Binge Eating

I have been on a 5 day binge eating spree. I ate and ate and ate but nothing could fill me. I have had an unusual amount of stress and bull**** in my life for the past few weeks and I guess it has finally got to me. I'm feeling really low. I'm trying very hard this morning to pick up the pieces and keep on going. Why does this have to be so hard? I am my own worst enemy. Why do I let the *kitten* get to me? I have come so far I don't want to fail now.

Replies

  • MrsBlobs
    MrsBlobs Posts: 310 Member
    I can sympathise - I am prone to binge eating and after many, many binges coupled with ill health I very nearly gave up. In fact, today is my first day back and right at this very moment I've just had lunch and I am fighting the urge to go and have more food, as is my way. Once I start eating, I struggle to stop.
    However, like you I'm still here, I'm going to start plugging away again. I need to get in a groove and get in control, little steps but small ones are better than none. Keep going, you can do this!
  • 81Katz
    81Katz Posts: 7,074 Member
    Ohhh boy!
    I had the same issue this weekend. I ate stuff that I had no business eating, and not just this weekend. The past few weekends I had moments of sheer craziness stuffing food into my mouth for reasons I did not even know why.

    I honestly don't have the answers on how to make it stop. In fact this is new to me, eating crap that generally I do not crave and sometimes it doesn't taste good in the moment and then the next morning I feel like I am literally in hangover mode, and of course mentally and emotionally I feel awful too.

    I guess I just have to find ways to tell myself I don't need these foods. Maybe figure out why I am eating them and so much of them all the sudden? I am the opposite at times, when I feel stress I tend to not eat as much. I have found lately when I have eaten the bad stuff and too much of it I was actually pretty happy - at the time - or BEFORE eating it. It's almost like I took on a celebratory reason as to why I could 'get away' with eating that food and then I would convince myself it was ok to eat it.

    Its very complex. People who don't go through this do not understand it. My journey, and losing the weight, it's been just as mental and emotional as it has been physical and that sometimes surprised me. Who knew so many emotions could be tied to food, during the highs of doing well and the weight loss and then during the lows of slipping up or making poor choices. I have yet to find my happy medium in this process.

    Again I don't have the answers, I've been in your position lately. But I do understand and I am sorry you are going through this. I guess I could just say try to pick better foods, try to stay away from the foods that make you lose control, try to control your stress better, but then I feel like a liar and broken record because I, myself have not yet mastered the above techniques 100%.

    ((((((demningoreill))))
  • Thank you for your encouraging words. Yes we will keep plugging away, because that is what we do. We are survivors.
  • m60kaf
    m60kaf Posts: 421 Member
    I have been on a 5 day binge eating spree. I ate and ate and ate but nothing could fill me. I have had an unusual amount of stress and bull**** in my life for the past few weeks and I guess it has finally got to me. I'm feeling really low. I'm trying very hard this morning to pick up the pieces and keep on going. Why does this have to be so hard? I am my own worst enemy. Why do I let the *kitten* get to me? I have come so far I don't want to fail now.

    Problems in your life

    You ate and ate -- are the problems any better?

    Nope just problems+ stress from overeating

    Break the cycle of thinking overeating makes you better. Think of this moment when you want to eat to feel better

    Then deal with the things that make you unhappy
  • MissC787
    MissC787 Posts: 175 Member
    Well, your still here. That means you haven't given up completely. So get your butt off the chair, and get it in gear.
    Seriously.... When I get the urge to binge I go have a look in the mirror, and then go outside. Do yard work, a workout, or even something relaxing. What ever you do drink LOTS of water!! Good luck!
  • jinglett
    jinglett Posts: 69
    There is no amount of food in the world that can fill the emotional hole of stress & unhappiness or whatever other emotion you are experiencing. Find something to feed your emotional soul and the desire to binge will be greatly reduced or eliminated. Each of us needs to find something that makes us smile and take a dose of it daily--and I am not talking about food or drink here.

    As a side note--get enough sleep!
  • leomom72
    leomom72 Posts: 1,797 Member
    i dont binge eat, but i stress eat (i eat things i dont log, and it isnt much a day ) but its enough to make me feel bad..just do what you can to stop yourself, and take it one day at a time
  • i have gone through some hard times too!! add me we can motivate each other.

    Think about the past and move on from it, its time to think about yourself f**k everybody else. This is about you and only you.

    You only live once! and its time to take a deep breath dry away the tears and change yourself for the better now. I have and yeah its hard sometimes i just want a bigmac! but i look at all the haard work im doing and think whats the point!

