Just because it tastes good?
 

Do you think you binge just because it tastes so damn good? I know I do. While many people binge to drown out emotions, I think I binge just because I love the taste of certain foods, and I can eat a whole lot before I feel full/sick.

I always worried I had severe emotional problems; that must be why I binged. I saw a psychiatrist, and he suggested, "Maybe you eat just because you like food." I was so angry with him. I thought, "how dumb are you?!" Normal people don't eat a bag of chips at a time or can't stop eating cake until they are so full they want to burst.

Maybe it is that simple though. Maybe some of us just really get an emotional high or physical high when we are over eating. We don't have an "off" button like some people do. I really think that some foods are like drugs to some people.

I know this is kind of rambling and I don't want to diminish people who have real emotional or psychological issues that cause them to overeat, but I think we live in a society that tries to assign some kind of mental issue to everything when there just may not be one.

Does this make sense?

I think i do this. I do eat out of boredom/sadness/loneliness/anger, but other times i just binge because i enjoy the food so damn much. i have noticed, the last few binges, that i really enjoyed the food up until a certain point...after i had already eaten a LOT...and then after that, it didn't taste any good and i was just eating because i was sad that i had just binged. But for most of the binge, i was really tasting and enjoying the food--it wasn't the mindless shoving into your mouth that some people describe--i mean it was certainly out of control, but i was enjoying every bite.

I think you are absolutely correct. I have eaten an immense amount of certain things because I just liked the taste. I am addicted to sweets...I have developed more refined self control now :) No not everything needs a psychiatric code assigned. I ate the whole dang cake because I wanted to and I liked the taste!

I do this too!!! I was a complete chocoholic simply because I like the taste of chocolate..............hmmm....this diets gonna be hard!!!

Yes, it can be that simple! I am a healthy, happy, well-adjusted woman who had an idyllic childhood, yet, if left to her own devices, would go crazy on chips and brownies daily!
Great post - thanks for making the comment.

I agree! I posted a thread in the general chatter thread about if we consulted the REASON why we overeat, don't exercise, etc. what would our answer be? As I thought about it, though, my reason is I like the taste of food. And, the no exercise is because I'm lazy. So, I can stop being lazy and question my lack of motivation, but how do you fix the fact that I just like to taste the food. I don't feel like I even necessarily need to swallow, thought I doubt anyone wants to be around me while I chew and spit out food.

But, then I likened it to smoking. People smoke because it feels good. Even though it may kill them. Binging on food is much the same. It tastes good, but it's killing us...

Me! Stress has nothing to do with my eating. If anything, when I'm sad or angry I eat LESS.

I just friggin' love food. And in general, if it tastes good it isn't good for you. I have never been able to justify in my mind eating things that don't taste good. I'd rather eat nothing than have to eat a big bowl of plain broccoli.

Then again, I'm not a binger in that I eat anything just for the sake of eating it. I binge because I am rabid about how yummy what I'm eating is and can't stop.

For me, binging on good tasting food is what made me feel better when I was lonely, sad, depressed, anxious, etc. Binging on food that tasted like crap was just pointless to me. LOL Yup, I went for the gusto. On my worst days I couldn't muster up the strength to take a shower but I had all the energy in the world to get dressed, put on a hat, drive 15 minutes to McDonalds, drive home, set up my "bed picnic" and gorge till I sweat. Go figure!

I definately do this and it drives me nuts. I hate it because there is no rationale to it. Just simple, delicious food. Then, once I take a bite, the craving takes over. No depression, no feelings of abandonment...just delicious food.

Nutella is the only thing that makes me lose it because of its general yumminess and it hurts with every spoonful because of the calories, fat, etc, lol. I bought some just because I had a dollar off coupon-for the last few days, I've been having 2-3 spoonfuls of it, all over my calorie budget. :tape:

The End of Overeating by David Kessler, essentially supports the hypothesis that certain foods are easier to overeat especially during times of stress, but because this is true of lab animals as well as human beings, "yumminess" is the underlying issue, not really the stress a person may or may not be under.

"It just tastes too good to turn down" may be the easiest answer.

Kessler, especially identifies the fat/salt/carb combination (especially when the carbs are sweet carbs or quick digesting carbs like bread, which break down into sugar very quickly in the body).

Avoiding the salt/sugar/carb combo definitely has helped me keep irrational hunger at bay.

I think willpower (as in white knuckling it) is over-rated. Avoiding situations that require superhuman willpower make more sense.

I think willpower (as in white knuckling it) is over-rated. Avoiding situations that require superhuman willpower make more sense.

For me, this statement says it all. I am fine as long as I avoid situations where I might be put in a position to overeat. I realized that I couldn't have Skinny Cow Ice Cream sandwiches in the house, so I put them in my detached garage freezer, and presto....they've been in there for months. If I don't have them around, I won't go looking for them. However, if something is sitting on the counter and it's yummy-it's gone. It doesn't have anything to do with any psychological problem in this instance, it just tastes to good for me not to eat it.

"Yummy" is my least favorite word in the English language, second only to "snack" when used as a verb. Maybe I should think of junk food in terms of its "yummy" factor and that would work as a deterrent...

Originally Posted by MEH1969:
I think I binge just because I love the taste of certain foods, and I can eat a whole lot before I feel full/sick.

