I cant do moderation

I don't know if I'm allowed to recommend this, but it can't hurt - but if you want to change your habits I suggest getting Paul McKenna's I Can Make You Thin (including the book and CD, I got it for less than a tenner on Amazon) - it helps break the diet/gain cycle by changing your eating habits.
Seems to be working for me so far - I'm only using this to make sure I'm not eating too few calories whilst using his methods.
TMC

I have this book and I must say that if you can make this work, it would be the absolutely best way to handle weight over a lifetime. Have to dig it out again ...

This is something I'm working on because I'm trying to have a healthier relationship with food (along with getting thinner). Honestly? It's a habit and habits are hard to break. If you put me in a restaurant (almost any restaurant), I will overeat. Guaranteed. If you put me in a restaurant after 4 weeks of eating at home and I overeat, I will feel bloated, sick, have pounds of water weight and really suck at my workout the next morning. The next time, I try to eat a little less because I learned how sick I feel. I still buy M&Ms and I still eat them. Sometimes I eat them to excess and then realize that I don't have the appetite for my delicious dinner. 8 little M&Ms would have been sufficient.

It's really about breaking down the habit. Instead of going at your chocolate bars like Armageddon is on the horizon. Eat one and take special note of how you feel as you're eating it. At what point have you had enough? At what point do you no longer like the taste, but feel compelled to eat it because it's there? Write it all down. Make an experiment of it. Eat slowly, taste the chocolate. Put yourself on a timer.

I think you'll find that you're not actually tasting the chocolate and you don't need all that much of it. Just like exercising and portioning, this is also a habit.

I used to have a lot of trouble with this. But I think about it this way, would I rather look good and be fit. Or be a little fatty? I would rather be fit and look damn good.

So what I do is treat myself with something 2x a week for all my hard work.
But that might be 1 CUP of ice cream or a quarter of a dove chocolate bar.
I trained myself not to over indulge because the next day I feel bloated and guilty.
I would rather have a little bit hear and there and be able to control it.
You just have to get out of the mind set of what it sounds like is a binge.
Just try to have a little of something and right after you have it say ok that was good, and be done. Its not the end of the world if you don't eat the whole thing, but think of how much happier you'll be the next day.

I usually have the same pattern of weight gain:

skinny --- > getting busy in life ---> stops working out ---- > starts eating crap ---->fat

---

>x REPEAT

I so relate...

my binges are horrible.

I do them when I am alone, because I don't want my bf or my friends or my co-workers to judge me.... I would buy like a pack of chocolate chip cookies, 5-6 bars of chocolate....all polished in 30 mins.

Binge eating disorder to the max!

Same... I'm suffering the consequences of half a cheesecake, 1/2 pck of choc biscuits, sausage and spaghetti dinner, 1/2 bottle of wine and 2 chocolate bars at the moment (ate he other half of packs yesterday...)

frustrating does not even start to describe it. at 24 I've experienced way too many drastic weight changes. I'm honestly tired. If someone offers me candy next time..I'm just going to say NO....

Seriously OP, that is what I have to do now, it is not worth (for me anyway) to struggle through the rest of the day with the devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other having set-tos that go along the lines, something like this:

devil: one bit won't hurt
angel: you will regret it, don't do it, be strong
devil: one bit won't hurt, try one bit....
angel: visualize yourself after having eaten it, you know how bad you will feel

pmsl it's like a constant tug o' war :laugh:

I very much used to be an all or nothing kind of girl. I was ON or OFF. When I was off ~ I was REALLY off. When I was on ~ I was obnoxiously ON! ~Sound familiar? Relatinships even changed depending if I was off/on It sucked. It took me two years to break that. There is such a thing as moderation ~ but it just doesn't happen. YOU have to choose it.

I eat ice cream with my husband and kids. They have a their's in a cup ~ I have mine in a silver condiment cup.
I eat chips with the family. I put some on theirs ~ I count out six for me.
I eat hamburgers with them ~ I cut mine in 1/2 eat 1/2 and either throw the other half away or put it away for later.

