Help...
 

I don't know how to deal with it but I have been there... bingeing on stuff that doesn't even taste good. And of course the "starting tomorrow" thing... that's where I am right now, honestly willing my house mate to go to bed so I can go eat more without being seen.

I wish I could be of more help - just wanted to let you know I read your post and I'm wishing you strength! :hug:

thank you for your honesty... I am trying to find things to take my mind off of this craving... right now i could go eat tons! I know tomorrow will be a better day, for the love of god, I hope so.... I'm scared cause i can feel my blood preasure being too high...ugh...

:hug: I haven't had this problem but it sounds so overwhelming :(
I hope you can get some sleep and start tomorrow with a healthy breakfast, keep busy and maybe find someone to talk to that can help you. :hug: take care Christy.

I hope tomorrow is a better day for you, too!

Can you just go to sleep? Sometimes I can sleep through the cravings, but others I have things I still need to get done for the next morning so it's not always an option.

Christy, bleh..... i know the feeling....
wanting to binge obviously has a lot of biological factors (insulin levels, blood sugar levels) - its not simply a mind-over-matter issue. you may literally not be able to take control of it until you straighten out your hormones.

i went through this too. a good friend of mine, and biologist told me: well, i can't help you with the psychological part, but i can help you with your diet. we went to the store together - loaded up on fruits and veggies- frozen and fresh- went back to my apartment and made some really great tasting casseroles and stir fries that were, at base, all vegetables..... some fat, but not a lot.

i didn't enjoy the taste AS much as pizza, but the dishes were certainly good. he told me, "binge away, eat as much as you want!" and i did- everyday for 4 months.

i ate huge portions, and still lost, lost, lost- and i didn't count calories at this time. 40 lbs. in 3 months. i also walked once a day for stress.

if you cannot control your binging, find something you can control- what you are binging on.

my friend, the biologist, told me "it would be literally impossible for you to gain weight eating this. literally." his words kept going through my mind.....

i've maintained my weight loss since (give or take 10 lbs.)- and my diet still has a large amount of "safe food" in it.

but you must cook!!!!

i could not control how much i was eating- i was totally stressed.
but i could control what i bought at the grocery store. if you can't afford fresh, frozen is a great option.

if you need help with quick- easy, tasty, veggie ideas, message.

and i am not going to say 'good luck' - you don't need luck, you just need to understand your body better.

:hug:
And a couple more :hug: :hug:

It's hard as ****. I know. We've all been there.

First things first. We all make mistakes, but it's what happens after you make them that counts. Pick yourself up, brush off the dust. Christy, you've lost over 100 pounds! That is a marvelous achievement! It took a lot of self-discipline and willpower, so believe me when I say that you have it in you!

Do you keep a binge-diary at all? If not, first thing, go out and buy one tomorrow at the local stationary store. Writing stuff down is very cathartic, and it helps you identify what's going on behind the binges. It's not an exercise in shaming you for what you eat; it is honestly to help you. Use this formula to help get you started:

1- Date
2- Time
3- What you binged on (not quantity, but the foods you ate)
4- What you felt like before you started bingeing (were you upset, tired, angry, happy, sad, etc) and why you felt that way (roommate told me I looked stupid in a pink dress; DH is away; etc).
5- How you felt you could have dealt with your feelings differently

Do you have a support person, someone who you can trust to just hold your hand through the really tough times and offer encouragements, NOT judgements?

Here's another :hug:

I just want to send hugs.

If you are a bored eater... Like I am, eat grapes. frozen so you eat them slower. When I am hungry I drink a whole glass of water and just start poppin' grapes. It keeps my mouth busy and I feel like I am eating. Also, I know this is prob not the best but if you are gonna cheat why not cheat with healthier stuff. get rid of your norm. Get lean cuisine and frozen yogurt or carrots. I can break down and binge now but the things I have to binge on aren't the very end of the world. I am not sure how to fix it. I am not claiming to know. I have the same problem. 1 day at a time. Don't live in tomorrow. You can control what you binge on today. Then maybe when you are binging healthy you can work on not binging. Just saying.... baby steps?

