[milmin2043]

I would like some input please. I think that I have developed binging behaviors. I might add that I'm pretty sure I never had this type of behavior prior to this last weightloss attempt?? I'm not actually sure about this, because I wasn't even really aware what it was until I read about it here on this forum.

Have any of you had binging brought on by dieting/or a different eating plan?

I have "caught" myself at least 5 times in say, the past month, where I was eating a vast quantity of food (usually carbs like pasta or bread) very quickly, secretly and all alone. I have actually stopped myself and thought about it and now I would like to research this a little more and see what ya'll thought.

It happened this evening. I made dinner and ate a normal portion. About 30 minutes later I went into the kitchen to clean everything up. I started mindlessly eating the leftover pasta, just shoveling it in. I ate so much, so fast, it was really weird. Almost like it wasn't even me. Like an out of body experience, if you know what I mean. What the heck? I've got to admit, I am a little scared. What's going on here?

Has this happened to anyone else?

[kaplods]

I've had a binge-disorder most of my life. Until I stopped "dieting" and started eating relatively low-carb.

I thoughht the binges were a result of some mental illness or defect, but it seems to actually be a function of what and how I am eating.

If I give myself permission to eat when I'm hungry AND choose a relatively low-carb way of eating, I do not experience these types of binges. They just disapppear.

However if I drastically reduce calories, especially if most of those calories are coming from relatively simple carbs, the out-of-control eating and binge eating does return. For me there's also a hormonal component (I have a harder time controlling premenstrual hunger when I'm not on birth control).

It's possible that what you're eating is setting you up for these type of binges. I would look at your calorie and your carb intake. Don't cut calories to starvation levels, and try different proportions of carb, fats, and proteins.

You may find it easier to prevent or mitigate binges, on some WOE's than others.

[happyapple]

ME TOO!
I am so glad I'm not alone, this has been scary and I even joined a local group called O.A. because I just know its time to get some help and I got the meeting list from the O.A. web site ' its been a helpful and loving enviroment.

[Heavenseventeen]

I agree that losing weight triggered this, but it took 5yrs of me losing. I've always overeaten, so counting calories didn't cause that.

I started having a binge 'voice' in my head a year ago and only gave in last Dec. I've binged a couple of times since then but now it seems under control. I've still had some days when I eat maybe 500 over maintenance without exercise, but it's better than the 2500-3500+ from before.

It also helps to identify why you do it. My trigger is stress. Instead of facing what I fear I want to eat instead. It works like a distraction, but, of course, only a temporary one.

[beaka]

I've done it in the past and still deal with it. I think I'm just more conscious of it now than I'm losing weight. I track my food- even the binge food. Before, I didn't care. I wasn't conscious of it. I didn't think of mindless eating as binging. I guess it was what people call "emotional eating."

[Emme]

Yes! I am a binger ~ I haven't binged in over 60 days, and for me it was all emotional. I would eat when something triggered me and I would shovel food in my mouth like it was going out of style. I completely know what you mean about it being an out of body experience. I would stand at the counter or the fridge eating and eating and eating (while in my head telling myself to stop what I was doing), but I could't stop. I was like a zombie and I would just cram as much in me as possible.

It happened a lot in December ~ I wasn't feeling great about myself and my weight, so I binged often (quite the opposite of what I was looking to do). I made a choice to start counting calories January 3rd and I haven't binged since. Counting calories keeps me accountable and it has really helped. Don't get me wrong, though...I still have major cravings. Yesterday I thought about making a cake and just gorging on it, but I didn't do that because I know it is destructive to my body and mind.

You are not alone. This is a scary journey, but it's one that you can get through!!

[DanielleLynnMichaels]

Definitely different for everyone. I experienced binging in almost identical ways that you did the last time I dieted. I realized that it was all mental. I have a love/hate relationship with potatoes. We had scalloped potatoes for dinner that night and yes... I had a small portion and should have been satisfied. Unfortunately, when I was cleaning the kitchen I seen the extra and thought... oh I don't want to waste those. So I stood there with a fork and ate them from the pan. I was disappointed in myself and felt super guilty. I didn't do it mindlessly though, I have a bad habit of "rationalizing" bad choices. You know like... oh those will go bad if they don't get eaten.... or well I really didn't have much today so this can't hurt..... it's a nasty little evil Danielle in my head and I work everyday to shut her up. Great now I sound like a schizo... I wish you all the best of luck in dealing with your own inner binging demon. Just wanted to share.

[jessy 49]

Originally Posted by kaplods

I've had a binge-disorder most of my life. Until I stopped "dieting" and started eating relatively low-carb.

