[christine123]

How do you classify overeating vs binging? Is it a number of calories you consume, how you feel during/after eating, a length of time you overeat/binge for? I am curious for answers from people who struggle with this, not a textbook definition, which I have read many times! Thank you!!!

[danzingurl77]

For me, overeating would be something like going to a birthday party and maybe having a slice of cake after you've already had a filling meal, or eating your entire huge entree at a restauraunt because it's so delicious and you're in a social setting. Binge eating (again this is how I feel) is out of control. I will NEVER binge in front of anyone, because I am ashamed of it and feel like a food monster. When I binge it'll last anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours and it's insane. I don't eat things because they are good... I eat because I feel a compulsion to continue swallowing as much as I can... It can be any food really.. But I tend to binge on sweets and chips with dip. I think overeating is just that.. Eating more than you should have or more than your body needs. Binging for me is a feeling of losing control. I'll eat until I am physically sick, and then eat more it really sucks. I rarely overeat because I'm very conscious of what I put in my mouth and how much- unless it's a binge. Then I just freak out and eat whatever I can get my hands on. I'm no doctor or genius, but that's how I see it!

[Divaintheworks]

I agree with danzinggurl...by the way I am new here but definitely not new to overeating or binging......................when I overeat it is not really a conscious thought. When it happens I think "Man I think I ate too much" but when I binge I am aware that is happening yet I can't control it. I rationalize while I am doing by saying things like "well you already doing it so you might as well finish" It's like I am on a time limit to see how fast and how much I can stuff in my month. Overeating is uncomfortable but binging can make you pray to throw up. Just to feel better.

[xty]

There is definitely a gray area for me.

I sometimes have "graze binges". For example, I might eat a muffin for breakfast, trail mix an hour later, some candy, lunch, more trail mix, more candy, dinner, more snacks, pint of icre cream. That can easily be 5K cal/day. And I have done that for weeks on end. While any one (or maybe even a couple) of those indulgences would be seen as overeating, a serious pattern of it becomes something more.

I also have "acute binges" where I eat 2 boxes of cereal in one sitting to the point my mouth actually is raw from the abrasion and I didnt even like the taste of Kashi that much. It was just utter compulsion.

[kelly315]

binging comes with a feeling of loss of control, followed by feelings of guilt and/or shame. People may feel bad about overeating, but the guilt associated with binging tends to negate self-worth.

[runningfromfat]

The difference for me is control.

I can give you an example from my own life. Yesterday I overate (or at least in regards to my diet). I knew we'd probably either order food last night or go out to eat so I purposely ate less the whole day and didn't have any snacks. Between breakfast+lunch I ate ~800 calories (it would've been 100 less but DH put the wrong milk in my coffee in the morning). We went out to an all-you-can eat pizza place and I ate ~1200 calories there (I checked the website afterwards) so my total for the day was ~2000, which is slightly below maintenance level at this weight. I ate over my normal amount for the day but it was planned ahead and big workout is almost planned for today. I also don't feel guilty afterwards because I'd rather do that once a week or every two weeks and lose slower (but still continue to lose).

However, binging is uncontrollable, unconscious eating. I've eaten an entire 170g bar of chocolate in the not so distant past. Total calories were over 900, it wasn't planned for and I probably ate normally that day so it put me WAY over average. I don't remember the exact situation (it was probably 1-2 months ago) but it was definitely an emotional response rather than hunger.

[christine123]

Thank you ladies for all your responses. I haven't had a calculated binge in several years where I actually went and bought 8k cals worth of food to purposely consume all night. But I have been toeing the line with overeating and binging (though much less severe) and I've realized it might be hard for me to tell. Anyway, this all makes sense and I appreciate the feedback.

Divaintheworks: What sparked this thread was when I found myself way over cals for the day and heard myself say that exact statement "well might as well finish this" and then I started to realize I might be in dangerous binge territory.

[Panacea86]

Over eating for me is going over my calorie limit, whatever it may be.
Binge eating for me is an uncontrollable episode of cramming my face full of food, or eating something off limits in my diet (just gratuitous sugar/carbs). It's miserable.

[boomerang]

Christine, I will add my voice to the others' posts. For me, the difference between a binge and overeating has to do with feeling out of control (for a binge).
I tend to overeat for many reasons but when I binge it is usually a response to an emotional event. The problem is that occasionally overeating can become a binge for that very reason: I am upset with myself for overeating and the "what the he** I blew it anyway" binge is the result.
The way I try to control transforming an overeating event into a binge is by having a limit for "maintenance". If my limit for losing is X number of calories and for maintaining it is Y, I will try to stop at Y and tell myself that at least I did not eat to the point of gaining for that day.

[one small bowl]

Overeating for me is enjoying a meal that I continue to want to eat. I end up eating more than I need.

