Help!

graelwyn
graelwyn Posts: 1,340 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have issues with binge eating/bulimia, and had managed a run of 10 days eating pretty clean, no refined crap, no pastries or ice cream, my biggest downfall being the odd nakd bar (no sugar, dried fruit and nut raw food) and the odd chocolate rice cake. Then I went to my mums in London and as has been a pattern for years, went all out with my eating, with meals out and desserts, and then feeling hungrier than ever after these meals, jelly beans, biscuits and chocolate later on, and binges at night when my mum went to bed.

Since getting home, I am really struggling to get back on track, still craving a lot of sugar and ending up ordering desserts from dominos when I get desperate at night. I felt pretty tired and crap trying to do my workouts on a very high protein and lower carb diet (my carbs came only from veg, fruit and rice cakes), so I am not exactly keen on going back to that either.

But my main issue is, how the heck can I force myself to stop buying the ice cream and baked goods? I have not dared weigh myself, as although on maintenance and a lowish BMI, I really do not want to put on weight. Is stuffing myself with cottage cheese and eggs the only way to get myself past these cravings? I have even considered asking the local domino's pizza to not take orders from me anymore, just to prevent this issue.

I know how bad all this stuff is, how it is nutritionally crap with no real value, yet that knowledge doesn't seem to be stopping me since my London trip. At this rate, I will have to just lock myself indoors for a few days to detox.

Replies

  • momtokgo
    momtokgo Posts: 446 Member
    Its really a matter of will power. Only you can decide to not buy the cookies/ice cream, chips, whatever. If you don't buy it, you can't eat it. Just remind yourself as you are reacing to pick it up at the store why you DO NOT want to buy it.
  • ShrinkingShawna
    ShrinkingShawna Posts: 186 Member
    Ok, breathe. You can't change a lifetime of habits overnight, you just have to do the best you can. One of the worst things for binging is a deprivation diet. Give yourself one day a week where you can eat your favorite sweets, but avoid "trigger" foods (foods you simply cannot control yourself with). You did 10 whole days! Great job!! If it's sweets you love, try eating things that are sweet but not bad for you (like yogurt, fruit, etc).

    Don't be so hard on yourself, this is hard!! Try instead congratulating yourself for the accomplishments. You CAN do this! :flowerforyou:
  • teinepalagi
    teinepalagi Posts: 86 Member
    If you want me to be honest with you....it's therapy. Binge eating/bulimia is an illness like any other and requires treatment. Find a good therapist and try and figure out the dysfunctional relationship you have with food. Although never bulimic, I have had binge eating where I've lost control....speaking with a therapist and getting to the root of the problem was better than any "diet". I still struggle daily. I've got it better under control, I log everything...literally everything even when I eat over 1000 calories of jelly beans.

    And I'm getting better at what I can and cannot have in my house. for example, individual icecream servings are ok....but a tub of icecream is not. Chips...not OK. chocolate...not OK. And more recently....fruity pebbles....not OK (who would have thought I would crave fruity pebbles...wierd).

    I'm sorry....I know how hard this is for you......good luck.....
  • weightlossloser13
    weightlossloser13 Posts: 16
    I totally understand your situation, I get it a lot around my family, too. We are definitely an eating sort of family, all around.

    First and foremost, in the future, explain to your family what you are trying to do for yourself, and how much of a struggle it is for you. They love you, and should support you in your quest to become healthier, and therefore, shouldn't mind curbing the massive restaurant goings, or perhaps choosing restaurants that offer a much better alternative for you. If you're are twitchy as I am about being around that kind of food (especially when I am first detoxing it out of my system, my God, I am an animal!) then ask them, very politely, to refrain from eating it around you. If they can't handle that, then excuse yourself from the dinner for a few moments while they gorge, or possibly even excuse yourself from the outing altogether, if you need that.

    As for detoxing right now--there isn't any easy solution. I've found, for myself personally, is to *not* try and cut everything out, because as soon as you tell me I can't have something--that's all I want! So I take it one meal at a time, one day at a time. If I have had a bad day, then hell yes, I want a damn pizza at the end of the day because one, I sure as hell don't want to cook, and two, I comfort eat.