Why?
1. The stomach does NOT have tastebuds! ONLY My mouth! Usually if I eat that ice cream slowly ~ I ENJOY every single tastebud that gets tickled! I am satisfied at the end.
2. I love chips (crisps for the UK), but really if I eat six (not popping a whole one in my mouth but breaking that chip into 2 peices) and eat it slowly I enjoy the salty crunch.
3. 1/2 a burger is enough. Logically I know that!

YOU CAN choose to embrace moderation, or you choose to live in the hell hole of all or nothing. THERE is no in between!

Logically, this all makes perect sense but I'm generally on my own (no kids and husband works away) so it's all up to me... And if I go off track its really very ugly... Sometimes my self control is astounding - even to me! But when I'm on the downhill slide its definitely not pretty...

I don't know if I'm allowed to recommend this, but it can't hurt - but if you want to change your habits I suggest getting Paul McKenna's I Can Make You Thin (including the book and CD, I got it for less than a tenner on Amazon) - it helps break the diet/gain cycle by changing your eating habits.
Seems to be working for me so far - I'm only using this to make sure I'm not eating too few calories whilst using his methods.
TMC

I find when he states...`ITS NOT YOUR FAULT` really amusing...Lol

lol....funny thing is... to get out of that 'cycle' i have to drastically change my life to working out full time and eating very very healthy.

i've told my friends and family about my binges ....but when I want to do them....if they tell me off...I get pissed off and do it even more. I feel like I'm a different person when I have my binge episodes. The only way I'll snap out of it is when everything is back stable again in life (post exam period)...and i've realized holy crap i'm fat !

Again, I relate... This is definitely something that is emotionally linked for me but its a 'quiet' anxiety response - unlike when I am really stressed because then I'll stop eating altogether. But like you say, I find the best way to stop is to catapult myself into the other extreme i.e: I'm no stranger to the lemon detox diet which I've frequently done for periods of up to 14days. The thing about that is that after a few days of not eating ANYTHING , I start to crave healthy foods and it sort of 'resets' my system so I can happily start eating healthy again... But here I am binging again after 4mths or so of healthy eating and consistant weight loss... Urghhhhh!

I can stay in my 'super healthy' phase when I avoid all junk, eat within 1400 calories...but when I'm back to being a size tiny I'm like...hey I can totally afford to eat a chocolate bar...which becomes 8...if not more.

Chocolate is my vice. I also ate soooooooo much ben and jerries for this weight gain.....like 2-3 times a week!!! POUNDS CREEP ON!!!

we all have our drugs of choice. Mine are made by Hershey's and Godiva I must have better will power than I thought, because even though I am attempting to eat low carb, I CAN stop at a few chocolate pieces, a handful of chips, a few fries, etc. This weekend I helped my mom move, and she bought pizza for everyone who helped--I stopped and got a salad on the way home with the pizza, so I had A slice of pizza and my salad.

The Topic of My Life!!!

All I know is that when I am done with my diet and other changes right now..That this site I will be a forever memeber.

I will ALWAYS have to log my food. u.u

This being only my second day on this site, I feel like I've got someone helping me with what to eat yaya.
Now to start exercising again.....

I can be like this. I've been changing my habits. Some of the things I did was look at what I can't control. For me it's ice cream, chocolate, and cookies. So, I purchase types that I don't like, but the boys do. Then if I'm really craving a cookie or ice cream, I go to DQ or bakery and buy one. Take it home to eat it, this way I can't say I'll have another, I would have to drive back to get seconds. The other thing is I've found a really expensive chocolate that comes in bite size pieces, I freeze them and allow myself one a day. Knowing how expensive they are keeps me from eating all of them,

Then there are things that don't bother me. Like chips, I enjoy them occasionally and I can keep bags of chips and never feel tempted. Hope this helps

I've never read it, but I came across a recommendation by a weight loss blogger for a book called "Brain over Binge". She recommended it to her readers and they all raved about it.

Mind you, even though it resonated with her, she continued to struggle (although not so much with the bingeing anymore, just not making great choices) and not long after, sold her domain/changed the scope of her blog from her totally relatable personal journey to basically an infomercial for diet pills, protein powders etc. Ugh. It makes me feel mad just thinking about it!