    YOU CAN DO THIS BABES!! ITS UP TO YOU TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN!!!!

    ARE YA WITH ME???? HEHEHE <3
  • Thank you for your wise words. I know it's my soul that needs feeding not my belly.
  • zhanaolivia
    zhanaolivia Posts: 65
    I'm absolutely not one to talk here as I literally posted my own "binge eating problems" message only 3 hours ago, but mine is just greediness/boredom, unlike yours which is stress related.
    But I heard a fantastic quote recently, which may not help, but is a good thought:

    "If hunger isn't the problem, eating isn't the solution"
  • Thank you for your wise words. I know it's my soul that needs feeding not my belly.

    Agreed!!! xxxx
  • TaylorsGranddad
    TaylorsGranddad Posts: 453 Member
    I'm not going to preach to you or tell you how to live your life, that's not what MFP is for IMO... it's for support etc, we all get stressed but also people handle it in many ways, all I'm going to say is haw I deal with binge eating.... when I feel like binge eating as I did last night 1000 calories of Cadburys Roses, it made me feel happy, but when I weighed myself this morning and I haven't lost any weight this week, I was fed up cos' all the worked I'd done last week was wasted in one swoop, BUT now I feel MUCH more determind to stay on the horse this week AND when I have binge eaten (once for 7 months) when I (and thats the most important word to me, I) was ready I got back on my horse and rode back into diet town...

    BTW a brief outline of my diet story

    lost 3 stone
    gained 1.5 stone after binge
    lost 1.5 stone
    lost 4 stone in total to date

    I'm sure people will say I'm yoyoing but ity works for me & my doctors says I'm losing a good amount at a time.

    PEACE
  • jcriscuolo
    jcriscuolo Posts: 319 Member
    I am coming off a two week binge that destroyed my previous months of work. I am back on track today and back on MFP. I think of it as a hiatus from the focus on food. I need to get back to the gym and get re-focused on weight loss and physical fitness.

    The fact that you are here on MFP talking about it means you are still willing to work at it. Stay strong and get back to your routine.

    Good luck.
  • DterMined2012
    DterMined2012 Posts: 540 Member
    Ohhh boy!
    I had the same issue this weekend. I ate stuff that I had no business eating, and not just this weekend. The past few weekends I had moments of sheer craziness stuffing food into my mouth for reasons I did not even know why.

    I honestly don't have the answers on how to make it stop. In fact this is new to me, eating crap that generally I do not crave and sometimes it doesn't taste good in the moment and then the next morning I feel like I am literally in hangover mode, and of course mentally and emotionally I feel awful too.

    I guess I just have to find ways to tell myself I don't need these foods. Maybe figure out why I am eating them and so much of them all the sudden? I am the opposite at times, when I feel stress I tend to not eat as much. I have found lately when I have eaten the bad stuff and too much of it I was actually pretty happy - at the time - or BEFORE eating it. It's almost like I took on a celebratory reason as to why I could 'get away' with eating that food and then I would convince myself it was ok to eat it.

    Its very complex. People who don't go through this do not understand it. My journey, and losing the weight, it's been just as mental and emotional as it has been physical and that sometimes surprised me. Who knew so many emotions could be tied to food, during the highs of doing well and the weight loss and then during the lows of slipping up or making poor choices. I have yet to find my happy medium in this process.

    Again I don't have the answers, I've been in your position lately. But I do understand and I am sorry you are going through this. I guess I could just say try to pick better foods, try to stay away from the foods that make you lose control, try to control your stress better, but then I feel like a liar and broken record because I, myself have not yet mastered the above techniques 100%.

    ((((((demningoreill))))
    THIS IS EXACTLY ME!!! Now to work on controlling the urges :ohwell: I, too, tend to "binge" when I am happy, weekends when i don't have to work, or would that be classified as when I'm bored?? I don't know exactly, but the weekends are killers for me!!! I think when I'm doing so well all week that when the weekend comes I will have it all under control, but NO...IT'S HORRIBLE!!! So the end result is I start over every Monday :cry: I demolish all the hard work I accomplished during the week, which is CRAZY!!! So it's Monday and here I am AGAIN making the same promises as I did last Monday!
  • 81Katz
    81Katz Posts: 7,074 Member
    Ohhh boy!
    I had the same issue this weekend. I ate stuff that I had no business eating, and not just this weekend. The past few weekends I had moments of sheer craziness stuffing food into my mouth for reasons I did not even know why.

