Binge-free challenge ~ July 13 - 19
 

Good Monday morning, chickies! Let's make this a binge-free week. All are welcome!

I'm in!I need all the support I could get.Thanks:)

alright, I'm in. I'm kind of stressed. So I need the challenge!

I'm in too! Didn't do so great last week but I'm back on track!

i'm in...i need this!

You know I'm down for this. :P I've been gone for awhile, but today is my day two.. -sigh- I guess you can figure out what happened, haha. Oh well. I love me some new starts, so I'm looking forward to this one...again. :yay:

My goal for this week is to learn how to handle my stress and anxiety in a more productive.. or atleast not counter-productive way. :3

bucket, welcome back. I hope the new job is going just as well as your last post indicated. I have to wonder about your siggie picture. An icecube lifting weights staring at the titanic going down??? Am I missing the message?

YES.

This was day 2 for me. Looking ahead to tomorrow and many, many binge-free days to follow. :crossed:

jendiet - Remember, the titanic got owned by an iceberg, so the ice cube's dream is to become an iceberg. Get it..? lol.

I go to work tomorrow again, so hopefully it stays as good as I said in the last post. XD

Star2Be - Hey cool! You and I are on the same days! That almost never happens. :O

I'm in! I need a binge-free challenge to get me back on track.

Monday was Day 2 for me... so far so good.

I am in for this week. I had a binge last Monday... My husband and I ordered a large pizza and ate the whole thing so there wouldn't be any leftovers. Terrible logic, I know, but the mind of a binger works in odd ways. Having two bingers in one relationship can equal disaster, and it used to on a daily basis, so a week is a real success for me... and for us. Tuesday up until now have all been really good and I hope to continue that through this week!

Good luck everyone! :)

lol! sharing..i have done the same thing! Trying to get rid of offending food by EATING IT ALL...lol...that doesn't really work too well.

I guess in our minds we are thinking. I messed up today, how am I going to move on? How can I get rid of this crap? So I don't mess up again. Throw it out! No the horror! The starving kids in Africa??? Ok, then I will just eat it NOW and IT WILL NOT BE THERE TO TEMPT ME LATER.

um, yeah? But now you have to work your a$$ to get that extra 3000 calories off your thighs!

congrats Bucket and Star!!! I am glad you are feeling better Star. By the way where is that 150 lbs progress pic! You lost another 13 lbs girl! yay!

lol! Bucket that was the part I was missing! I didn't see the iceberg or think about it! That is cute. We all have "titanics" in our life!

Can I hop on here and join you? I've been 36 days binge-free (that count started after the weekend of my little brother's graduation...needless to say the weekend was filled with parties, too much food, and no sense of control) and I want to keep going.

I've been doing good, but TOM is looming and a fresh jar of M&Ms was just set out in the living room of my house, so I'm feeling constantly on the edge of falling into binge-land. I so don't want to do that because I finally got back down to my last pre-binge weight and I'm finally losing again and I'm so close to goal.

Gah, I wish the junk wasn't around, but I live at home and have no control over what others bring in.

Put the m& ms up. Chocolate cravings are the body's way of craving magnesium (chocolate is highest source). If you want or crave chocolate during TOM buy a bag of dark chocolate pieces. I like Godelia? 60% cacao. it's not as as loaded with other crap. You might need to adjust your taste to it but it will knock our your chocolate cravings fast. Also I used to be a fierce chocoholic. I used the dark chocolate chips and Mounds dark chocolate with coconut to get rid of my cravings, BUT ...I put them in the freezer. I had to nibble to get some. I would find a nibble was all I needed.

definitely put up the M& Ms though. TOM makes us crazy. Hang in there. I know it's hard to resist other's junk food!

Well I'm in... but I'm nervous. Tomorrow we're headed to the fair... dun dun dun!!!

I'm in
 

I've been on a couple month long binge. Set off by getting a new scale that read 10 pounds heavier than my old one. I then proceeded to gain 8 pounds. Makes sense, right? 15 minutes without a binge. Trying not to feel like a failure and going off on another binge, which would completely make sense, right? Gain weight, feel bad, fix it by gaining more.

