Ok, so have been having the worst urge to eat since Friday... I love easter and not being able to eat while all around me people have been eating (and sharing) hot cross buns and chocolates and office easter morning teas (if only there would be a law that bans office morning teas) and its been SOOOO hard! Anyway friday was having the worst cravings and went to a friend's house for a few hours watching people eating chocolate cakes and then came home and had some nuts and increased my fruit intake (even though I am allowed only 2) so had half a honey dew melon and a few pears (very small pears) but generally stuck to my diet. Saturday pretty much the same, though upped the nuts (mostly almonds - even though dont have nuts on diet) and had like 7 or 8 tiny pears. Then today was very good till this afternoon, then had 4 small chocolates (94 calories), half a cup of almonds, a small cube of cake, some prawns, but had a healthy cauliflower soup for dinner... I dont feel ill full (or overstuffed) but I am way off my calorie intake. so is this binge? my head has gone quiet and I think maybe if i had had the chocolate on Friday then would've avoided being off plan all this time... or on the other hand it could have just led to 3 days of binge... I am so scared that this is a downward spiral. Any advice? I was thinking of preparing my food for the next week and portion them and just stick to them and hopefully avoid what usually happens. Me driving to the shops, spending an hour walking around trying not to buy anything and having mental arguments with myself and then on the way home ending up at some fast food place. So frustrating!! What worries me is that I cant differentiate between binge, beiing off plan, having a treat etc. I know in heart that even people who are thin and healthy have days where they treat themselves but I dont know how to manage that. So a small "treat" usually leads to shame and feeling of failure and then its just down from there

Binging is generally a negative thing, like going way off the rails. You didn't, you just had some treats and being around people eating like that is naturally going to make you want good tasting food, too. You had some cravings and you satisfied them, it's okay, it's not that bad!

Don't worry about what it's called, don't fear a downward spiral. You aren't spiraling. You ate some yummy stuff during a holiday, it's okay! Maybe try this - if you see someone eating X and you want it, just relax. If you still want it later on, just have it - but only some. For example, a few months ago I really really really wanted a candy bar. I saw someone with one and was like dude, I want that. But I held off. Then, the next day, I saw said candy bar in a vending machine, found I really wanted it still, so I bought it. I had just one and that was enough for me.

If you deprive yourself of all things tasty, eventually you'll crack. You have to learn to eat healthy while still living in a rather unhealthy world. It's just a matter of being smart about it. You aren't off track, it's perfectly okay, just keep on going, you're doing great!

I agree with Nadya on the binging. This was definitely not a binge . It's fine to just "take a day or two off" anyways. It's fine to stick to your plan, but going off a little is fine as long as you know you'll get back on. Again, agreeing with Nadya, don't deprive yourself too much because you will crack. I know this as a binge eater. Just limit yourself on how much of the good stuff. You don't have to take it completely out. You're doing perfectly fine, in my opinion, so don't be so hard on yourself . Keep up the good work!

I agree with Nadya. Binging is usually a negative and unrestrained sort of activity. What you did doesn't really sound like binging as while you may have eaten more than your allotment of calories you didn't go overboard, and you made a conscious effort to eat relatively healthily.

And who could blame you for getting a little tetchy around Easter time? All that chocolate! I had to deal with people eating mounds of chocolate around me, family offering to me and having to politely decline, and my brother bringing a white chocolate bunny to my house (white chocolate is my FAVORITE type of chocolate). I had a little nibble of the ears and then gave it to my sister to eat. Part of me regrets not eating it, though. That would have been a blissful five minutes, lol.

For me, a binge is a whole big thing, a whole day that involves fast-food and not counting calories and standing in front of the open fridge shoveling anything and everything into my mouth. Binging is a big scary thing for me so I've learned that I can't just slap that title on any meal or day that goes a little off-plan. I'm actually prouder of myself when I can have just a little of something, enjoy it and move on. But I know that a lot of people use the adage, "one bite is too much, one bite is never enough," and some people have a more rigid, AA type stance on junk food.
I can only speak for me. But through losing and gaining back and years of disordered eating (binging, purging, starving, binging without purging, even obsessive dieting) I have learned that FOR ME, calorie counting is the best plan because I can have anything I want, as long as I stay in calories. And most of the time, yes, you eat heathily, but I can work in a mini brownie, or a slice of pizza, or whatever, when I really want it. And I enjoy it more than when I would eat six brownies or slices of pizza in one sitting. IMO, that is a binge. For me, it has to be associated with a feeling of being out of control, and then eating out of control. So I wouldn't classify what you did as a binge. But even if it was, its in the past, and today is a new day. That's all the matters. Eating chocolate for one day won't kill your diet even if you eat two thousand calories worth. But doing it twice or three days in a row is the bad thing. I would suggest putting it out of your head, forgive yourself if need be, and move on with your diet. Some people have one free day a week. Don't beat yourself up. I've found that weight loss through love is a lot more effective than trying to admonish and shame yourself skinny.
you're doing amazingly keep it up!

my god-daughter has binge eating disorder and i've seen it in action - what you're describing is NOT bingeing, not by a long chalk.

my god-daughter, as described, was voracious during an episode - basically, her mouth became a woodchipper and anything and everything went in it. i'm talking entire packs of cheese, a jar of nutella (that she dug out with her fingers, never mind using a spoon or actually putting it on bread), *pounds* of strawberries and blueberries, an entire large deluxe pizza, half a box of ice cream, etc, etc etc.

i could see on her face that she was so full she was in pain and ready to puke but still she kept ramming food down. eventually she did throw up - she didn't make herself vomit, it just happened - and then i had to unclog the toilet and while i was doing that, she was back in the kitchen stuffing more down.

she even ate baking chocolate, oxo cubes, and coloured sugar used for sprinkling!

oh - and there was no stopping her - try to keep her from food or take it from her and violence ensued.

what you had was a measured vacation from your diet - you were aware of what you were eating, you kept track of what you were eating, and you got back on your plan the next day.

no harm, no foul.