I thoughht the binges were a result of some mental illness or defect, but it seems to actually be a function of what and how I am eating.

If I give myself permission to eat when I'm hungry AND choose a relatively low-carb way of eating, I do not experience these types of binges. They just disapppear.

However if I drastically reduce calories, especially if most of those calories are coming from relatively simple carbs, the out-of-control eating and binge eating does return. For me there's also a hormonal component (I have a harder time controlling premenstrual hunger when I'm not on birth control).

It's possible that what you're eating is setting you up for these type of binges. I would look at your calorie and your carb intake. Don't cut calories to starvation levels, and try different proportions of carb, fats, and proteins.

You may find it easier to prevent or mitigate binges, on some WOE's than others.

Me too! White pasta, potatoes, or white bread start me off. If I don't eat them, the cravings just don't happen. I'm starting to structure dinner as "meat + 2/3 veg" rather than "meat + starch". It seems to work for me!

[Glory87]

In my past dieting attempts, I binged frequently. This was because I really didn't understand my body.

I would significantly restrict calories. I would be very gung-ho! I would do anything to lose the weight. If other people lost weight eating 1200 calories, I would eat 1000 calories!

I also ate a lot of diet frankenfoods, like fat free crackers. What I didn't realize at the time was that carby foods make me crave more carby foods.

So, what would happen - I'd be restricting, doing GREAT! Motivated. I'd pour myself a serving of something like fat free Teddy Grahams. I'd eat them, go back for more, go back for more, go back for more, until I'd eaten the box. Then I'd cry, feel like a loser, swear to do BETTER! Restrict calories even more for the rest of the day and set myself up for a repeat binge cycle.

What changed for me? Eating sufficient quantities of very healthy foods and avoiding the foods that make me want to keep eating (crackers, cold cereal, pretzels, chips, cookies).

Going cold turkey on sugar was a mini miracle for me. All my life, I thought I had problems with food, turns out, I just had problems with some foods. Eliminating/reducing those foods set me free from food prison. I had the key all along. Sure, sometimes I miss those foods, but I sure don't miss the sick, out of control feeling of stuffing Oreos on my face.

[mkendrick]

I just recently wrote a post about how I developed binging after starting the weight loss/maintenance journey. Before I simply overate, eating whatever and whenever I wanted. But it wasn't the desperate secretive wolfing down of as much as I could get my hands on. Unfortunately, after a few weeks of binges and then scrambling to get back on the wagon, I started restricting to make up for the mistakes. That was NOT good at all. I've snapped myself out of that pattern and have been doing well for nearly three weeks, but I'm afraid that binge desire will always be there.

Here's my post on the same topic from another thread...

Have you ALWAYS been a binger or has that behavior developed over the weight loss/maintenance process? For me, it's the latter. Which is kind of frustrating, since this whole thing has been a journey to get healthier, but I have actually developed some unhealthy habits in the process.

Before I started losing weight, I simply didn't care what I ate. Sure, I wanted to lose weight, but I didn't make any effort to do so. I obviously over ate, and sometimes I was a little embarrassed about how much food I could pack away compared to others, but it was never the binge behavior. It wasn't the desperate OMG-I-need-to-eat-everything-I-can-get-my-hands-on-right-now feeling. I just ate what I wanted when I wanted (which was junk and way too often). I wasn't even much of an emotional eater.

I feel like my plan, even though it's a healthy, balanced plan based on nourishing and satisfying myself, has led me to binges. I feel like ANY plan would have, it's not a fault with my specific diet regimen. It's the fact that there are certain rules and restrictions that I have to follow. Even moderate rules like staying under 1600cal/day. Physically, I can easily satisfy myself in a very healthy way following this rule. Mentally and emotionally, this rule is easy for me to follow 95% of the time. But the fact that there is a "rule" at all, means that there's a rule to break. So eating over 1600cal/day is breaking a "rule," it's forbidden, it's rebellious. And then I get it in my head that if I'm breaking a rule, I might as well live it up. Teenagers that sneak into their parent's liquor cabinet aren't going to have a modest 4oz glass of red wine, they're going to go all out! So when I break the rule, I'm going over by thousands of calories, hence, a binge.

I have tried allowing treats in moderation...planning a fun-size candy bar in my calories or something. So then those "forbidden foods" are no longer "forbidden." But that just drives me insane. That one measley little taste of a treat doesn't satisfy me, it just makes me want to eat the whole bag of 'em.

[dragonwoman64]

yes, I think years of going on long diet plans like WW and JC years back whacked out how I thought about food and eating, and brought on that uncontrollable feeling when I started eating something like a bag of Doritos or other foods (couldn't stop). It's a weird thing. Took me a lot of work and time to get over it and to get back to eating more healthily and without that reaction. I did have portion control problems prior to that, but the feeling like I couldn't stop didn't really happen until after the years of dieting.