I love dark chocolate...you're right, I'm gonna have to get some and put it in the freezer. I plan in one sweet treat at night and that may have to be it this week!

I wish I could put the M&Ms up...unfortunately my mom and brothers think it's their god given right to have them within easy reach...so no luck for me!

OH I see...well foxy, don't worry. You just attack those surgar laden m&m's testing you with some dark chocolate. believe me they will pale in comparison...

ebb--hang in there honey-we all have used REALLY terrible logic in the past concering binges. Get back on track and realize you can do it!

happening, I know it seems cliche--but plan for the fair. eat lightly before you go and then right before you go make sure to eat something light and filling. Then pick 1 or 2 things you know you absolutley love and you can't get anywhere but a fair. If you have a friend with you, share it. That cuts down on calories tons.

AFM: I almost binged on whipped cream NOT realizing I was thirsty. Super thirsty. It started with me taking some pieces of a crepe and squirting some whipped cream in it and rolling it up . Kind of like those REALLY fattening cream horns or creme puffs (which I used to devour!), except a whole crepe has 50 cs and 1 g fat. So I was really pleased at my improvise. But after the crepe. I thought yumm that creme would taste good in my mouth. I sprayed it in my mouth..and savored it...then I was about to squirt some more and the light came on!

I'm trying to drink whipped cream? I'm thirsty!doh!

I can't tell you how many times I have binged on wet, creamy foods just because I was thirsty.

on another good note: I ate pizza tonight. I ate 1 pc of pizza. wow. I put a little ricotta on it. And I knew I would be tempted so I ate a salad with a little sour cream for dressing. I had a cup of cherries with tbsp whipped cream for dessert. I did really well! And even though there were two pieces left--I actually didn't want another piece!

Now I just got to get to my strength training and I will have had a very successful day!

woohoo sweet curves! I'm at 26 days. We've almost been a month!

Day 3, yo.

Work went well.

Haven't heard from my boyfriend in.. 3 or 4 days. I've gone 4 months without talking to him, but the whole not talking thing is hard the first week no matter the circumstance. Gahh. LDRs are hard.

So I'm craving sweets, but I'm chewing on gum instead of making room for something else. Chewing on this stuff is a lot better then emotional eating, which I need to get out of the habit of doing when I feel crappy. So. Today went well!

Tomorrow ahoy!

Day 3 today. Not gonna lie, I was semi-close to binging tonight... It feels especially ridiculous thinking of it now because since I'm on vacation, the only foods available to me are the stuff that my friend's family (my "hosts" on this trip) stocked in the kitchen, i.e. NOT stuff that is all that tempting to me, or my particular favorites or anything like that... I just wanted to binge, and was about to do it (yet again) on foods that I don't even like! Makes no sense whatsoever. I'm lucky that my friend's family was all around, so I basically couldn't binge by default because they all would have seen it and been like "WTF?" Haha. Since I want to be totally honest about this, I feel like I should confess that I did have an extremely brief vision of waiting until everyone else went to bed and then binging in "privacy"--man, how can that feel SO embarrassing to say now and yet seem perfectly acceptable then!? :o ...BUT, it was a very fleeting thought, and luckily I had the sense to go up to bed instead (and log on to 3FC while sitting in bed, just for good measure!). Heh.

I'm glad that I'm holding strong so far... Even though I did have that brief urge to binge, it definitely didn't feel quite as strong as it has been recently. It was almost like, I was meeting the temptation dead on and completely embracing the fact that, yes, I REALLY wanted to binge, but I knew that I wasn't going to. I guess it's that second part - the security in knowing that no matter how badly I want to binge, I am *not* going to do it - that makes the difference! :dunno:

So far, I'm 37 days binge-free! Today is actually the one-year anniversary of me getting serious about losing weight and completely changing my eating habits. I can't believe it's been a year already! I had so much weight to lose and it was so daunting, but taking day-by-day really helped. And I'm still taking it just day-by-day. Because I have control over today and I can make today a good day! Can you tell I'm in a very positive mood today ;)

Jen...that's so funny about drinking the whipped cream! It's good that you realized you were just thirsty, I'm not sure I would have made the connection! And yay for only eating one piece of pizza...you are a stronger woman than I am!