Bingeing for me is a behaviour where I find myself sneaking the food, stuffing it in my mouth and eating foods I normally would not, like fast foods, snacks and over processed foods. I eat fast and furious and with a mindset full of justifications, blame, guilt and mixed emotions. Bingeing is not about the food, it is about punishing myself for having feelings I don't want to feel. Bingeing is reactive, overeating is passive.

Both, however can cause weight gain. Bingeing can cause a terrible negative mindset though, and mixed with the resulting weight gain can keep me locked in a vicious cycle.

[Bac0s]

Binge: I "hide" what I'm doing. I know I'm not hungry, but I can't stop eating. I don't just eat an extra handful of chips, I think about what I'm going to eat when I finish that handful of chips, and I work my way through the pantry/fridge. It's mindless, in that I don't actually taste or enjoy what I'm eating. It's mindful, in that I am fully aware of what I'm doing but I ignore how guilty I'm feeling for doing it. Also, I'll sometimes eat stuff I would never eat otherwise.

Overeating: Having an extra helping, or larger portions than I really need to fill up. Cleaning my plate even though I'm full.

[Bethedee]

For me, I think the difference between overeating and binging has a lot to do with the reason why I'm eating and the characteristics of the behavior. In overeating, it's all about the food. The food I'm eating is delicious, and I just go a little past my stopping point.

Binging happens when I feel like "my day's been so lame I deserve to feel good for a while" and I eat food that's 1) outside my diet parameters, 2) more in quantity than I want 3)not necessarily great-tasting. It's about eating to feel the pleasure sensation of consuming food. I think even a little of the pleasure comes from feeling liberated from my own control.

[tigerchild]

Overeating, for me, is eating more than an appropriate serving size (no matter what it is, even if it's salad!), having seconds, or having extra snacks that I don't need (even portion appropriate). Basically, it's eating more than I NEED for health and functioning. Overeating isn't automatically binging.

Binging does involve overeating, but for me involves a net calorie consumption (in one sitting) that is extreme. A typical binges, before I received help, might involve the following (not one at a time, but consumed one right after the other in the space of 30 minutes to a couple of hours, nonstop, depending on how many of these items I consumed): a family sized bag of doritos, a half tin or more of flavored almonds, a bag of miniture candy (the whole bag), 2 sleeves of saltine crackers, 2 fast food sandwiches, 3 fast food diet sodas plus 3 or 4 cans of diet soda, half a loaf of bread (as toast), a quarter stick of butter (on the toast), 2 bags of microwave popcorn. In addition I would have also eaten 3 meals a day with my family (probably oversized/overeaten meals) plus had multiple small portion snacks. Most of the time the binge would only consist of 2-4 things listed above--but I have had epic binges that involved more or all on a fairly regular basis. Wow, just writing this makes me feel like crying. It was truly **** and extreme pleasure followed by despair and feeling like I was going to die my body hurt so much all at the same time.

I do occasionally overeat (especially veggies, which I am trying to cure myself of the habit--just because it's less impact to eat 3 cups of vegetables with your egg in the morning than eating a bag of doritos, it's still not helping the sick thinking that I must try and fill some void with food). But I have not binged in over two months now. For me, they're defined by the behavior, not the cause. I have overeaten (and not binged) because of emotion; I have binged out of habit without emotion! But most of the time BOTH of those destructive behaviors were rooted in emotional causes, whether I was aware of that at the time or not.

[misscandy]

I agree with most posts above that overeating is simply eating more than what is required (eg. 2 pieces of cake instead of 1) but bingeing is when you lose self control and you end up eating the whole cake.

My binges and overeating sessions are triggered by emotion, but then continue and spiral due to habit. Most my binges have always been sugary carb loaded foods (have even had 1kg chocolate in a sitting before), but recently had a binge of salads - i had about 15 big bowls of salad full of vegg, cheese and nuts.

In my binge state, I feel like my body is possessed and I can't stop myself going to the kitchen and making another bowl of icecream or salad (whatever I am bingeing on at that time).. There's a tiny voice that tells me I have had enough, and then I just get up and fill up my bowl again. Also binge's tend to end in a food coma for me where I need to sleep for a couple hours.

[Lunula]

For me, the difference is my mind-set. Sure, I've gone out to restaurants and I've overeaten because the food is so good and so plentiful that I just didn't want to stop! With binges; however, I go into a zone that is inexplicable to someone who hasn't experienced it...I obsess over the act of eating, anything, and I do not stop until the object of my obsession is gone. I also don't really "think" during a binge - it's just about silencing whatever pain/emotion I'm feeling by mindless, obsessive eating.

I've definitely over-eaten because hey, there's a whole bag of chips in front of me and they taste good! The difference is with a binge, I think of those chips non-stop, I obsess, I torture myself until I have to go eat them. Then while I'm eating...I'm not even enjoying it, I don't really taste it, it's just something to make the obsession stop. If the chips don't satiate the obsession, then I move onto something else.