Ugghh, binging again?

sandyyy712
sandyyy712 Posts: 94
edited December 24 in Food and Nutrition
So yesterday I swear I probably ate over 5000 calories :/
This morning I decided that I wasn't gonna feel too bad about it, but of course now I do. Ive been working SO FREAKING HARD and for some reason the past few weeks I've had no sense of self control and I'm pissed at myself cuz I don't wanna gain the weight back.

My main questions are 1) if you used to binge how did you overcome it? 2) the day after a binge (including monster binges like mine yesterday) should you restrict your calories to make up for the excess or should you just go about your normal business?

Replies

  • aproc
    aproc Posts: 1,033 Member
    Go about your normal routine. Restricting to try to make up for it just leads to more urges to binge and it can just go downhill from there. It's like a never ending cycle sometimes. The best thing you can do is try to put it out of your mind and just focus on getting plenty of good food.
  • chris1816
    chris1816 Posts: 715 Member

    My main questions are 1) if you used to binge how did you overcome it?

    Choose to.

    Seriously, it may sound like an oversimplification but human beings have a tendency to lean towards everything involving control of the self being needlessly complicated. We externalize actions and motives that are 100% internally driven as both a coping mechanism and to justify in the after.

    The second you realize that you are not external to your own body, mind, and actions; you'll stop wondering why you did something, and instead choose not to do it in the first place.

    Don't over-think this fitness stuff; the more you focus on it, the more it becomes a chore and something you feel you have to be 100% focused on, the harder it will be to put it into the background and let it be automatic.
  • graelwyn
    graelwyn Posts: 1,340 Member
    It depends on the person.
    Some swear by having a period of fasting after a heavy eating day, like not eating for 14-16 hours to allow the body to deal with some of that excess.
    Others do some extra exercise for the coming week.
    Others still, cut a few hundred off their daily intake over a period of time.
    And others still just get back on track, and hope it doesn't happen again in a hurry. If it is only happening once a month or something, then not too bad. If it is happening several times a week, not so good.

    When I have had these days, it takes me a few days to get back on track as eating so much, especially if it is sugary stuff, tends to make me feel even more hungry the next day, so I just do my best to get back to the exercise once I feel up to it, and back to eating healthier.
  • cherw1978
    cherw1978 Posts: 8 Member
    I know how you feel...I have been snacking like crazy lately too. Just go about your normal routine or like PP said the cycle can just continue. I usually up the exercise the next day to try and make myself feel a little better, but that is me. Recently I took my before and after picture and a picture of my weight on the scale and put them on the cupboard and fridge to make myself think twice about my goals before reaching for something. My trainer was also a firm believer in writing your goals out every day (including weight loss goals) and to look at them often as a reminder of what you are working toward :)

    Good luck.

    Cherie
  • 4myhealth77
    4myhealth77 Posts: 77 Member
    I usually eat back most of my exercise calories back, but after a "binge" I dont eat them back for a week to sort of give myself back that "deficit." I also dont weigh myself after a day like that because it will get me mad at myself and we have to enjoy ourselves a little sometimes.
  • Caniac68
    Caniac68 Posts: 15 Member
    I have binged on occasion...usually around holidays like yesterday. And yes...I did it yesterday as well. When I binge, I go about my normal routine the following day. I try to make sure I get back on track with my eating habits and make sure I don't skip my exercise. I may even try to cut a few extra calories and do a few extra exercises, but it's OK if I don't. I'm happy ust as long as I get back on track to what I did before the binging. You will slip...we're all human...but you have to choose to go back to your routine and consider the slip a minor setback.
  • EternalJourney
    EternalJourney Posts: 138
    Every day, every meal I have the urge to binge and eat everything in sight. Just gotta tell yourself to get some control and listen to your head and not your stomach..

    you can do it.. good luck..
  • bbbsmama
    bbbsmama Posts: 96
    Just go about your normal routine & don't stress...and next time you feel like binging, remember how bad you feel today!
  • alanabeehave
    alanabeehave Posts: 65
    To put it bluntly, the only thing that stopped my binge eating was medication. Some people binge for bio reasons. I have A-typical depressed where i feel the physical symptoms (lead body, exhaustion, insane food cravings) but not emotional (I'm happy!). You're body signals are ALWAYS an attempt to achieve homeostasis. You could be eating not enough calories, restricting-binging-restricting cycle, you could have low serotonin (depression? Or A-typical) etc. Don't blame yourself, blame science! Try to never restrict or make up for a binge, it'll just cause more stress~ cortisol= belly fat
    Two days before my TOM, I eat a lot of crap (no binges tho) Women use a lot of calories during that time which effect our neurotransmitters so we can act/feel a lil wonky. I try to accept it for what it is.
  • tcdc86
    tcdc86 Posts: 14
    I dont know how true it is, but I read a article from a website that said if you eat to much one day on your diet that was way over your normal calories to only eat 6 large apples the following day with lots of water and it resets your diet. But I am not sure how much truth there is to it. I have not been able to only eat apples, I have actually ate 3 apples and 1 can of chunk chicken through the following day of a binge and lost 2 pounds. That way I had included protein and low carbs the following day. I only mix a small amount of mustard and relish in with the chicken and make sure it is in water. I also make sure that I am taking a daily vitaman for women.