Happening...let us know how the fair goes today! Drink a lot of water, if you fill up on water and stay hydrated, you'll be less likely to snack! But, I agree with Jen...share whatever food you eat there!

Bucket..chewing gum was definitely the smart choice! It's a habit I'm picking up too. Whenever I feel the need to senselessly stick food in my mouth, I try to either drink a big glass of water or chew some gum! What are your favorite brands? I'm shopping around and trying a ton, lol.

Meredith.. good for you for holding strong! I think the temptation comes from the food just BEING there, ya know? At least, that's my problem. And let me tell you, I have extremely brief visions almost EVERY night of waiting for my Mom and brothers to go to bed so I can eat. It's, like, automatic because it's what I ALWAYS used to do. But, instead, I brush my teeth and then lock myself in my room...once I'm upstairs, I'm way to lazy to go back down, haha. I think that facing temptation and holding strong should be a major confidence booster and a sign that you most definitely CAN DO THIS.

Have a good day everyone!! Today is going to be challenging for me because I can't eat dinner like I normally do and I'm going to the movies tonight with some friends (Harry Potter, haha!). I'm just going to try and pack healthy snacks and make sure I have some Points left over for after the movie, cause I KNOW I'm going to want to snack when I get home!

omg, good idea foxxy. Definitely stay AWAY from the food. I like to lock myself away in my room too. Brushing your teeth also daunts you from wanting to stick anything in your mouth.

I used to do that. Wait til everyone was gone somewhere and then eat a pack of cookies and half a gallon of icecream than I would feel sick and throw up. Or go to the store and buy 6 candybars and eat them in one sitting...Then I would feel terrible about that, which would produce another binge. Nasty cycle. Just stay away from the food. Catch yourself before you do it.

I am NOT going to binge tonight. NOT going to do it. NOT. If I come here and promise that to you ladies right here and now, I'll have no choice but to follow it! ...Right? :tape:

foxxy511 - Wow, congrats to you on the 37 binge-free days, and especially on celebrating your one-year "anniversary"!!! I am SO impressed and proud of you, chicky! :cp: And thanks for the reminder to take it on a day-by-day basis; I needed that, heh. Have fun at the movies tonight! I'm seeing HP on Friday and I can't WAIT. :hyper:

jendiet - Ohhh yes, I know that cycle very well... After the binge I always tell myself, "Next time I'll just power through the craving and NOT give into it, and I'll be able to avoid all of these horrible feelings" (both mental and physical), but unfortunately that doesn't always work. Hindsight is 20/20, ain't it? :dunno:

Unfortunately, waiting for the rest of my family to go to bed was basically the only way I could "get away" with my binges over the past couple weeks... Because they all think of me as being very healthy now and would deffffinitely notice if they suddenly saw me eating huge quantities of junk! Though my mother has essentially accused me of being anorexic on several occasions, too, so perhaps she'd actually be relieved to see me eating! :dz: Ugh, how messed up is that? And I'm not gonna lie, somehow something about binging like that *still* appeals to me in some sick way--my secretive little late-night trysts, just me, the TV, and massive piles of food... I want to be disgusted by the thought - really, I do! - but the reality is that I really am having a lot of difficulty fighting the urge... Even though I *know* that it makes me feel absolutely horrible... Something about it is still "fun", you know? I think it's going to take quite a bit of time before I can adjust my mindset back to the point where I really and truly don't want to binge... I KNOW it's possible, because I reached that point this Spring, but it kinda seems like a distant memory right now. :p

what doesn't sound fun about free uninhibited eating? The only bad part is weight gain. Maybe we yearn deep down for when we didn't care about what the extra food would do. I myself believe in having one day a week of no holds barred.

foxxy yeah! You're over a month! And congrats on the anniversary!!!

I am actually so content on this WOE...I guess because I go without eating until 2 pm. I do get hungry, but it's only tough 1 hour before the window opens. Then I really appreciate the food coming to me. When I do eat I feel so satisfied. A couple hours later I eat again, and the food tastes so wonderful and I get so full again. Then I stop all food 5 hours after I have my first meal and I don't think about it anymore.