    I honestly don't have the answers on how to make it stop. In fact this is new to me, eating crap that generally I do not crave and sometimes it doesn't taste good in the moment and then the next morning I feel like I am literally in hangover mode, and of course mentally and emotionally I feel awful too.

    I guess I just have to find ways to tell myself I don't need these foods. Maybe figure out why I am eating them and so much of them all the sudden? I am the opposite at times, when I feel stress I tend to not eat as much. I have found lately when I have eaten the bad stuff and too much of it I was actually pretty happy - at the time - or BEFORE eating it. It's almost like I took on a celebratory reason as to why I could 'get away' with eating that food and then I would convince myself it was ok to eat it.

    Its very complex. People who don't go through this do not understand it. My journey, and losing the weight, it's been just as mental and emotional as it has been physical and that sometimes surprised me. Who knew so many emotions could be tied to food, during the highs of doing well and the weight loss and then during the lows of slipping up or making poor choices. I have yet to find my happy medium in this process.

    Again I don't have the answers, I've been in your position lately. But I do understand and I am sorry you are going through this. I guess I could just say try to pick better foods, try to stay away from the foods that make you lose control, try to control your stress better, but then I feel like a liar and broken record because I, myself have not yet mastered the above techniques 100%.

    ((((((demningoreill))))
    THIS IS EXACTLY ME!!! Now to work on controlling the urges :ohwell: I, too, tend to "binge" when I am happy, weekends when i don't have to work, or would that be classified as when I'm bored?? I don't know exactly, but the weekends are killers for me!!! I think when I'm doing so well all week that when the weekend comes I will have it all under control, but NO...IT'S HORRIBLE!!! So the end result is I start over every Monday :cry: I demolish all the hard work I accomplished during the week, which is CRAZY!!! ***So it's Monday and here I am AGAIN making the same promises as I did last Monday!

    Ditto. :(
    I hate those feelings. You think it would make someone learn their lesson but lately it sure hasn't helped me or stopped me from doing it again and again. It would be like putting your hand over a hot stove, OWW it hurts so you don't do it again. With food, it's been a different story. Ugh!
  • clcarter
    clcarter Posts: 16 Member
    Hey everyone, add me into the mix as well. I loved the words, "I am my own worst enemy", as I am as well. However, I am still here, still in the fight. I am determined to turn this all around! I know I can, as I know we all can!!!:happy:
  • bookfaery
    bookfaery Posts: 53 Member
    Hey remember, every morning, MFP flips to a new day, with a brand new clean slate of calories, a brand new do-over. So, yesterday is DONE. No need to waste time thinking about it. (I'm just repeating my former therapist - I don't always believe it!). Start fresh. Don't wake up and think OMGZ THE REST OF MY LIFE GAHHHH!!! Just today. (Again, former therapist. Sometimes it works.) And binge eating SUCKS!! It must be what heroin addicts feel like when they are jonesing for a fix. Hang in there, everyone! *hugs*
  • moe5474
    moe5474 Posts: 162
    This may be a bit more of an answer than you were looking for, but I used to suffer from anorexia and then binge eating disorder. I've finally overcome it and blogged about it if you're interested in reading about my experience.

    It may not help you, but it surely can't hurt.

    There are 3 parts to my blog series on my struggles: one for anorexia, one for bingeing, and then one for recovery.

    Here's the link to the first part:

    http://codykitchenconfections.blogspot.com/2012/01/story-of-this-blog-part-one.html
  • DeweyRN
    DeweyRN Posts: 18 Member
    This is my problem as well. I wake up and before I can even get out of bed my mind is already planning my own destruction with food. The cravings are so intense and they infiltrate every fiber of my being. I just started reading a book about binge eating called "Crave" by Cynthia M Bulik PhD (she is the director of the Eating Disorders Program at UNC and specializes in binge eating disorder). I am finding this book really eye opening and helpful. I think this forum will also prove helpful as I am gleaning clarity in reading the struggles of others, makes me more able to connect with my own fight. We can do this, I know we can be successful.
  • ladytxn
    ladytxn Posts: 97 Member
    I'm absolutely not one to talk here as I literally posted my own "binge eating problems" message only 3 hours ago, but mine is just greediness/boredom, unlike yours which is stress related.
    But I heard a fantastic quote recently, which may not help, but is a good thought:

    "If hunger isn't the problem, eating isn't the solution"

    bump
  • yogsvr4
    yogsvr4 Posts: 149 Member
    A lot of us think that food makes us feel better when we're low. Maybe while we're chewing its true, but it never really makes things better. If you can break the mirage of food = feel good then binges can be avoided.