I saw a psychiatrist, and he suggested, "Maybe you eat just because you like food."

Originally Posted by Amberelise:
my reason is I like the taste of food.

Originally Posted by dragonlady1978:
I just friggin' love food.

Originally Posted by sisypheanme:
I have eaten an immense amount of certain things because I just liked the taste. No not everything needs a psychiatric code assigned. I ate the whole dang cake because I wanted to and I liked the taste!

And from another thread:

Originally Posted by ncuneo:
I think *sometimes* we give ourselves "disorders" by over thinking it. For example, when have you not looked at WebMD and thought OMG - I have that symptom! I must have ______ fill in the blank.

Reading all these replies has freed me up somewhat--brought some sanity. Thanks, all for sharing these.

This is a great topic and so glad it's been raised here. I have often felt concerned about individuals here who have the belief that their binging is due entirely to emotional issues or at least mainly to emotional issues. I feel that they could be setting themselves up for failure....for several reasons.

First....no matter how great the therapist or the therapy is....none of us ever gets "fixed". We go to the grave with our issues. It's a fantasy to think we can be fixed by the right treatment. We can cope better, learn more, apply better techniques...or different techniques....but it's all about making it more manageable. It never gets cured. Whatever yanks our emotional chains will continue to do so....it's just a matter of degree. We can try to change some things....but we can't fix them...ever.

This is why I'm a big believer in CBT. I'm sure you can learn some things from lying on the couch, relating your whole story.....but time-wise, IMO, it's just contemplating your navel....when it comes to actually changing anything......and even then...we never change anyway. We just learn ways to better cope with the issues we're stuck with.

So the whole premise of fixing binge eating by fixing one's issues....that fixing binge eating by figuring out just what emotional issues/problems are WHY we do it....is just a fantasy, really. And just a set-up for disappointment...if you believe that. Not to mention, it's unfair to them, I think. They are blaming themselves for something and taking on the burden of fixing it....when it can't really be simply done. They are unfairly blaming their own unique and entrenched issues for the behavior....placing the total blame on themselves.

I totally agree with kaplods (well, I always do, it seems:D). There are, I believe, physiologic factors that play a huge role in the binge eating issue. In fact, at times, I believe it is almost the entire problem.

Binge eating seems to be a lot like drug addiction. You have to completely stop the behavior and have to totally eliminate the drugs to be able to control it. For many of us.....that is carbs....though I realize it's not all that simple for others....who, I believe, have some chemical differences with us...regarding metabolism, especially.

BUT....it seems pretty clear to me that if so many here were able to completely stop obsessive craving and binging behavior simply by eliminating simple carbs and decreasing total carbs....when this was a problem before....indicates that there has to be a physiologic component. And how unfair to yourself to blame your emotional issues for a behavior when it may be at least partly due to simple biology and chemistry....or maybe anatomy and biochemistry....and something you have little control over.

And back to the drug addiction analogy.....many family members think that if they could just find a great therapist to figure out why the addict turned to drugs in the first place, that they could "fix" or cure the problem.....and this is so totally wrong, unfortunately. Something may have been underlying....although generally, it's usually just a matter of coincidental exposure and not that they were driven to it......but the main factor seems to be biochemical. One person can get pain medication after surgery and they are instantly in love.....whereas another can take the same pain med and feel like crap and stay away from it....but have a drink at a cocktail party and fall in love with alcohol. It's completely a matter of biochemistry....what makes us feel great....due to our unique body chemistry.
Is there an emotional component? Sure....but it becomes moot for all practical purposes. Once the addiction kicks in, one can't go backwards.
And....the addiction is never fixed/cured....it's just made inactive and can rear it's ugly head quite easily....in large part due to biochemical reasons....forever. It's a life-long battle....though it gets easier the more time away from the behavior/substance one lets pass.

I don't mean to be telling people that it's all biochemical....so blame that and not yourselves. The problem is...once the biochemical situation is activated....simply trying to control the emotional component is rather futile. One has to fix the physiologic first....and then work on the emotional/psych issues.

Many addicts will tell you that they simply had an exposure and they were instantly in love.....and off to the races. They loved it...it was as simple as that....loved the feeling it gave them. But then it became something they wanted when they were stressed....or bored....or...it was raining...or it wasn't raining...or they had a hangnail....and so on. But the emotional definitely started to get involved. And then the big problem was....they had difficulty coping with them WITHOUT the behavior.

I'm sure.....that back in the day.....when the early settlers or pioneers thought that oranges and apples were a huge treat and treasure to find in their stockings on Christmas morning......there was not a problem of binging on Twinkies and Doritos. Because they were not available.....and who would binge on apples or oranges? Does that mean they would not have engaged in that behavior if they HAD had access to those sugary, carby, fatty foods? I'm sure the answer is no. We have the biochemical stage set.....and then it's a matter of exposure, I think. And then emotional issues get intertwined...and become difficult to totally separate. I'm sure the settlers had plenty of emotional issues to deal with too.....but couldn't get the biochemical satisfaction...or relief....from eating Twinkies or Doritos.

So...yes....I do think that binging because you love the taste of the food is a huge contributing factor. Had you never tasted those foods....you'd probably not miss them....or engaged in that behavior.

One caveat, though....I'm not talking about the seriously disordered bulimic binging stuff. That involves all sorts of emotional issues.

deena :)