I'm learning holidays don't have to be centered around food.There are other ways to spend time with friends/family without food being the centerpiece of entertainment.

Just be glad having that little bit of chocolate satisfied you. Sometimes I'll go over to my parents' house, and my mom has made brownies. She makes enough for everyone to have two, which is way more than enough, but after eating them I get this horrible feeling of wanting to polish off the entire pan. It will last most of the night after that. I can usually refrain from taking more than my share, but it's almost painful.

Your day sounds like an off-plan day with a hint of "binge" - you sound like you couldn't entirely control yourself and felt guilt, both of which are similar to binges.

These are my definitions:

Overeat: Eat normal foods/meals in too-big portions
Off-plan: Eat foods you wouldn't normally eat or eat at irregular times so it shakes up your schedule
Binge: Consciously eat until stuffed in response to something other than hunger. My binges during my flirtation with binge eating disorder involved going to multiple convenience/grocery stores, coming home, making it into an "event" and just panickedly getting it all in there before I was too full.

Well, I think we all have our own definition of what a "binge" means to us - for me, it's about a feeling rather than an action. Any time I obsess over and then give into a food thought (especially when in response to something other than hunger) and I zone out while eating it, defines "binge" for me.

Mine usually start with a thought of food, I'll have a stressful day and I'll think, "I could go get some ice cream." Often, I will have no other thought of it, but when I am triggered due to stress, anger, lonliness, etc. it can easily become an obsessive thought. I will think of nothing else until I feel like I am going mad. I'll go to the grocery store specifically for binge food; buy 2 pints of ice cream, a couple boxes of crackers, maybe some cookies and maybe some candy -- I will completely zone out and think of nothing other than eating as quickly as I can - I almost always start eating in the car. I may not eat it all in one sitting, but within a few hours, it'll most likely be completely gone. It is always an "alone" thing and I go to great heights to hide it from everyone.

While I am doing it, I will have thoughts of "this is bad for me, I am not hungry, why I am doing this? etc." but I do not stop. I can also get triggered when I am overly hungry, not just in response to a negative or unwanted emotion - but it becomes a negative emotion and then I binge.

When I am at my mother's for Christmas, and she has 8 different kinds of cookies, stockings full of candy and a huge, wonderful dinner prepared...well, then I just overeat in response to having so much food available. It's definitely difficult to stop, simply because she always has so much stuff over there, but it's a totally different mindset. It isn't about zoning out, doing it in secret, consuming as much as I can as quickly as I can and ignoring every single cue my body gives me - it's about having a cookie here and there, eating a wonderful meal and then grazing on cookies and chocolate from my stocking all day. It's not good, but at least I'm conscious during it.

I've learned something recently about what defines a "binge" for me. I cleared my house of all binge-worthy foods a couple weeks ago. Well a few days later, the binge urge arises. So i made an excuse to go to the grocery store (i needed chicken or something) and bought myself 2 slices of cake to binge on. I got home, ate it...and then wanted to binge more. Of course, i couldn't go back to the same store. And i didn't even want to walk 2 blocks to the grocery store nearby, because that would sort of interrupt the binge. Even any drive more than 5 minutes would interrupt the binge. I had to go somewhere and get there FAST, because there was some driving force in my brain telling me that i was in the middle of a binge. It wouldn't have been satisfying anymore if i'd had to wait 10 minutes to get more food. Of course, that is a GOOD thing...but in my binge state of mind, it didn't seem like a good thing.

It seems almost like misery to have to wait 10 minutes to continue the binge...but it's kind of awesome, because once i get the food, i don't really feel the urge anymore.

For me its the event thing!
Wow this just made something click with me I only remember now how when I was younger I used to get a variety of junk food to have somewhere to go, bring it back, eat it and feel something from the age of 14 to replace friends and family and block out everything, at the same time my family didnt buy junk food so when I moved out thats what I did for three years until I realised I had friends and people who loved me so why did I need to deal with feelings with food I didn't.
Its also eating quickly without tasting to get painfully full, eating because youre sad or happy or to distract, fantasizing about food, not caring about your body only how it will feel, using it as a back up well at least whatever bad happens today il have that tub of ben and jerrys in the freezer, having to eat food to get rid of it even at other peoples houses which is embarrasing yes I was called a fat biitch over it before I literally was having a panic attack over that slice of pizza that no one wanted to be rude about taking Now I just dont look at something like that and consciously think about something else, I have a fear that I will go hungry or get upset if I dont eat X.

It doesnt matter what food is only around or what others are eating when you figure out where the problem came from and then you can start building your strenght but now there are trigger foods I just will NOT eat or else make damn sure that its one portion.

Ty Swissy

For me:
off plan is eating outside meal times
over eating - this is eating too much at meal times
bingeing- tends to be out of the blue and means eating vast amounts of complete gunk

Off plan and overeating can also start binges if I'm not very careful
The light at the end of the tunnel is that if I overeat or go off plan then I have started counteracting it with exercise on occasions