I've been doing really well since I started my diet, sticking to between 1200-1500 cals a day. But today was my friend's birthday, and a few of us went out to an Italian restaurant, and I had three pieces of garlic bread, a slice of pizza and a spaghetti in sauce dish - then we got home and I ate some birthday cake!! And something snapped in me, I felt like I could eat anything I put my eyes on. I even had a yoghurt as a snack like an hour after the cake because I wanted to eat more. Is this normal? Acceptable? have I screwed up??
Well, I certainly wouldn't do it on purpose. But I also wouldn't beat myself up about after the fact. In the grand scheme of things it's just a blip in the radar. What will really get you in trouble is if you get into the "I've already screwed up, so I might as well..." mindset. Just get back on your plan and move forward.
"Allowed"? Depends on how you view things. Will it help you lose weight in the speediest manner possible? Probably not. Does the occasional "free for all" day give you the mental health break you need from constantly eating on plan? Maybe. Should you just chalk it up to a crazy (albeit fun, right?) day, and move on, staying on plan for tomorrow!
There once was a day in a galaxy... *Clears throat* Mmm anyways I binged once and it was fun. The next day I regretted it and put on a few. You may need a strong will power to get back on track after that because you might be having some cravings. It took me around 3 days to get back on the real "Track".
IAnd something snapped in me, I felt like I could eat anything I put my eyes on.
"Snapped" means something was sundered or violently separated from something. The words you choose to describe this tell me it wasn't necessarily a good feeling, that you feel you broke, or something in you broke, and it was involuntary.
This does not sound like a calm, rational decision. It does not sound like you sat at that table & thought it through: "I am going to enjoy this dinner tonight, and have dessert afterward. It's an indulgence, which I have planned for & deserve. And once it's eaten, it's done. And then I'll go back to eating the way I did before."
Deciding to indulge in one meal is not a binge.
Bingeing is a particular behavior. It's not necessarily overeating, or eating something caloric. It's a behavior that results in a series of actions & emotions: A bout of mindless eating, then repentance, even self-flagellation, then depression, then beating up on oneself further. It's a cycle.
Stopping bingeing requires breaking the cycle. Breaking any part of it helps. Which can mean not eating it to begin with. Or eating slowly & mindfully & stopping. Or eating & not repenting afterward.
Your describing what happened is actually good, because it means you now can identify what happens when you go into the cycle.
Now, think about delaying it or stopping it. But without feeling awful about what you did. Just move on. Break the cycle. No regrets. Go forth, resume your healthier behaviors. You can do this.
ETA: I am not a professional with any kind of training in counseling on binge-eating behaviors, but I am someone who suffered from eating disorders & is in recovery.
You might want to get a little closer to goal before you play around with cheats. I killed 190 pounds and getting back on track after a feast is not easy. 13 days I think you can invest a bit more time if your serious right?
Last edited by tryhardforlife; 01-13-2011 at 09:56 PM.
I think it's only natural that we overeat on special occasions. With so much excitement, it's easy to get distracted from our food, or caught up in the joy of eating in good company.
That said, that kind of eating isn't really a "binge"--I think that binging should be discouraged no matter what. The type of stressful, out-of-control feeling I get when I'm binging does not match up to the type of special occasion that involves good food and good company. Accidental overeating occurs because we're so focused on what's going on around us, but binging requires an obsessive attention to food and a feeling of distress once it's gone. That distress distracts us from the good time we're supposed to be having and makes us into desperate, food-obsessed creatures--not something to overlook.
It took me a while to realize this, but I've found that the reason I personally tend to binge on those kind of special occasions is because they are stressful. It might be good stress, but it's stress nonetheless, and binging is how I've learned to cope with emotional stress. To break the cycle of out-of-control eating, I think it's important to stomp out the response altogether. I admit, there's a wonderful feeling I get when I'm shoveling delicious food into my mouth--a feeling of limitless ecstasy. I already miss that feeling, but I think that the advantages of breaking the cycle far outweigh the disadvantages. When I'm not obsessed about food and my weight and my guilt and my frantic repentance, I'm free to actually enjoy the people around me and all the other things that celebrations involve.
