I feel you pain too kitty...I talked to my mom a few days ago, and it took everything I had in me not to eat everything in the house afterwards.

This is the bad side of cheap long distance phone calls, I guess!

Why is it that moms can be such binge triggers!? I mean, judging from this board, this is a common thing. They can't want to do this to us, and yet they are so capable of helping to drive their children to distructive behavoir! (I'm not blaming my mom for the binging, I know that it's my responsibility, but this does seem to be a problem a lot of people suffer from!)

my concern is how to prevent doing the same thing with my own kids!

Whether we realize it or not we all want to please our mothers. My mom says she's proud of what I've done but I can't help but think she is still disappointed in me. I feel like she thinks she has to fix me for some reason. I know she is doing it out of love but it sure doesn't help my self-esteem at all. Sometimes I have to make sure there is some emotional distance from her when I am with her and I have to develop an attitude of "This doesn't apply to me." when she says something.

Hi Everyone,
I'm feeling so stressed out right now. I mentioned on other threads that I'm an online instructor and was looking for some work. The two that I mentioned before in threads have hired me and now I'm going through training. The problem is that since every university is gearing up for fall, the training for both of them ended up being all this month. I'm working on the first part of one training and that ends just as the first part of the second is beginning. And in addition to these two trainings all month long, I'm also teaching two courses through my first job!

I'm very glad to have the work and I enjoy the trainings a lot but it's really stressful. One of my biggest problems is that I'm a perfectionist (which I didn't used to be when I was younger - scary!) and I always stress and feel anxious about the work I turn in for training, that it should be perfect, even though I know in theory that that's what training is about - to do my best and get feedback on what I need to do better and that I can't expect to do it right the first time. I tell my students this over and over again to reassure them that their D or F in the first week of classes won't necessarily stay a D or F by the last week of classes. But I'm finding it hard to take my own advice.

I just turned in a sample critique on an essay (the first of several) and I'm not happy at all with the results. In my opinion, the essay was way too difficult for a first essay for training and shouldn't have been the first one (second or third, maybe). So there were a lot of things to critique but only a small amount of time to critique them (we are timed). I decided I was going to tackle it like I would if it were my student's paper and just went for it. I'm supposed to get feedback on it soon and I just hope I did ok on it and not horrible so that they decide I'm not a good fit for the job!

My goal for June was to be binge-free but I didn't quite keep that goal. Still, I only binged twice, which is less than usual. I think there were two problems I had that have been a pattern for my eating for several months:
- I'm not eating enough calories (this last month I sometimes ate as little as 1100 calories a day!)
- I'm trying to restrict food groups (mainly grains and fruit) which is causing a backlash binge

So this month I'm trying something different for me. I've written before that I've been trying to be a vegan for a while. For this month, I'm going to concentrate on eating plant food only (whole grains, beans, veggies, fruit, good fats) rather than on weight loss or exercise. I made up my menus following some basic guidelines to make sure I'm getting enough nutrients but I'm not going to stress if I want more of one thing and less of another. I'm not going to try to limit any food group (except for the obvious for vegans, which I don't find limiting). A big problem is that I've been limiting carbs (grains and fruit) considerably and even tried to cut them out doing South Beach Diet Phase 1. It just didn't work for me and drove me to a carb binge. So I'm hoping that including the good stuff into my diet will ward off junk food binges.

I'm on day 3 of this and so far I'm feeling really good, despite my stressed out situation. For the first time in a long time I feel satisfied, not just with the portions of food but also with the choice of food. I think it's really lowering my desire to binge on junk food and I haven't had cravings so far and hope I don't end up eating out of emotional stress!

Tam

I'm so excited tonight I just had to share. Tonight was my oldest daughter's best friend's bridal shower. It was being held at a bed and breakfast and I assumed we would be served a meal. It was planned by some sweet young friends of the bride and they may or may not have ever even been to a bridal shower before but they had chips (a large variety I may say) and veggies (barely enough for everyone.) By the time I got to the shower I was starving because I was saving calories to have a good meal. I was so proud of myself because I passed up the chips and only ate the veggies. I kept telling myself that when I got home I could have something more to eat. I did it and I ate a reasonable amount and even went for a walk after. It was unbelievable!

I made cake today for therapeutic reasons...but right now I feel pretty low and I really want to gu stuff my face with that whole cake :( I know it will only make me feel worse and so its definitely not a solution. I guess I'm going to go read and then watch Dr Quinn.

I have no idea how many binge free days I've had but every day I don't binge is a day towards breaking a bad habit.

I almost lost it yesterday after dinner. I wasn't feeling sad or happy or bored or anything, but for some reason, I just wanted pasta pasta pasta! I felt like I couldn't have it, which is weird, because I do still eat pasta. I make whole wheat pasta, and I never make more than one serving a time so I don't overeat. I think I just wanted a large amount for some reason, I was really craving it.

But I reminded myself that it would still be there tomorrow, and I could make a main dish of pasta if I wanted, and I was able to avoid a binge! I also thought about how on Tuesday, I'll be at 3 weeks binge free, and I didn't want to mess that up.

Hello all,
I have been binge free for 14 days and lost 9 pounds. I am going on vacation on Wednesday and worry about not being in control of my choices.

I am back to the weight I had last summer but it seems that as soon as I hit 159-157, I sabotage my eating and go back to being 170.

paris and WriterMom, congrats! You've reminded me that being binge-free is all about baby steps - it's not about saying "I'll never binge again" or "I'll never eat junk food again" but about taking it one day at a time, one trigger at a time, and overcoming it.

I also made some progress this weekend. I haven't had a binge-free weekend in a long time but I wanted to make this one the first. One thing that I'm trying is the baby steps. I know if I say "I'll never touch junk food again" I am setting myself up for failure. But if I can set a more realistic goals, which is to train myself to eat junk food in moderation and plan for it and not turn it into a binge, then I know I can do this.

So yesterday I went out and bought a small bag of chips and a single serving of candy and had that as a treat after dinner. I was totally satisfied, didn't want more, and have had no cravings to binge. This was a big first for me, as usually when I decide to have junk food I immediately go for the big packages, even if I don't eat it all (which, being fair, I usually don't). But this time I went for small portions, ate healthy all day, and I enjoyed what I had and that was it.

Tam

way to go Tam!

It's that TOM for me and I always overeat. And if I'm going to binge this is the time. On top of it all I get so dang tired I can barely move for a week. I'm trying really hard to not gain weight if I can help it. It's tough though. On top of it all I leave tomorrow to start my trip to Alaska. I'll be eating lots of food I'm not used to and everything is going to be out of whack. I figured I would get lots of exercise but according to the weather report it's supposed to rain everyday. I may go hiking anyway. I will have access to computers along the way so I will try to check in once in a while.