Help, Help, Help - how to break binge streak.

Some things that help me:

--Setting a timer for 5, 10, 15, maybe even 30 minutes and telling myself, "If I still feel like eating this in X amount of minutes, I will!" Often after waiting 30 minutes, I'm like, "Hell no, I don't want that!"

--Pre-logging every last bite of what I Want to binge on BEFORE I eat it. This technique brings reality home. Often my binges seem like such a great idea in my head but when I put them down on paper or my mfp diary (and often ask for feedback from my friends on mfp) I realize how terrible I'll feel if I go through with it. Also, deleting every item after deciding not to binge takes a while but for me, I'm like, "screw you, food item I'm not eating! And screw you, and you... " etc. Haha

--Sitting down to a HUGE plateful of a low calorie option and pigging out. Anyone else ever tried to eat an ENTIRE bag of baby carrots? Trust me, you won't want to binge on anything after that...

Good luck, I hope this helps.

I love the timer idea! I really need to try this myself. To the OP, I gained back 20 pounds of the weight that I lost last year through binges so I can totally understand where you are coming from. I honestly can't say what will work for you but, for myself, my warning signs are not wanting to come to my weight loss forums anymore and not logging my foods. On days when I start my mornings reading weight loss oriented posts and when I log my whole day in advance, I am much more likely to stay on track. Exercising also helps because I don't want to undo all the hard work I just put in. Anyway, I just wanted to say you are not alone (hug)

. Consider trying to either curb your appetite with pills or do what I do and beat it to the punch by eating every 4 hours!

GOOD LUCK!

HORRIBLE ADVICE
[/quote]

I used to think this way, but now I strongly disagree. Go on bodybuilding.com forums and search it out and you'll see many who have lost a lot of weight have been on a number of appetite suppresant type things.
[/quote]

nothing against the folks on bodybuilding.com but alot of those guys have very different goals, are cutting, etc., and I would imagine the OP is looking for a long term solution. Pills are NOT a long term solution and can be dangerous

i snack all day, fruit and nuts, drink lots of water.. i try and stay away from the junk.. i have a huge binge problem. for the first time in 10 years, i have gone 5 whole days without binging. i am so proud lol. this week, i have been making myself drink lots and lots and lots of water, especially when i crave something, workout every day, brush my teeth when i want to eat, and just over and over remind myself of my goal. its not easy, but you can do it

go to Wal Mart and look at the fat people, then buy a shirt that fits your goal body and put it on...does it fit? if not, STOP

Reverse Thinspiration... not cool

Brilliant! I am going to go and wedge my body into my dream jeans now to remind myself why I started. I have been really struggling today

I love the advice about setting the timer! I'm going to try that myself.

Bingeing is one of my biggest challenges. Something that helps me is to identify my "trigger foods". Nutella is a MAJOR trigger food for me!!! One bite is NEVER enough! So... I don't buy Nutella now.

I also like the idea of drinking water when you get the craving for something you know you shouldn't have.

Another idea: When you start to have a craving, remove yourself from the situation. Step outside of your house & walk around for a few minutes. Maybe a change of scenery is all you need.

No offense, but telling anyone to simply keep the junk out of the house is easier said than done. We have no idea if the OP lives alone, has a spouse or partner, has a roommate. I am pretty good about buying good stuff, my DH while he eats only *some* of it (*edit i.e the good stuff *I* buy) he still buys stuff that I really wish he wouldn't because I sometimes find it tempting as it stares back at me in the fridge or cabinets. I have indulged at times, within reason and if/when it fits into my calories. Other times I didn't keep tabs on it, just ate ate ate it, went over goal, didn't log it, sometimes logged it.

Unfortunately I do not have the answer. It's different and personal for each person. But you are not alone, trust me.

I'm going to have to disagree. Even if the OP has a spouse/children junk food is not good for them either. Just don't buy it as simple as that. Buy fruit, veggies, nuts, etc. Doesn't matter if you are underweight, overweight, young or old you do not need potato chips to live.

I agree that the original poster shouldn't be buying the stuff themself because the money spent on that could go towards much healthier alternatives.

However, in an ideal world, that's simply not the case. Not everyone around you is trying to lose weight like you are. You'd also have to avoid going to certain people's houses, visiting certain friends and family, social gatherings, etc. The truth is you have to eventually face it. I occasionally go to IHOP with a friend to get coffee and EVERY TIME I go, I sit there and see everyone around me eating very unhealthy food. It's very tempting to order something but I've since learned, you do not go there unless you've ate first. I have a certain degree of self control but I am not invincible. And I have since learned there are chemical releases in your body that literally fight you on it! I thought it was all about self control but it's not. It's partly self control but it's also about never allowing yourself to get really hungry and release those chemicals.

There was a study done where a guy was put under a machine on a full stomach and they flashed images of unhealthy sweets and then of healthy salads. They checked his brain and didn't see it firing as much, he simply was not as effected by it and therefore if he faced those foods in real life, he would not need to exercise as much self control on a full stomach. They then put him under on an empty stomach after he hadn't ate in a long time and flashed those images and his brain began firing like crazy when he saw the images of the sweets and not so much so with the salad.

The point of the experiment was to show that you are fighting your own biology trying to fight this stuff on an empty stomach. Don't starve yourself or skip meals or you could end up eating back 2-3+ times more food! Eat every four hours and keep track of the last time you ate.

I would almost bet money the person binged after going a long period of time without eating something. Always look at a clock after you finish a meal to know roughly when you must eat again and you can greatly fight your risk to binge.

Watch the bbc documentary I posted previously, highly recommended.

If you finish breakfast at 8am, you need to look at the clock and add 4 hours to it and think, I need to eat something again around 12pm. It doesn't have to be exact but just know, the longer you wait after 12pm to eat, the more likely you are to binge or eat horribly. If you finally finish eating at 1pm, start counting again 4 hours out and set a mental reminder to eat around 5pm. That should then technically be your last meal of the day outside of snacks. 4 hours after that food wears off you'll begin to get sleepy and you should go to sleep! Always choose sleep at night over eating if you want to lose weight! If you stay up to 1am, you'll likely eat again! So go to sleep and don't stay up and binge. Lack of sleep is also a vicious cycle because you get a lot of your energy from sleep. If you don't get enough the night before, you are more likely to binge during the next day based on the lack of energy!

I seem to keep disagreeing with you but what you are suggesting isnt true for everyone. I do IF (intermittent fasting) every day and have found that my hunger is much more in control now. I fast from last nights dinner to the next afternoon and occasionally continue fasting up to 20 hours.

The idea of eating every four hours fails because you cant eat that much in one feeding and you never feel full and are always looking towards the next meal. Plus its just inconvenient to have to schedule eating that way.

No offense, but telling anyone to simply keep the junk out of the house is easier said than done.

No.

It isn't.

If you've got a problem with it, then it doesn't come in the house. If other people in the house have a problem with it then they can sort themselves out.