Then again, I've only been binge-free for a little over a week, so this is all speculation here
For some people, sugar is a food that makes them crave; I suppose in that sense it's a drug, although it doesn't meet criteria like "alters normal bodily function" or "causes a marked change in consciousness." If it's helpful to look at it in that way, sure--something doesn't have to be technically correct to be an effective way of thinking about stuff.
For other people, a little sugar (or other refined carbs) can be just fine. But--and it's a big but--only trial and error will tell you the truth about your body. It sounds like your "snapping point" came when you ate all that carbolicious stuff; even though you'd had sufficient food, you still wanted to eat-eat-eat. The same thing happens to me if I eat snack crackers, pasta, or potato chips.
Did you screw up? Only if you don't learn from the experience or consider it food for thought, but I don't think that's the case or you wouldn't have posted about it. It'll probably slow your weight loss a bit, but if you use it to improve your meal planning in the future and if you enjoyed it without beating yourself up about it, then on balance it may well have been worth it in the long run.
That doesn't mean it's a good thing to do every three nights or so, though; there's only so many learning experiences we can have before the scale starts moving in the wrong direction. I admit I'm a slow learner, but I DID eventually learn that I have to put down the Cheez-its because I can't eat just one (or just one box, for that matter).
You may want to choose higher protein, lower carb foods next time you go out to dinner. Pizza, bread and spaghetti are all very simple carbs, which pretty much turn to sugar (and for me they just trigger an intense desire for more of them.) Choosing a veggie appetizer, a chicken entree and a salad to go along with your meal might have left you not feeling so crazed by the food.
I guess it all depends on the person. I am currently maintaining and on Tuesday it was my husbands Birthday. The entire day I debated if I should or should not eat. So I ate healthy all day and then for dinner we had take out chinese. BUT the wine we had hit me and I have to admit I lost it. THIS IS WHY I DON'T DRINK!!!
I ate way too much and felt way too full. I regret every second of it. Sadly it just wasn't worth it. I tend to punish myself if I go overboard and this was not worth the guilt.
Obviously with Chinese you feel bloated because of all the sodium, so the next day I weighed 3lbs more than normal. I got back on track the very next day but today is Friday and I am still 2lbs more that I was on Monday.
I think for me its best to say that if I don't loose control I actually enjoy my meal more and if I eat a little more then its ok. I want to savor the taste and when I binge that all goes out the window!
Hope that helps... a little!
For me, it's normal, because, I have a problem with overeating and binge eating. In my opinion, for people that don't have an eating problem, no, it's not normal.
three pieces of garlic bread, a slice of pizza and a spaghetti in sauce dish - then we got home and I ate some birthday cake!!
All that stuff would give me a spike on my meter on two fronts --- #1 carb heavy. Where was the fat and protein to balance it out? And #2 too many calories in too short a space. Even if balanced meal, too much is still too much, and that still would cause a spike because a body can only process so much at a time.
Once on the blood sugar roller coaster I'd be jonesing for more and getting it to level off again would be a challenge.
Don't feel bad about it, but take what you can learn from this.
Me? I can actually walk away from cake if I've been eating balanced and sanely. I lose control if I haven't or waited to long between meals and that's all tied to being insulin resistant.
In your shoes, I probably would have skipped the bread, gone with a simple vinaigrette salad, pasta and some grilled chicken breast, then had a small piece of cake (like normal cupcake size, not like jumbo bakery cupcake or restaurant mega slice cake) to celebrate and drank water.
Well, a couple days later and I had no trouble at all getting back on track, and the night after the meal out we all played Dance Central on Kinect for about five hours. Certainly worked up a sweat! This morning I got on the scales and I'd neither gained nor lost a pound.
Overall, i don't think it was a binge, really. It was a one-off treat, and I ate all that food because they're some of my favouite things to eat, and I don't feel bad. I enjoyed it, and no harm done. I guess I just worried a little after I'd eaten it in case I'd fall off the wagon for good -- but I haven't.
Thanks for all the support guys. I'm trying doybly hard to be good now, and I'm throwing in some exercise on the Kinect to make it up
Are you allowed to binge on a special occasion?!
