Ugh! I was doing so good this morning. Then about 3:PM EST, my binging began AGAIN! I can't get this under control. I feel like I can't control it for anything. What can I do? I feel so hopeless when I can't stop binging. Any tips, suggestions, comments? I need a friend!!!
Sorry to hear about that I'm the same way, once I start binging I can't stop until I feel sick. Maybe try going out for a walk, or hopping on a piece of exercise equipment if you have one at home. Sometimes it helps me if I take my focus off of food and onto exercise, and then I don't want to ruin any of the work I've done by exercising by binging again.
I know how hard is to stop.. But think that if you slipped once, you don't have to eat all day long. Or at least eat some popcorn carrots etc..that helps me
Ann ~ the hardest part for me was getting started. Especially if you are a 'all or nothing' girl like me. It's like if I'm not perfect i'm not going to even try. Anyway...I would suggest this...first off lets get you prepared. Are you following any specific program? I have to have my fridge full of the following. Bottled waters (and some crystal lite sugar free drink mix thingies you put in your water for it to taste better). Diet Green Ice Tea and a diet soda. And protein cooked (like chicken or hard boiled egg or some lean beef or turkey) Fruit. Salad mix and some low fat balsimic dressing. And I eat WASA bread for my fiber(bread) Ok...be sure you start off eating plenty of protein for breakfast. Especially the first few days/week. Eat until full and then if you get hungry eat more protein again. And drink that water and you'll be feeling full. And about commitment. Are you commited to do this? It has to be the right time. You have to have hit bottom sometimes to want to get back up like I did. Mine was seeing a picture my daughter took of me and SAVED on our digital camera...it was awful. So, if you're commited then get prepared and start. Another thing I do is JOURNAL. I journal EVERY day. I write down what I eat how I feel and what I weigh and if I'm hungry or if I feel great or if something makes me mad....and then I've been taking short walks and such.
p.s. Get yourself a pretty journal book that you enjoy going to every day....you can't wait to write in it. I got a notebook but it has a cute cover on it. And then cut out some motivational pictures and paste them on the back cover...and make some graphs....there's tons that can motivate you.
I'm certainly still a work in progress, but I've decided, at least for me, that formal dieting leads to bingeing. When you say you were "good" this morning, are you following a specific program? If it's really restrictive, I think that tends to put one in the binge headspace. I use to binge quite badly, and while I'm by no means perfect yet, it is SO much better than it used to be. I've tried to rid myself of the "good"/"bad" notion with regard to food. No foods are off-limits, but I'm trying to make healthy choices and watch portions. I have a sugar problem, so it's best for me to keep as little sugar/cookies/ice cream/chocolate in the house as my family will stand for. I still want a treat here and there, of course, but try to do the single serving thing, PLUS I always try to eat it with someone, rather than alone, since that was my binge pattern. If I start foraging for sweets when I'm alone, that's a danger signal, and I need to stop it dead in its tracks. I'm getting better at substituting - eg. eating a big bag of low fat popcorn, making a pot of green tea, etc. They didn't feel satisfying at first, but they do the trick better now than they used to (in other words, fake it 'till you make it, I guess!).
Right now, I'm trying to drop a few pounds, but not through restrictive dieting. I am more or less following Phase 1 of Bob Greene's Best Life Plan: ie. 3 reasonable meals (no foods off limit), but watch portions, 1 snack, and no eating after dinner. And up my activity level, though I'm already fairly good with the exercise. Of course, weight loss will be slow, but I know it will happen, as long as I can be patient and stick to this. It's more important to me to not revert back into bingeing. In fact, I would like to get to the point where it's not even a temptation (hopefully that happens eventually!). I'd rather be a bit heavy than be controlled by bingeing, and that's the truth.
BlackCherry: I have no exercise equipment at home... I wish I did but I live in a tiny apartment with my husband and my son. I would love to go out for a walk but I live in a terrible area. There is a lot of crime. I don't know if I trust the neighborhood enough. I just moved here but in 3 to 5 months I'm moving to a great little city. For now, I'm stuck here.
Ruthka: My binging has been a life long problem for me. I have a deadly sweet tooth that I can't control. If I see anything that I know is sugar-filled, I want it. Damn sugar! I hate carrots. Popcorn is good but I tend to binge on sugar-filled products.
Onmyown: It's so not easy for me. I know I need to lose weight. I WANT to lose weight. I don't want to be this ugly thing that keeps staring at me in the mirror. I also need to do this for my son. He's 2 and his energy is building up as each day goes by.
Janie Canuck: I was trying WW but I feel like I'm still too restricted on that. I just want to be able to eat, in proper portions, and still lose some weight. I want to be able to eat candy but not down the whole bag within 30 minutes. I want to do this "normally" and healthy. I don't care how long it takes me to lose the weight, just as long as I do. I prefer to lose at least 1 pound per week or just stay in that range.
The problem is sugar! I can't control the urge to reach for everything with sugar. My husband and son don't have this problem so I feel like I am forced to look at this stuff whenever I open the cabinet doors. If I had it my way, I'd banish the stuff but then again, grocery stores won't do that. LOL. Help!
