I'm having a terrible time with binge eating. I've been trying to do WW but can't even get through one day OP and within points without eating tons of sweets (mostly) or chips.
I've looked into SBD before and it sounds good to me. My biggest worry is the first few days on phase 1. I have terrible roller coaster blood sugar problem that I know would be helped by getting off sugar but I have very low b.s. when not eating junk! So I have cravings and binge. It's awful.
Should I just start with a good phase 2 while getting off the junk? or go right to phase 1?
Any support is appreciated. I feel like I'm losing my mind!
Honestly, you would probably benefit from not eating ANY sweets at all for a few days to a few weeks. Eating vegetables, lean protein and good carbs frequently throughout the day will keep your blood sugar even. The worst thing you could do if you want to attempt SB is to not eat enough during the day. Blood sugar crashes are a huge cause of binge eating.
In the end though, it comes down to willpower. The first few days on SB will be hard...no doubt about that, but with enough willpower and drive to succeed, you shouldn't have a problem. Telling your cravings "NO!" for a few days will make them start to go away.
Get rid of all the junk in your house. Out of sight, out of mind. Don't allow yourself to fall back into your old habits.
Also, why start with phase 2? Phase 1 would be the most helpful to you.
I tried WW, had a hard time sticking to my points. Had a horrible sweet tooth as well. I found that a few days into phase 1, I lost those sweet tooth urges and felt SO MUCH BETTER without them in my diet! You'll do great. Just say no to sweets! :-) You can fake the sweets with ricotta muffins flavored with SF jello, SF "hot chocolate", you get 1 SF fudge bar per day. So it isn't like you won't have anything at all... it will just be different and after a few days you will be so happy that you did it!
By the way - I went back to counting WW points while doing SB and it is working much better this time!
When I started Phase 1 when I got cravings I ate as much as I needed to get past it. I just ate Phase 1 food. I did not worry about loosing weight or anything else, my focus was strictly getting past the cravings. I kept sliced ham that I could roll up and nibble on, crisp pepperoni, roasted chick peas, Laughing Cow Cheese and Celery, etc. around for a quick "fix". Snack type foods that I could grab without thinking if I started feeling the urge to binge. Allowing myself to eat SBD friendly foods faked out my head until I could get back into control. I found that even though I was eating more then I should I would get past the urge to overeat much faster and actually do less damage then if I started munching down carbs.
You can do it, get some tools lined up because you know you are going to go through withdrawal. Just set a goal of not eating the carbs, go ahead and eat just don’t eat the carbs. Don't worry about weighing yourself because this is not a battle about weight at this point, it is about the withdrawal. Once you get past that, and you will if you obtain then on to Phase II and loosing.
As Jenskihere mentioned, after you get through Phase I WW's is a breeze. I too do a SBD/WW Hybrid. I tried WW alone over and over, now it is almost effortless.
I do the SBD/WW Combo. Definitely start with Ph1. You want to "detox" and get rid of all the cravings for sweets. The first few days of Ph1 are hard, but once you get to Day 4 or 5, you'll notice that you don't crave much anymore, have a lot more energy, need less sleep, feel less sluggish, etc. I loathe Ph1, but once you get through the first few days, it's not bad at all, and it's very helpful if you want to be successful in Ph2.
I have a history of binge eating too. You absolutely need to do a clean Phase 1. it really helped me with the binging, more than I could have imagined. Make sure to eat lots of beans and dairy to keep your blood sugar stable and don't forget the all important snacks. They will really help you through Phase 1.
Agree, I used to get INSANE junk cravings (would run out in the middle of the night to the super market), I've eaten whole boxes of doughnuts in one sitting. I've been able to stick to SBD pretty well.
Eating low GI foods (which SBD is based on) REALLY controlls this. It'll stablize your blood sugar and make the cravings be very minimal.
I recommend that you buy the book and read it thoroughly twice. You will really understand why you are the way you are now, and how eating this way will solve your problems.
To make a long story short, processed carbs cause your BS to skyrocket then quickly crash. Low GI foods cause it to increase slowly then come down slowly...so that you don't get insanely hungry seemingly out of nowhere (and want to eat everything in sight) ..you feel the hunger comming, so you can calmly eat something small to curb it.
You have to find out why your blood sugars are all over the place. Is it because you are diabetic or some medication is causing it.
The second time I did Phase 1, I got up during the night I passed out, I remember everything going white. My blood sugars went rock bottom. So I went to my drs. and we found my problem (thyroid). She advised me that I need to have some carbs before I go to bed. So now I am trying a 1.5 I have a half a slice of grain bread with peanut butter or something which is a little higher in carbs.
So it is adviceable to see your doctor first.
sophie
Thank you everyone! I feel so much better hearing from all of you and your great ideas. Evangeline, you're right, it will be about the withdraw at first so I think I'm going to concentrate on that and not the WW pts for at least the first 4-5 days maybe longer.
Sophie, I know I'm prediabetic (glucose intolerant). What happens is my bs goes up and up then finally the insulin kicks in but too much and the bs drops like crazy. Anything to keep my bs level will help.
I'm going to scout my frig and cabinets this weekend to see what I need for phase 1. I have read the book before and I may get it out of the library again just to get it all straight. There is so much info. here too.
Hi,
I have pre-diabetes as well and I have hyperinsulinism. Which is the flooding of insulin that results in a massive blood sugar drop and hypoglycemia. It is crazy on your body and also on your mental health hey?
I find that doing P1 is really helpful. Over the past 18 months I have lost 21 kilos or about 50 pounds in USA terms. I did that through eating every couple of hours and basically sticking to a phase 2 from SBD.
But I have found recently that even small amounts of carbs are causing me problems, so I am doing P1 and plan on sticking to it for quite some time. I find that if I plan my meals well and do cook ups so I have readily available food I am most successful. If not, I binge as well. But there is a clear relationship for me between not eating often enough and my blood sugar dropping and the binges. It really isn't a matter of having low willpower or self-control, but rather a physiological basis to it that can be lessened by working on finding what works for your body. I have found that keeping a food and emotions diary an interesting experiment to see the correlation. For me it was really clear. Eat carby food and not enough = binging, depression and anxiety.
All I can do is echo what the chickies have already said about P1. After the initial week or so the vitality is amazing! I think though that if you have similar health concerns as me, making sure that you are following the plan strictly is the key... so getting enough vegies and protein all through the day. The beans and other legumes are also a great way to get your carbs in without messing with your blood sugar.
I know that it is tough, and also hard to imagine you can find a way to deal effectively with it all. I know it feels really overwhelming - but the support here is just lovely, so please give it a go and make sure you are jumping into the P1 support threads and daily chats to get some support from everyone here.
Binge eating
would also provide some carb and keep you on Phase 1.
I think though that if you have similar health concerns as me, making sure that you are following the plan strictly is the key... so getting enough vegies and protein all through the day. The beans and other legumes are also a great way to get your carbs in without messing with your blood sugar.
