eat all my calories, and i usually go over. and even when I do I am still hungry. I think it is really all in my head. This need to eat. I even tried saving my calories to have what I would consider a normal meal, meat, potato veggie and dessert. I lasted on my set amount of calories and then when I treated myself to this normal meal it was sooooo difficult to come back to my dieting habits. It took me two days to even get back to tracking my foods. I still think that most of m being hungry is in my head, eating is a habit of mine.
I find drinking water has really helped me actually keep my mind off of snacking. Otherwise this is still a daily struggle.

I believe I have this same problem. I feel like I'm always thinking about food...it consumes me. I know the feeling of being always hungry.

This

Wow. It is a comfort to know that I am not alone in this. One of my biggest issues (and according to my mom has been an issue all of my life) is that I never have that feeling of being full. If I actually feel full, that means I have ate so much that I have made myself sick. That rarely happens. I can eat boxes of Cheez-Its and want more. I have been sticking with it and have only binged twice since Jan 1. But I hate having the urge all day long. I seriously have dreams about chocolate cake and fudge. I count down the hours until I can eat again. I know I must lose weight, but I am not happy living this way either. There has to be a way to control this.

Sara

Edited to add this: add me as a friend, if you want!! (Just include a message in your request.)

I wrote about this in my blog today, and a couple of posts ago:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/aklitten/view/will-food-ever-be-my-friend-202221
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/aklitten/view/resyncing-my-brain-and-my-body-218109


I joined this group here on MFP:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/726-binge-eating-support-group

I should probably re-read some of my books (Geneen Roth is great: _Breaking Free from Compulsive Eating_). It's been a rough few days for me...

We can all help each other! This is a really good post, even though the person who posted it has a deactivated account.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/415706-the-binge

I also struggled with this and then I took a food management/ nutrition class called: Down and Dirty weight loss, taught by ILene Vick who on her own lost 100 pounds in a year. Her tools helped me understand why I am a food addict and what the food industry does to fuel my addiction. Check her out on Facebook and tell her Cindy sent you.

I totally understand how you feel. I know I shouldn't do it and even while I am eating I tell myself to stop but I just don't have the willpower to and then I feel horrible after I have done it. Couple that with having insulin resistance so I have to fight twice as hard to lose a pound than the average person. I have binged the last 2 weekends and undid all of my hard work from the previous weeks. It is so nice to know I am not the only one.




Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter

I have the exact same issue. I feel like I cannot find a common middle ground. Either I am compulsively exercising or compulsively eating. There is no inbetween. Either I am super healthy or super unhealthy. I have gone down to 150 and up to 300 pounds about 6 times in my life now. I have a fear that I am going to kill myself one day if I keep up this habit. After I get the weight off, I try to keep to go into maintenance mode but food always wins in the end...before I know it, a year or two has passed and I gained 150 pounds...its so depressing. Right now I am back to eating really healthy and exercising as I've ballooned to 270 again...I am so frustrated with myself and just don't know what to do about it. Sometimes I wish I had a drug or alcohol habit...at least they do physically show it as easily...its the worst feeling to see friends every few years and be at drastic levels of the weight spectrum...its humiliating. And whenever I bring it up the issue to people, they tell me i'm silly...that it isn't so serious but I really feel my body can't go through these changes much longer. I know I need to keep fighting though to try to lead a balanced life and hope for the best.

Yes, I feel the same as everyone here. Really struggle with binging on a daily basis nowadays. I can't believe it's gotten this bad. I don't remember ever having serious binging tendencies until I started counting calories and becoming more aware of my food intake either, which I find weird. Someone earlier said something along the lines of "Well so and so thinks I'm perfect, so who cares if I don't lose more weight", which is exactly how almost all of my binges start. It's also hard, since a lot of my family can't relate to my binging (even though they're quite over-weight). It's comforting to know that I'm not the only one who can eat thousands of calories within an hour or two without ever feeling full.

I think the binging tendencies are more common than we realize but "normal" people just move on--they don't think about it, restrict (consciously), or compensate. How many times have you and a friend polished off a pizza? or gone to a buffet? (a non dieting friend)...do they count the calories, obsess over how much they ate? probably not. counting calories makes you hyper aware of your intake and it becomes a judgment call when you ate "too much" and that spurs the feelings of being out of control.

I've definitely struggled with this throughout my life. Only recently (last 7-8 months) do I feel like I have gotten it under control. Here is what worked for me.