I really recommend at least 1 DAY of this type of eating for a habitual binger. It always gets rid of my need to binge. Something about it resets you. Especially when you feel those first hunger pangs--that are real.

There is no, I want a snack but what fits into my calorie plan? Or if I eat this for lunch what can I have for dinner? And I DON'T MISS breakfast. There is no snacking at night once the window closes--I go back to water only.

didn't make it today
 

Tomorrow's another day and another chance for good decisions.

Meredith . . . I TOTALLY understand your post. I look back to the times when I had NO desire to fill myself to the gills with food and I love that I hav experienced that bcos it means that if I aim my compass in the right direction (and lucky my iphone comes with one ha! ;) ) then I know I can get back "there" again.

Sometimes I do miss the very act of filling myself with vast quantities of food. I am not doing it these days, but its still there.

I think the more you resist - actually that is the wrong word . . . the more you LIVE a different way, the more you fill yourself with things that speak to your soul the less you need that.


I have been thinking about what the act of eating 'does' for me . . . and I have not been able to pin point it completely . . . as I thought that if I did then I cold substitute a different behaviour to give me the same feelings, but am still not 100% sure.

I did though come to the realisation that I miss travelling. For me hopping on a plane is like breathing . . . I need. to. do. it. I made the decision last year to put it on hold bcos I am looking at buying a house . . . it has been the worst thing for me. My energy just feels 'off', I miss my friends in the USA and I realised that denying that part of me is not helpful.

So I have been thinking about my next trip and I already feel good at having something to look forward to in 2010 :)

Things are going ok here, I have been consumed with work and am hoping that next week is a better one. I actually miss the gym . . .

Hope you are all having a great week! :)

oh Danni, I hope you get that trip. That would be a great reward!

Ebb, honey--we're here for you. You can do it!

Meredith, i'm hoping you're having a great binge free night--maybe reading a book?

Good morning everyone!

Danni -- I too have been trying to figure out what eating does for me. It's something I feel the constant need to do, so it must be something...but I haven't figured it out yet either. But, I agree, the more I live this new lifestyle, the better chance I have of changing my behavior. Good luck planning your trip!

Ebb -- Just take it a day at a time...you can make today a good day!!

Meredith -- Oh, I am SO with you about having that urge to just sit in front of the TV and eat myself silly. And you're right, I want to be horrified by that urge, but I'm starting to think that's the wrong approach to take. So, I'm trying to acknowledge those feelings (but not act on them!) and then figure out why I'm feeling that way (I haven't figured that part out yet). Hopefully once I've figured out why I'm feeling that way, I can take steps to manage those feelings in a way that's NOT eating. Obviously all my Counseling classes in school are sinking in, haha. My professors would be so proud.

Jen -- Thanks! I can't believe its been a year already! And that's an interesting WOE!

HP last night was great! I had totally forgotten what happened in the book, so I wasn't disappointed by whatever stuff they cut out, because I couldn't remember, lol. And, I planned snacks, so I was totally prepared and had a 100 cal bag of popcorn during the movie and a granola bar afterwards when I got home late because I was hungry (okay, and few of those freaking M&Ms...arg, why can't they be gone already!) But, I saw the 150's (159.6 to be exact!) this morning, so I was excited! :carrot:

I binged yesterday. Stress of no boyfriend (seriously 5 days and no e-mail or call, I think something is up.. maybe with his job, and it's worrying me. I miss him terribly), close friends disapeared, not exercising again, not 100% if I work this week (and I had a panic attack for 3 hours trying to work up the nerve to call.. which I never did), aaaanndd I just discovered my Dad is deliberately ignoring me just kinda threw me into a day long of munching on bread and cereal. I seem to eat first before I cry. Kinda annoying. I'd rather be in tears all day then pointlessly consume food in that manner. Eh. Actually, food feels good, tears feel icky, so I guess I know where my logic comes from, lol.