Janie C...I agree with a lot of what you are saying...for me trying so many diets over the years got me to the point where I didn't know what I should or shouldn't eat...south beach says not to eat carrots in phase 1, so suddenly carrots became "bad"...and so on and so on. I more or less follow a ww style of eating where nothing is off limits per se, but I do make sure to have limited sweets in the house (100 calorie packs of things)...although, we all know when a binge comes on toast can be problematic :-)
Anyway Ann, back to your original question on things to do, I found that I often binge because of 3 things...stress, being bored, or being tired. Sometimes at 3pm you just hit a lull period and feel guilty taking a power nap, but sometimes a 20-30 min nap can really stop a binge bc you get what you body needs, sleep. This is of course if you are somewhere you can get some sleep. If i'm stressed I try to go out and take a walk...even if i'm not in the mood i find that i put my ipod on and get going and get into it...or i'll call a friend, clean, do something to break from what i am doing and distract me. If i'm bored i make sure to once a week make an index card with random things to do on it...you know, things that sort of need to get done or things i've been wanting to do forever but put off...other times its just fun things like a bubble bath or going out and buying a magazine to read....anyway, i can't say what it is you like to do, but try to (pre binge, if you can think) ask yourself what you need, is it sleep? are you lonely and need to call a friend? are you angry and need a release? stressed? etc. try to figure out what, aside from food, well help get you out of whatever you are feeling.
Hope this helps...its beginning to really help me...when I stop and ask what I need before hitting the cabinet, haha!
Ann, there is a school of thought that a person with a serious sugar problem should cut it out completely. Apparently the cravings for it go away eventually. There is a website I've visited that is interesting, called RadiantRecovery.com (I hope it's OK to "plug" it here - I have no affiliation with it). Myself, I haven't eliminated it, but I'm learning to recognize how and when I can safely have it, and when I should just stay the heck away from it.
Is your hubby supportive enough to try to keep your home sugar-free, at least until you gain some control?
Oh, and another thing - try not to refer to yourself as "this ugly thing that I see in the mirror". I know it's hard when you're so disappointed in yourself, and feeling out of control. I think many (most?) of us have been there. But we were talking in another thread how all those negative thoughts just perpetuates the binge cycle. You're not "an ugly thing". I don't know you, but I bet you're a wonderful person who happens to be overweight. Being overweight is a state, it's not who you are. And while it's not easy, you CAN change it. There are lots of ugly atrocities in the world - war, child abuse, gun violence, horrible diseases, etc. Being overweight is NOT one of them.
There is a book I've mentioned elsewhere, called Fit from Within (by Victoria Moran). She is a recovered binge eater, and has some good advice, although it sounds radical to someone who is a veteran dieter.... stop dieting, eat 3 reasonable meals per day (no foods are off - limits), and work on your relationship with food, to try to bring it back to normal and put it in proper perspective. It's a scary step for someone who is on the diet/binge cycle, I know.
Alternatively, I agree, WW can still leave me hungry. Back in my WW days, I still followed it, but decided to give myself more points than the program said to. It worked, just more slowly (though I must confess, I had a tendency to eventually undo my successes by bingeing).
BTW, your little boy is the absolutely most adorable thing ever - rather than being "an ugly thing", you must have some pretty good genes to have a kid that cute!
There are tons of great suggestions on here. I think you can only make big changes when you are ready. I was struggling with bingeing and dieting for a long time then I started "the year of me" where I read tons of books about improving myself - not just in the physical sense but mainly mentally. I found "the secret" and "the taming of the chew" to be monumental in my change.
One thing I learned is that you need to take out the negative thinking> You keep telling yourself you can't do it and you will prove yourself right. Like attracts like. negative energy will support negative results. If you are constantly thinking: i'm never going to stop bingeing, i'm not going to be able to follow this diet, i hate the foods my diet allows, i dont like to exercise, etc, then you will set yourself up for failure. The mind is very powerful.
I started writing out positive things in my journal and saying them outloud to myself and BELIEVING that they were true: you can follow a plan, you can look after yourself, you will get to your goal. You can do it. Picture yourself at your goal and how happy you will be and assume that you will get to that point at the time you decide. Then your decisions will become second nature. You are no longer struggling to fight with yourself. Your thoughts and your actions will lead you to the results.
Be realistic with your goal as well and take baby steps. Every decision to choose your happiness and health over short term satisfaction is something to be proud of. Don't expect perfection.
This may sound a bit ridiculous but for me it was the ONLY thing that worked.
Bikini Dreader, I've noticed you mention those books a few times in other threads. I know The Secret is in Chapters, but do you recall the author of The Taming of the Chew? Thanks.
amlgarrido, just to say that i entirely understand what its like for you - except in my case its normally savoury food thats my downfall. i eat mainly when i`m stressed (which is often) or upset. i managed to add 7 st in 9 years eating like this.
a few things that have helped me are eating smaller meals or snacks but more often. most of previous weight loss attempts have failed through feeling starving in between meals = big binge. also i know that i dont have long to wait till my next feed. at least one of these meals/ snacks will be a little treat. i buy smaller size bags/ packets so if i do lose control then i can limit the damage.every few weeks i will eat what i want in the evening. not only do i enjoy it more than if i ate these foods everyday(i dont taste when i binge?), but also tends to give my weight loss a bit of a kick start, if i have stalled for a while.
once the scales start moving downwards, that gives me also a massive incentive not to binge and i imagine myself slim and more "sexy" . also if i want to binge because ive had a row with o/h or someone, i keep telling myself " if i binge now they will have won, i am stronger than this" seems to be working most of the time.
at the end of the day , i really want to do it this time, for myself, my health and for vanity of course.good luck, slim
Why can't I get in control???
I'm the same way, once I start binging I can't stop until I feel sick. Maybe try going out for a walk, or hopping on a piece of exercise equipment if you have one at home. Sometimes it helps me if I take my focus off of food and onto exercise, and then I don't want to ruin any of the work I've done by exercising by binging again.
. also if i want to binge because ive had a row with o/h or someone, i keep telling myself " if i binge now they will have won, i am stronger than this" seems to be working most of the time.