In another thread, someone confessed to recently eating a whole medium pizza. My response? "I've never done that, but I've fantasized about it." I realized this sounded a little weird. Who fantasizes about stuffing themselves to the point of illness? I even felt a little envious. Does anyone else get binge fantasies? I'll find myself looking so forward to getting home from a stressful day, or going out to eat with some friends, and just eating as much as I possibly can. Sometimes a binge is spontaneous, or I'll have already started before I realize what I'm doing...but more often, it's something I've half-planned, like a reward at the end of a long day.... For those of you who can relate and have been binge-free for a long time, do you still find yourself envisioning a binge, like some grotesque day dream?

All. Day. Every. Day.

all the time. the urge never seems to really go away. you just deal.

oh yes... everythings ok untill the end of the binge and you feel the pain of an enlarged belly.. full of junks.. i luv me fried and sweet foods when i binge .. huh.. ive got my mouth watering..lol

I had a binge fantasy last night--and it was pizza! I thought, if I could binge, what would I eat. And I planned it out. It sounded wonderful. But I didn't, good thing!

happens all the time. though i consider these victories more than oddities. the ability to think about going to town on an order of macaroni and cheese, but not actually doing it--- leaps and bounds over my previous behavior.

my husband and i have actually turned this into somewhat of a game. sometimes when we're out to eat we try to plan out the "worst possible meal" one could design from the menu. we never get it--- but thinking about how our arteries would scream for mercy adds a bit of laughter to the shaved fennel salad and beet salad I found myself ordering last night (dressing on the side, let's not get too crazy) rather than the "crispy tempura crab cake medallions" that winked at me from the appetizer section.

totally! I fantasize about it...I think it makes the right choices feel even better!

Like if I've been fantasizing about chinese or pasta all day, then have grilled chicken and broccoli instead, the healthy choice makes me really proud of myself because I know I could've gone the bad route but didn't.

I don't fantasize about binging to an uncomfortable level, but I do fantasize about food. Say I've got 1000 calories for dinner I may re-arrange that 1000 calories 6 times - Sometimes it's so that I can maximize the amount of food in those calories, other times it's just 800 calories for pizza and say 200 for dessert. The problem comes in when I realize that I've walked the dogs for 45 mins and spent half the time (or the whole time) fantasizing about dinner that night. The sad part is realizing that the actual is never as good as the fantasy - I may eat within my calorie limits on a Friday night, stay in intentionally almost to "treat" myself with yummi-ness yet I feel empty still after it's all done. One can find satisfaction with food but not true happiness.

I guess it's kind of bad that I laughed when you referred to a medium pizza as an unobtainable 'fantasy'. Unfortunately I live within walking distance of pizza shops, and many of times I would order $25-30 worth of pizza, wings, deserts, etc and pig out until I felt so guilty that I all I could do was rid of the evidence so when I woke up (I had to sleep of the guilt) I would be less disgusted with myself. I always wonder what the cashier thinks when they see me 3 times in one week ordering more food to feed a family. I've weened off of my pizza addiction but as I imagine like others, I've found more bad habits and obsessions.

If it's been a crazy busy day, then I definitely get excited to get home and get in bed with something very yummy (other than my husband, lol )! Other than that I don't fantasize about it but I find myself always thinking about food in general. I know I look to food for happiness, but I'm not sure why. I have a very blessed life and I'm happy except for my weight. I was not like this growing up, as I've only been overweight since I had my 3 year old girl, but I realized recently that I cannot go to sleep until I have had something sweet, usually a large portion too. And I wait til my husband is asleep of course, because he is not overweight. Ugh,, why can't I stop? I want to be free from thinking of food as such a huge part of life and just enjoy eating what I need and whats good for me.

I do this all the time. When i'm on the treadmill, I ALWAYS put on the food or travel channel and watch man vs food or americas best fast food places or italian or whatever is on at that moment, and if nothing is on- I look up on my IPAD the best rated restaurants in town, and look at all of their menus and pick my "dream meal". I feel horribly insane haha..but i just can't stop. I think its just me thinking that i'll never ever be able to even smell or taste these foods again...and i don't care what people say but I DO like fast food. i DO like pizza and pasta...

Thanks for sharing this---I'm glad I'm not alone! I think about my 'cheat meal' all week long. I literally plan it out, think about skipping other meals that day so I can have extra 'bad' stuff. When I'm on plan, I 'miss' the binges for sure, but I don't miss the hung-over feeling afterward! I don't know why the binge feels so good when I know the after affect is awful! I guess it's just a daily battle to find a better balance.

I have a cheat day coming up and it's the only thing getting me through the week. I plan on basically eating nothing all day so I can blow all my calories on one meal.

I cannot fantasize about binging, because once its in my head.. I have a hard time shaking it. Maybe farther along in my weight loss I will be able to think about it and restrain myself. But as for now.. Im still turning the channel if a taco bell.. or pizza comercial comes on!

I am the same way---but I wonder if it is bad an only sets me up to binge worse than I would otherwise. I read one book that suggested allowing yourself a binge once a month---but is that healthy? I mean, I guess it is if you can manage to only do it once a month, and is a planned binge better than binging willy-nilly? I would love to get to a place where I never wanted to binge---and after I do, I always feel like such crap, so 'hung over'---but in the moment of the binge it feels so good.

What it is about the binge that is so appealing? Relinquishing control or the act of reward or?