    But I limit my intake--instead of half or more of the pizza, I get a slice (sometimes two, if I have been extra good the rest of the day). I put them on a plate, put the rest of the pizza away, and sit down at the dining room table and eat: SLOWLY, during which I drink at least two cups of water. After those slices I wait at least a half hour, usually distracting myself with a chore, homework, or a movie or video game. If I am still hungry at the end of my waiting period, I can have something healthy: salad, veggies, whatever. But I am cut off at two total slices.

    If I want a candy bar (and I often do) I have to walk to the convenience store to get it, and I have to take the most roundabout path I can find. If I want Panda Express, I have to make that meal last me ALL DAY LONG, eating it in tiny little portions throughout the day.

    Your body is going to crave what it is going to crave, and I have never found a sure-fire way to make it just stop. I have to curb it, I have to limit it, and I have to regulate it. It's a pain in the *kitten*, but slowly, over time, it works. I crave junk less and less. Sure, sometimes I still crave binges, but after regulating the intake for so long (about a full month now) when I do give into those super-mad binge urges, I actually get physically ill afterwards: my body doesn't WANT that much raw crap inside it.

    And please understand: before I got serious this last month, I was averaging 4000+ calories a day, as I am very much an emotional eater, so I can understand exactly where you are coming from, and this is the best solution I have found in all my years of yo-yo eating.

    Be kind to yourself, and good luck! =D
  • Tysonhi98
    Tysonhi98 Posts: 21
    Remember eating sweet types of food raise your sugar levels temporarily before crashing back down further, drinking water is actually the best way to raise sugar levels naturally. :)
  • sunnyflower1177
    sunnyflower1177 Posts: 212
    It's a mind thing!! U r going to have to reset ur mind to eating better, knowing ur doing this for the long run--it's for ur health. Try finding alternatives to the high fat and sugars u are eating and replacing them with fruit which have natural sugars, it's like ur going to have to retrain ur taste buds as well, I found out for myself that if u keep eating it u will crave it!! once I stopped eating all the cupcakes and doughnuts and started eating fruits I noticed I started craving fruit. which is good for u! If u do it for 7 days straight u will see a difference in what u want. I hope this helps, I been there before and know how u feel!
  • graelwyn
    graelwyn Posts: 1,340 Member
    The irony is that I eat loads due to feeling less stressed and more happy when at my mother's and because I am away from my rigid routine, and when I return, I eat because I am depressed at being back home again. I am managing to eat okay in the daytime, it is night proving the issue. I don't buy the food in when I go shopping, it is when I suddenly realise I have the cash in my purse and feel a craving just before bed, and it is so darn easy to order online.

    Once I am in control, I am very controlled and can walk past all the unhealthy foods and just get what I set out to buy, this trip has just totally derailed me as it is in a sense, my vacation when I visit my mother as I don't go anywhere else. It would be fine if I could actually get back on track the day I came home, but it doesn't seem to be quite happening as fast as I would like this time.

    Trainer says to just carry on eating even if I binge and that it is because my brain chemistry is out of synch from getting myself down to this weight, I do exercise a lot, usually 60-90 minutes everyday, burning around 600-800 calories extra, maybe I am not getting adequate carbs when I am back on track, I don't know. So many here see carbs as the big bad wolf and that did lead to me trying to limit them and avoid bread, potatoes, pasta, and even rice, in spite of my exercise regime. I guess all I can do is to stuff up on cottage cheese and a banana before I venture out near any shops, and not keep enough money around to order food at night.

    And yes, self control, but that is incredibly hard at times when you are experiencing things such as boredom, loneliness and depression and pmt, lol. I have not been overweight, but I do not wish to gain a load of weight either, for my own peace of mind, and know if I carry on this way, I will inevitably end up a weight above what I am comfy with.

    I have therapy already. It is not helping much thus far, as she has not been able to tell me anything I do not already know.
    I need tactics to retrain this mind of mine.

    And yes sunny, over those 10 days I did pretty much stop wanting those foods, and in the past when I went without a week, and had them again, I found I did not even enjoy the taste much. But there comes in me every few weeks, an overwhelming urge to binge out on all the foods I have been ignoring and not wanting for those other weeks. It is insane.

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