What qualifies?
 

I was just wondering if there was some "standard" for what qualifies an episode as a binge? Or if it was more of the attitude towards it?

Like say I didn't plan on eating them, but I had 5 mini candy bars. It was only about 200 calories but does this qualify since I didn't plan it yet kept eating them?

Thanks for any clarification on the subject ladies :)

I'd say 200 calories is an unplanned snack.

Did you eat them mindlessly, in a frenzy and find it hard to stop?

for me, a binge is not about calories so much as if i stuffed food in my mouth that i did not need without planning or tasting or appreciating it...it's a psychological reaction that i should not do

For me, a binge is a time that I ate without feeling hunger physically. It took me a long time to decipher this and lots of reading of mostly Geneen Roth books. Any time I eat when I'm not hungry that is a binge. Sometimes I do it to ignore an emotion or because other people are eating or because it is in front of me. Those are usually my trigger points. Mindless eating to me is a binge. I shut my mind off for that time being and just eat. I couldnt even tell you I enjoyed what I ate because I dont taste it.

A binge can be many things....
 

I have 12 1/2 years of working recovery as a compulsive overeater. There is a lot of really excellent OA literature that help narrow the definition of a binge, slips and compuslive overeating in general.

You didn't say whether you have a sponsor or are calling in your food plan. I am going to "assume" (for sake of discussion) that you have neither. The main objective of Overeaters Anonymous is a "willingness to stop compulsive overeating". Period. I realize that may seem like a wide berth but the key word here is "willingness". You are not in charge any more of your compulsive overeating. Once you have taken Step 1-3 and turned your eating disorder over to your Higher Power than you do the "footwork" and your Higher Power does the rest. The end goal is to have a "reprieve of compulsive overeating one meal at a time one day at a time". When that happens, we call it "abstinence".

Based on those basic priniciples I would suggest that you take a look at where those mini candy bars fit in.

for me a binge is eating mindlessly -- not out of physical hunger. and eating in any way that i would be embarrassed to be doing in front of others, IE sneaking, rushing, so no one can see me. that means i am ashamed of what i am doing...

Someone wrote here something a while back about there being 2 kinds of binges... a "physical binge" (hope I used the right word), in which massive quantities of food are consumed, and a "psychological binge", in which the quantity of food isn't huge, but the eating is done mindlessly, with an out-of-control feeling. Sounds like yours was the latter. But don't beat yourself up too much - 200 calories won't add up to anything on the scale. The key (ie. the hard part) is to move on, and don't let it spiral into a physical binge.

I agree. There really isn't a reason to eat if you are not physically hungry. I know that sounds aggressive but I have had a light bulb moment and I think I get it.

I think diets can be at the root of binging:


My chosen diet is/was Weight Watchers (that is my "go to" diet). I use to walk around the house trying to figure out what I could have . . . even though I wasn't physically hungry. Or when I was doing South Beach I was walking around the house looking for foods that were on my list--again I was not physically hungry.

I also would binge after I felt I blew the diet and was convinced I just couldn't lose weight. I never knew if it was willpower or some inherit desire to sabatage myself. Now I know that I was trying to diet instead of teaching myself to eat when I was hungry. No wonder diets don't work.

Gina

For me a binge is when I feel as thought I have lost control. I will compulsively eat and actually find it difficult to pull in the reigns of control. This often results in added calories that can be as 'harmless' (or as harmless as calories can be to one trying to lose weight) 100 calories but easily can balloon out to 2,000 additional calories a day (like yesterday...).

One doesn't eat ice cream because one is hungry. One eats ice cream because it is enjoyable to eat. Nothing wrong with that. If you plan on having that snack and only have the amount you plan to have that is ok. If you eat more and then go on to eat other things that you didn't plan to eat that is out of control and a binge to me.