[krampus]

*raises hand*

For me binging is a new development, like within the past year. It makes sense; I think about food and weight and calories for a good portion of my day, and mealtime has become sacred.

I think fixation on anything leads to coming up with mental taboos and restrictions and "forbidden fruit" thoughts.

[milmin2043]

Wow...ok, well now I have a relieved feeling that there are others and I'm not alone, but also a "darn it all" feeling as I realize that this is a real thing. IYKWIM.

I want to thank each of you for responding. I saw a little of me in every one of your posts quite frankly. I am 47 and have been *dieting* for the past 27 years. Up and down, up and down, up and down. I have literally NEVER been maintaining. Always, for 27 years either gaining or losing. My relationship with food was like Megan's in her above post. For years I completely ignored my food and my weight and ate with abandon, anything and everything I wanted. In between those times I had severe restriction and felt like I was doing great when I could force myself to eat less than 1000calories, sometimes for weeks at a time.

BUT, the strange thing is, even with severe restriction, I never actually started binging activity until this time around. I guess it has to start somewhere. Also, like you said Krampus, I think about eating, exercising, food, losing weight, etc. at least 75% of the time, so it makes sense in a way.

Does anyone else find that removing every trigger food from their home/kitchen gives them more control? I don't have any junk food in the house, and I mean none. But, I have discovered that I can just as easily binge on healthy foods as I can on crappy foods. That was a real eye-opener for me. I buy whole wheat pasta and whole wheat bread, which I used to think I hated. Now I love them too much. One of my trigger foods is Kasha cereal. I finally had to stop buying it because I could literally eat the whole box in a day. Thank goodness the box is about only 1600 calories, because I have done that a few times.

I feel fortunate that I am catching myself thinking about it and trying to stop it. I am also trying really hard not to freak out about it. I can't really see where that would be beneficial. I read every single one of your responses more than once, and I see that there are so many others here going through the same thing. I feel closer to many of you than I do to my own RL friends because you are all so open and caring. Thank you for that and hugs to you all.

[Glory87]

Yes - I have eliminated as many trigger foods from the house as possible (within reason, I have a husband). I also have binged on Kashi cereal, I refer to it as KashiGate 2005.

I have put a lot of foods on my "no" list. It is a lot easier for me to be very black/white about certain foods. I just don't eat them. A lot of people on the boards seem to think that's a sad way to live, but I don't like those foods enough to justify the way I feel after I eat them. If I eat one Thin Mint Girl Scout cookie, it can set me off for hours. If no one else is around, I want to eat the sleeve. If someone is around and I don't want to be caught, I obsess and want them and think about them endlessly. I hate that out of control, gorge-y feeling.

What also helps me is a lot of planning and eating meals/snacks at specific times and avoiding the kitchen otherwise.

After 6 years of maintenance, I do pretty well on a day to day basis. What trips me up is social events, like dinner at a friend's house. Luckily, that only happens once a week or so so my regular, daily on-plan eating keeps me in check. I still try to stick to my "forever no's" all the time - no more than 2 glasses of wine, no eating out of the bread basket, limit fried foods, limit cream based sauces, no fast food.

[Kery]

It happened to me as well. Truth be told, I'm not out of it yet, but things have been going *way* better since I've pretty much said "the **** with counting calories" and tried to do things differently. I think my big life-saver in that was 2008-2009, when I studied for a competitive national exam. It hepe me rembember that I thrive on that kind of stress, and being caught between studies and a part-time job, oddly enough, made me forget about eating for whatever other purpose than fuelling my body with nutrients. (I say 'oddly' because most of my fellow students kind of tended to pack on pounds rather than the contrary, and I was expecting myself to follow the same road, but... no.)

Anyway.

I think the whole calories counting, always thinking about food, always planning food, etc. can work very well for some people, and trigger odd behaviours for others. At first I thought it'd work for me, and it did, for about a few months or so. I lost weight. I stopped dieting. I regained some. I started dieting again. And then, bam, binges occurred. No idea why it didn't start the first time—maybe because it was the firts time ever, and only after that did my body rebelled or something?

On the other hand, I do have a borderline compulsive behaviour for other things as well. These days, for instance, I tend to obsess over drawings, wake up too early because all of a sudden some new idea to experiment with has popped in my mind, sometimes fortget about eating because I'm engrossed in my work... that kind of stuff. The binges were/are probably part of the same kind of mindset of "being deep into something". Only when it's drawings, you have art works to show off afterwards. With binges, you only get extra pounds instead.