I am a princess of "I'll start tomorrow" for me what helped is - you start today, no matter what! - be it the middle of the week, on a hectic day, what ever and you count it all - if I binge, I write it down and add it to my calorie count, then I look at why I did... the putting off till tomorrow is just an excuse.... today matters ..... for better or for worse its the rest of your life

oh my god, you all are so supportive! The ideas of writing down and frozen grapes and just healthier stuff in general, and the "starting today" stuff, i was starting to binge again...sigh... but came online and got motivated. I am realizing i binge more on sweets/carbs... is that normal? so I went a little crazy this morning with 4 slim fast chocolate bars, a easy mac, special k protein shake.... i know that i have it in me, i just got to find it. I'm going to start writing down my binging before it happens and drink a glass of water first instead of jumping into the food!

Actually, it's not that uncommon to binge on sweets and carbs. Refined sugar is surprisingly addictive and is used as a base in most low-fat foods to replace the fat. Check out the sugar content on the box of slim fast bars and the Special K shakes. The Slim Fast Optima Cinnamon Roll has 13 gm of sugar out of 22gm of carbs: 60% sugar; Chocolate Cookie Dough Milk Chocolate Peanut: 66%; Special K protein shakes have 60% sugar.

To check it, plug in the "sugar" number into a calculator, then divide by "total" number. I'm convinced that this is where Western civilisation's staggering amount of sugar consumption comes from, and we don't even know it! I'm not trying to scare the bejeezus out of you, but just asking you to have a look at what you're eating.

Now, having said that, not all sugar is bad. Most whole foods (whole grains, fruit, veg, milk) all have natural sugars and that's really all we need. I probably sound like a "sugar-buster" or a health-food junkie, but I'm not. All I've got is the experience of having to give up refined sugar and watch the amount of sugar that I eat- no I'm not diabetic; I get low sugar. I find that eating lower GI foods keeps my sugars stable and I won't get the nauseous, running-on-empty, low-sugar feelings and the subsequent munch-down on Snickers or lollies.

I've given up a lot of processed foods, like protein bars and shakes, food-in-a-jar, food-in-a-box, mixes, etc and make everything from scratch. It takes longer, but the food tastes better. I know that real potatoes taste better than pre-processed, partially hydrogenated potato-flavoured by-product (aka mashed potatoes in a box).

My binges tended to be sugar-based, which is why I avoid processed foods as much as possible. I'm not going to lie to you: if you want to kick the sugar habit, then you will have 2-3 days of cravings while the sugar works its way out of your system. Two days is nothing compared to the 100+ pounds you've already lost!

Keep up the good work, Christy!

I wear a bracelet that I bought solely for the purpose of reminding me what my goal is - lose weight!
Anytime I get a craving or I Think I feel hungry I look at my wrist and remind myself what I really want.
And just now I wanted a cookie someone at work baked for us in the kitchen, instead I came on here to remind myself of my goals

Oh yeah, and when I get unneccesary hunger or cravings I drink water before eating too. But I don't just leisurely drink a glass, I pound 20 oz of water.
Sometimes I feel like I can't possibly drink it all but I do and after I don't feel the need to eat it that bad (if at all!)

I believe you are right. I think it is sugar in these products that are making me ill/fat/binge because i lost all of that other weight by avoiding all sugars, I was pretty much vegan. I want to go back to being vegan because I felt better... so now today instead of binge eating i went and made onion bullion in a cup of hot water and I am sipping on that. Its satisfying the craving for excess foods. I think as bad as it sounds im going to give my shakes to my dad and focus on real foods. like oatmeal for breakfast, salad for lunch and salmon and veggies for dinner. I think realistically I need to learn to have a healthy relationship with food. Thanks for your words, they rung home, much love.
love & light.