1. Really truly decided enough was enough. This is easier said than done right?!

2. Eliminated 90% of my alcohol intake. My binges were often facilitated by drinking.

3. Only buy good food. If I only buy healthy stuff, I can only eat healthy stuff.

4. Understand that sometimes I will overeat. When I do, I overeat on fruit and veggies. Much better to take in a huge plate of raw vegetables, fruit etc. Combine this "modified binge" with a liter of water (or more) and I get that same stuffed feeling without the thousands of calories.

5. Make yourself remember how awful you feel after you binge. Burn that memory of shame and guilt into your mind and call it up when you feel yourself on the edge. Do the same with that great feeling you have when you make the right choices. Learn to call up these memories when your brain starts telling you to binge and use them as fuel for making better choices. Stop letting your mind trick you into short term satisfaction.

#4 is never a to-do, but more of a harm-mitigation technique. #5 took me a long time to get good at. Your mind can be a very convincing bad influence.

Re-reading what I wrote above makes me realize that it alot of it can end up sounding like psychology babble, but I don't know any other way to describe what worked for me. Best of luck to everyone who struggles with this everyday... you can overcome it!

I've definitely struggled with this throughout my life. Only recently (last 7-8 months) do I feel like I have gotten it under control. Here is what worked for me.

1. Really truly decided enough was enough. This is easier said than done right?!

2. Eliminated 90% of my alcohol intake. My binges were often facilitated by drinking.

3. Only buy good food. If I only buy healthy stuff, I can only eat healthy stuff.

4. Understand that sometimes I will overeat. When I do, I overeat on fruit and veggies. Much better to take in a huge plate of raw vegetables, fruit etc. Combine this "modified binge" with a liter of water (or more) and I get that same stuffed feeling without the thousands of calories.

5. Make yourself remember how awful you feel after you binge. Burn that memory of shame and guilt into your mind and call it up when you feel yourself on the edge. Do the same with that great feeling you have when you make the right choices. Learn to call up these memories when your brain starts telling you to binge and use them as fuel for making better choices. Stop letting your mind trick you into short term satisfaction.

#4 is never a to-do, but more of a harm-mitigation technique. #5 took me a long time to get good at. Your mind can be a very convincing bad influence.

Re-reading what I wrote above makes me realize that it alot of it can end up sounding like psychology babble, but I don't know any other way to describe what worked for me. Best of luck to everyone who struggles with this everyday... you can overcome it!

This is SO RIGHT on!!!!! I do most of this myself....stop drinking for a few weeks until I feel it is under control....remember how ad I felt after a binge....buy only good food....I used to leave my house to buy Little Debbie's....can't do that now with a hubby and 2 kids. I wil stare at the pantry and there is nothing to binge on....go to bed! LOL! Learn to be proud of over coming the urge and take it day by day....it gets easier after awhile!

I am struggling with this myself. It is really, really hard to stop binge eating. I tend to do it when I know no one else will be home because I feel like I am giving myself a treat. It was to the point where I kept eating even though my stomach hurt. That is what made me step aside and realize that it is wrong.
for me, night time is the hardest and when I want to binge eat the most. I was thining about joining overeaters anonomys. Anybody else given that any consideration?
I seem to have an easier time if I eat mini meals. Also, eating something when I walk in the door helps.

My binge problem is when I start craving either salt or chocolate (my two weaknesses!). So I don't buy chips because I will eat the entire bag by myself or other stuff that is really easy to eat all of (snackcakes, candy, cookies, chips, etc.)

Also another problem for me is when I am really having a craving, I will go through everything in the house trying to satisfy it. If I ahve one of these cravings I get out of the kitchen and do something like watch TV, take the dog out, or read a book (my hobbies) and if I am still having a craving after a while then I eat a low calorie, individually bagged version. Sometimes if the salt craving is really bad I will put a little salt in my hand and eat it (Bad right!?), but for me that has helped and keeps me from eating everything in the house trying to fill my void.

I think it is just finding some tricks that work for you. Try a few different things. Self-control is not something that you can just develop. Lastly, some who never fill full may want to talk to your doctor to see if there is a bigger problem at work.

Thank you so much for the tips! I try not to have junk in the house, but it is hard when you have kids.

You are very welcome. My sister and her two children just moved in with me while they sort of out some recent events, so I'm starting to get very familiar with learning to avoid all sorts of new food temptations.

I try and visualize myself literally stealing food off their dinner plates. This helps motivate me to not eat their snacks! haha :bigsmile: