mini rant for those of you who "binge"

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Replies

  • BiscuitsNDavy
    BiscuitsNDavy Posts: 212 Member
    I just binged on 24 ounces of mixed baby greens T___T
  • saraann4
    saraann4 Posts: 1,296 Member
    I agree and disagree. It doesn't make my skin crawl. For some people 500 calories may seem like a binge. Other 1000 calories seem like a binge. It differs.
  • 81Katz
    81Katz Posts: 7,074 Member
    Binges are different for everyone. Duh ...
  • Lobster1987
    Lobster1987 Posts: 492 Member
    Uh yea. I try not to worry about what other people do....but it does piss me off when they whine that...."OMGGGGGGGG I screwed up my diet....my world is ending....OMGGGGG Feel sorry for me....WAHHHHHH"

    I am also a diagnosed binge eater (who is in treatment).....You want a binge? I'll show you a f***ing binge. Give me a break, people!

    You are in good company with your opinion. I wish you luck in resolving your disorder. :)
  • mfpcopine
    mfpcopine Posts: 3,093 Member
    just putting this out there to set the record straight; it makes my skin crawl to see some people logging a 400 calorie snack attack as a an "OMG massive, disgusting, binge." there is a DIFFERENCE between someone who overeats a few hundred cals (usually because theyre depriving themselves) and someone who gorges themselves on a few THOUSAND calories because of emotional reasons. for someone like myself who's had 3k-5k emotional and horribly compulsive binges, its a slap in the face when i see people who call these ~under 1000 calorie meals~ "binges." its just overeating. i feel like theyre totally misinformed, saying they have a problem that is actually very serious for other people.

    am i crazy or am i right? i see it time and time again.....

    I haven't actually seen it, but I agree, a hot fudge sundae is not bingeing.

    I have a similar problem with people misusing the term "addiction." i also dislike it when people who lack a clear sense of normal weight ranges will go off about how someone else is eating too few calories.

    What can I say? I guess they need the drama. Misinformation creates plenty of drama.
  • Lobster1987
    Lobster1987 Posts: 492 Member
    A lot of people who are saying there's no difference between a 500 calorie snack and a 5000 caloric binge is grossly mistaken and should reconsider/educate themselves on what Binge Eating Disorder really is. People who say they binge on 500 calories are insulting those who really struggle from the disorder.


    THIS!
  • 81Katz
    81Katz Posts: 7,074 Member
    It's insulting to say that because someone didn't consume 5000 calories that their binge wasn't a binge. That it is somehow less painful and emotional than those who did binge on thousands of calories. You mean to say, that when I ate more than I planned, and ate too much and I don't care if it's 50 or 5000 calories, that the disappointment and guilt and shame and sadness not to mention anger I feel towards myself isn't 'real' or it's not at the same level as you because your binge simply resulted in more calories consumed?

    Good gosh, how flipping backwards and quite frankly depressing is that. People vying for the title of Ultimate Binge Eater.
    :noway:
  • darrcn5
    darrcn5 Posts: 495 Member
    Well for me, a "binge" is any time that I feel I am eating emotionally or out of control. I often go over calories, but in a planned controlled manner (I knew I was going to be over and adjusted my weekly caloric intake for that). A binge is when I start eating something and for whatever reason, can't/don't stop. Sometimes it may only be 300-500 calories, but there are times when it has been well over 1,000 calories.

    That being said, just because someone has suffered from a disorder doesn't mean he or she gets to dictate how a word can be used. Binge literally means to indulge, so someone very well can binge on a few hundred calories. Stop being so overly sensitive to how someone else uses a flipping word. It they are bothering you that bad, delete or block them.
  • candiceprov31
    candiceprov31 Posts: 21 Member
    I think that those of us who really truly binge (meaning 1,000's of calories) understand. When I overeat and go 400-1000 over my calories because I was eating cookies, or chips, or extra servings of dinner or bored or having a bad day.... it's not the same as when I am out of control and shoving a whole loaf of bread+ butter, a block of cheese, etc. in my mouth, over and over until I have added up 2,000, 3,000 calories.
  • Scorpioangel
    Scorpioangel Posts: 951 Member
    I see that a lot also and I have actually thought about removing a few people because of this. It's not that I am a mean person, I just can't offer any help or support because I don't call overeating to me a binge. I log everything and there are days I go way over but I have also maintained for over a year so it's all good :)
  • Most of the girls who say they "binge" are already on a massive caloric deficit, when they eat anything under 1k, it is fuel that their body can USE. A real binge in terms of the disordered binge is a massive intake over which the body can naturally utilize in the course of a day, within their TDEE. So yes, a binge does have a threshold of calories before it can be considered one. The "compulsion" is not a compulsion as it is someone eating to refuel their body. A binge is a compulsive eating in which surpasses hunger AND what the body can naturally process/utilize in the course of a day, accounting for your BMR and TDEE.

    SO true. *applause*
  • hsnider29
    hsnider29 Posts: 394 Member
    There is a difference between a binge and binge eating disorder. I think the important thing to remember is that you suffer from an extreme version of disordered eating. Just because someone doesn't suffer from the disorder doesn't mean that they don't suffer the same emotional response when they overeat.

    If it bothers you that much delete them.
  • TheFunBun
    TheFunBun Posts: 793 Member
    I don't -like- seeing it because it seems insensitive to people who have binge eating disorder. I also don't like looking at people unknowingly saying trigger phrases when they know damn well they have people who are recovering from EDs in their friends list.

    I've never been a binge eater, but to me it's the same as some lower weight friend talking about how fat and disgusting they are while I'm looking to get to their fat weight.

    It's unintentionally insensitive, but still insensitive.
  • Agreeing with most people here. As a therapist myself, and as someone who has also struggled with emotional eating, you have no right or place to tell me what constitutes emotional eating for me or anyone else. I'm going to tout my 6 years of training in psychology and mental health at a top university here. What are YOUR credentials for this petty rant?
  • TanyaCurtis
    TanyaCurtis Posts: 630
    I agree lol! When I binge I can eat any where's from 3000-20,000! I guess no one feels good when they even over eat, so they call it binge because their uncomfortably full! But I do understand what ur saying, because I'm extreme, and BINGE when I binge! I don't even call 3000 calories a binge anymore, that's just over eating, and I don't even let myself feel guilty over that :)
  • chantalb20
    chantalb20 Posts: 132
    completely agree with most on here. a binge is not how much you eat, but rather the state of mind with which you eat it, the loss of control and eating for the sake of eating, rather than being hungry. for me, a binge is anything from an extra 50 calories because i ate a piece of chocolate i didn't set out to eat, or 500 calories because i stuffed my face with 5 slices of bread and butter. both make me feel just as bad.
  • LilacDreamer
    LilacDreamer Posts: 1,364 Member
    I don't like the word binge.

    It sounds odd.

    Binge. B-i-n-g-e Binge Binge Binge.....

    Say it with me now...Binge.....Biiiinge.....biiiiiiinggggge. Bingey Bingey binge...

    INCOMING >>> Quote:
    Red Forman: It kinda pops you know, hip, hip, hip. ...
    Red Forman: Hip, it starts to lose its meaning after a while you know, hip, it's not even a word.
  • slkehl
    slkehl Posts: 3,801 Member
    I think it's kind of a slang thing that can be offensive to some. Said jokingly but of course not a real binge.
  • VMarkV
    VMarkV Posts: 522 Member
    I like the word "cheat" much better
  • osualex
    osualex Posts: 409 Member
    So I'm not allowed to feel bad after eating a whole box of cereal in one night, that was supposed to last me a week? Or a whole bag of chips? Because it's not "technically" a binge unless it's 3000+ calories. Oh please. When I lose control of my eating, I feel like I've binged, and I feel bad. No, I do not go around saying that I have binge eating disorder (because I don't regularly binge) but just because I don't have a disorder, doesn't mean I don't binge occasionally.

    FTR, I don't consider planned cheats binging. I consider when I eat a whole box of cereal, when I meant only to have one serving, binging. No, I don't broadcast it on my newsfeed but I have the right to call it what it is.

    How would you like it if I said skinny people had no place on MFP, because "technically" they don't need to lose any weight?
  • Uh yea. I try not to worry about what other people do....but it does piss me off when they whine that...."OMGGGGGGGG I screwed up my diet....my world is ending....OMGGGGG Feel sorry for me....WAHHHHHH"

    I am also a diagnosed binge eater (who is in treatment).....You want a binge? I'll show you a f***ing binge. Give me a break, people!

    You are in good company with your opinion. I wish you luck in resolving your disorder. :)

    Thank you! I will be in treatment too in a week and it is a disease not matter what shape, weight, whatever you are. It is a handicapping disease and it is ruining my life... and I don't like to see the word "binge" thrown around all the time because it is so sensitive to me and I'm sure it is to others who struggle just as I do.
  • A lot of people who are saying there's no difference between a 500 calorie snack and a 5000 caloric binge is grossly mistaken and should reconsider/educate themselves on what Binge Eating Disorder really is. People who say they binge on 500 calories are insulting those who really struggle from the disorder.


    THIS!

    THISSSSSS
  • And just to put it out there about the state of mind. A state of mind during a "binge" binge for someone who is seriously binging (this is in my opinion and from my struggle) is not just nibble of this nibble of that... it's a trance, it's as if someone took over your body and you are in a frenzy to get to the food. You need it, it's like a fix, like a drug. It's an addiction. At that point no phone call to a friend, no distraction, no bath, no soothing alternative will stop you from binging - you've decided on it and you're going to do it. So yes, there is a stark difference between "overeating" and "binging" because I overeat and when I overeat I perhaps have snacked too much, maybe just indulged a little too much. Binging takes on a different life form. And it doesn't matter what it is - be it cookies, broccoli, chicken... I've binged on plenty of "diet friendly" foods, but its still a binge because I needed to cure an insatiable need (of course a psychological hunger for something other than food).

    And I think I've contributed enough to this thread, I'll shut up now and leave you all to it :)
  • I'm feeling you and what's making you upset. We've got to keep in mind a few things when we see comments like those, though. For one, it could be that some people don't understand exactly what "binge" means in the greater weight loss community. Or maybe they did binge, but it was on low calorie foods so they had to eat a lot to get to even 400 calories. Or they some other food/eating/body disorder that distorts their thinking so much that they truly believe a 400 calorie snack is a binge.

    Maybe you could engage with them and find out more about the snack and how much they had? That way you might be able to help give him/her some perspective and they'll be less likely to beat themselves up the next time they snack.
  • MySweetPotato
    MySweetPotato Posts: 175 Member
    Here's the thing, it doesn't really matter how many calories the binge consists of. But the loss of controll counts as a binge. Sometimes I know I am going to go 2000 calories over because I am going to eat out and/or drink. But when I have even 300 calories of food that I didn't plan for, and that I ate because of emotions, that is considered a binge to me.
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
    from wikipedia-

    Binge eating-, eating large amounts of food over a short period of time

    so, isn't the word relative? if someone restricitng calories "eats what they consider a large amount of food over a short period of time" they indeed have had a binge eating episode.

    I cant imagine that anyone who says they had a "binge" is intending to insult anyone who has been diagnosed with a binge eating disorder.
  • EmCeeKayla
    EmCeeKayla Posts: 53 Member
    I just want to say as someone with anorexia that everyone's binges are definitely different. Instead of trying to stop other people from calling things binges, maybe you should be working at preventing your own.

    There's only a certain amount of food my body can handle, and on a daily basis I've been eating 600 calories. It's not much, but it's more than I used to eat. But because I've been eating so little, my body now can't take as much food. Yesterday I had around 1150 calories in the form of a sandwich, easy mac, oatmeal, hotdogs and marshmallows. That wasn't my entire day. My entire day ended up 1,913. That's a lot for me.

    The 1,150 calories made me physically sick. Considering that i eat really low calorie things, I could eat A TON of those things adding up to around 300 calories, and I could definitely consider it a binge. And on the topic of "500 calorie snack". There is no such thing in my mind. A 500 calorie SNACK is appalling to me.

    Point I'm trying to get at is that I eat past when I'm uncomfortably full. I eat past when I'm painfully full. I could still stay under 1,000 calories most of the times I do that though. I'd still consider that a binge.
  • emmiee921
    emmiee921 Posts: 224
    a binge is different for everyone. when i binge i calculate around 2500 cals, but how accurate is it? since I'm binging I'm not weighing or really paying attention to what i eat, i just go by memory.
    for some people thats a normal amount but when i eat that much, its mostly crap, I've eaten it all in one go i feel sick
    and full, my weight goes up the next day and takes a while to go down, and i have no self control.

    so its different for everyone but i agree that if your over by say 400cals because you had an ice cream after dinner, i wouldn't call that a binge but if i did do that it could lead into a binge the next day as it has happened for me before.
  • fiona2785
    fiona2785 Posts: 82
    Opinions on here hugely reflect on the personality of the individual.

    To use a different example:
    I get chronic daily headaches. They have made my life hell, and I'm currently on a strong combination of medication which allows me to get to work in the morning and through the day (most of the time). I don't know anyone else who has headaches like this.

    So when a friend complains that they have a headache, do I rant at them and tell them to stop moaning because they don't know what it's really like? No, of course I don't. I know how they're feeling, and I know it's crap, so I offer sympathy. Occasionally, when I'm feeling particularly bad, I will make a sarcastic comment. For which I then feel guilty about and have to apologise.

    Please don't belittle other people's problems. Just because yours are worse, that doesn't give you the right to judge other people's situations and claim that their problems don't exist.
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
    there is another thread up now asking :what is your favorite binge food. I would say those people are making light of binging but I doubt they are trying to insult diagnosed binge eaters.

    I dont see any value in listing favorite binge foods. Are they looking for ideas on what to binge on next? people are strange