Needless to say, that day was crappy but today I'm back on track with Day 1.

foxxy511 - stride gum is the only one that lives up to my expectations. Once you go stride, you never go back. :P

Bucket! Hugs darling! I am definitely recommending hot bubble baths with salts that smell good.

Another way to stop from eating with a binge. Maybe fill up on some hot tea with chamomile and a little honey. Chamomile is a natural stress reliever.

Try this bucket.

Hot bath
epsom salts (the magnesium is wonderful for depression)
lavendar salts
bubbles (any soap)

candles
a glass of ice water (in case you get too hot)
a BIG cup of chamomile tea (don't worry about the size, you will get a lot less calories from the tea than from binging.

the tea will make you so full. Don't be afraid to drink it until you feel that FULL feeling.

a lot of times when I want more to eat, I pour myself a glass of my green tea/white tea with berries blend. I drink until FULL. (it only has 20 cs/glass)

I really needed one of those on Thursday because I totally got fired from my job. Couldn't bring myself to eat at all on that day Ended up eating past what I planned on eating on Friday, but still kept it binge free. (Bread + Stress = No bueno.) Defiantly going to take up "STOP! Bath time!" as a new thing when I start getting too upset for my own good.

Ughh. Crappy week. On the brightside my boyfriend isn't dead and we're talking again. :yay:

I'm looking forward to tomorrow!!

Hope all is well for y'all.

Day threeee.

Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

Tomorrow will be day one again. That's all I have to say about that.

But ya know, I think I'm taking a big step just by forcing myself to come here and confess it to you ladies, rather than shying away from 3FC during my "dark" times. Right? It's so tempting just to hide my face and stop posting for a bit so I won't have to admit what I've done... Since it's so embarrassing, and makes me feel so pathetic to have to come here and talk about it every time. Ugh. But maybe if I KEEP making myself come clean every time, eventually the anticipation of the shame I'll feel later will help to motivate me NOT to do it. Here's hoping! :shrug:

OH! But on the plus side, I have decided that I AM going to call and make an appointment with a therapist first thing tomorrow (or Monday, since a lot of the offices probably won't be open on Sundays). I have looked into the places in my area that offer ED treatment, and I have high hopes... Lots of people have suggested it to me, and I really think it's time I found something to take the place of the counselor I was seeing at school last quarter. Here's hoping!

Ugh, I feel so drained. I feel like I should be happy today because it's my one-year "anniversary" since starting a healthy lifestyle, but I just feel kinda yucky, y'know? I think I'm just in a funk. Funny how I never seem to get into these sad moods when I haven't been binging... :dz:

Star2Be - I SO know what you mean. During my horrible 3 months of beginning the binging problem that was slowly seaping out of my regular diet I was doing at the time to lose weight, it was the absolute worst. I felt sad because I was binging and gaining weight... and then I'd go binge because I felt said about binging and gaining weight. I was on a calorie counting forum at the time, and I'd avoid posting my menu of the day (which was a popular thread at the time) on the days I binged and avoided posting at the binging support thread too because I felt like such a failure. I was at my happiest when I didn't even think about binging.

It's an awful cycle but you get MAJOR kudos for seeking out help since you feel you need it, and also for posting. It's embaressing, but we aren't here to judge and you're making progress. When I wasn't making much progress, I wouldn't have done what you've done, so chin up and hang in there girlie! :hug:

Therapy is good ;) Its helping me not be so hard on self and expect perfection every day. She said smthg that I found motifying the other day . . . what if you only did things at 75% of what you think is reasonable . . . I looked at her like she was mad - is that even possible I squeaked?!??!!??!?!?!!

ha!

Really wanting tonight to be my fresh start, but the binge thoughts are creeping in :( My boyfriend and I are taking a break (initiated by me while I get my life figured out). I had some things that I needed to say and I'm not very good at finding the right words, so I wrote him a letter. I sent it this morning, and he's probably at work, but the fact that he hasn't written back is making me feel really insecure and nervous. Plus, I really miss him, and this whole thing is so painful :(

Sorry you are having a tough time of it Pene - I blame 20 of my OMG! lbs on a breakup that wouldnt take . . . I really should know better at this age ;)