    Like I said not sure if its a good plan but it works for me...
  • Kristan_Forsey
    Kristan_Forsey Posts: 103 Member
    I had a minor binge one night. Nothing too severe, then the following day cut 100 cals out of my diet and burned 400 at the gym. I figure where I didn't go totally overboard 500 should cover it. Last night I was having friends over for food and drinks, so in the morning I burned 400 at the gym, and today I am going to go burn another 600. If I can cut my clas by 100 off my diet today as well without being hungry then I will do that as well (I am already pretty low on a daily basis). I like doing a combination.
  • lil_pulp
    lil_pulp Posts: 701 Member
    1) Therapy. We eventually figured out WHY and starting tackling those icky issues (which I had been pretty much ignoring for decades).

    2) Go about normal routine, except I don't put the binge out of my mind. I'm kind to myself about it, though, and try to use it to make more mindful eating choices.
  • GaglianiGirl
    GaglianiGirl Posts: 53
    Like others have said, I thinknit depends on how often it's happening. If it's often, take a look at what you're doing, right and wrong and adjust. I have not binged once yet, but the difference this time is that I finlly feel like I have a better grasp of what decently healthy food is, how to read labels, and correct portions. This helps me not be scared of food. I am not saying you don't know this already, maybe you do. Just sharing my experience in hopes that it may help. Anywaya, before when I would try to "diet" it was a failure before I even began bc I had such an unhealthy relationship with food that I was scared everything I ate was bad, I would practically starve myself and still feel guilty about what I had eaten. It would always leave me feeling deprived and that WILL always lead to binging. Don't deprive yourself. Once a week/ biweekly/ monthly, get what you want! I have found, if I really want Taco Bell, I can get it and I can still remain within my calorie and most of my nutritional goals. Do some research first. Check out the menu. See whatwill both ease your craving and be a good compromise health wise. For instance, if you're craving McDonald's, plan to have it, decide what you are craving, if it's really just a burger, just get a burger! If it's the burger AND fries, compromise and get a kid's meal. I find that if I know I can have these things when I reqlly want them, that I don't feel deprived of them and become focused on them. I can't even remember the last time I had a lot of the stuff I used to live on.
  • camiah
    camiah Posts: 146
    Every day was a binge for me, recently. There was not "day after." The only thing that broke this most recent cycle was to start logging my calories. That was sufficient--I didn't want to see the numbers show up from eating an entire container of dip and a slew of crackers in my log. It made me accountable to myself in a way that telling myself "this is the last time, I swear," didn't. I kept eating that way day after day, I haven't binged since I began logging again (granted, its been a week, but when you're coming off of weeks of binging, a week is a BFD).

    I've had binge eating issues for most of my adult life. The periods where I did the best with not binging were the periods where my depression was better, and where, like another user said, I chose to stop. At a certain point for me, binging became a habit, one that was difficult to break. Therapy never really helped me, all it did was give me an outlet to whine about what I was doing and understand why I was doing it, but I never chose to take action to stop it.

    It sounds harsh to say that binging is a choice, but it is. It can be the way you choose to deal with a situation, a habit you choose to perpetuate by not making the effort to break it, or it can be a willful choice to ignore the ramifications of the binge (how it makes you feel in addition to the effect on your weight) in favor of the short-term pleasure/maintenance of the habit/whatever you reason in the moment. But it is a choice. Understanding that the choice is yours is a powerful part in changing the binging dynamic. It certainly was for me.
  • kalynn06
    kalynn06 Posts: 368 Member
    Realize that it happens sometimes and just eat better. Being too hard on yourself is a recipe for giving up, depression and more binges. I also try to practice breaking the cycle, like if I start eating making myself leave the house and do something. In addition, I try (try being the operative word) to avoid trigger foods. For me, cookies, pretzels and chips are big binge triggers, so I don't eat them if I am alone (I pretty much only binge in private).
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