[xty]

Awesome post!

Here are some of the things I do that work. Nothing always works for me, I lose some battles. But as long as Im working at it, Im winning the war is what I tell myself

- If in a binge heavy period of life, I personally require super strictness in the foods I can eat. This means I pick a total list of 10 foods that are all lean protein, veggies and a couple fruits. The simplicity makes for fewer decisions, and the blandness reduces binges. Plus these are now my "safe" foods, so I rarely even would want to binge on them (and for me not much falls into that category in dark times). Obviously this is a short term approach to get myself on track and not anything to be sustained.
- Similarly I tend to be very strict on eating times. NO eating after 8pm. If I follow this habit, I can pretty well avoid my worst binge times (9-11pm)
- Tea and coffee. Americanos (just espresso + water) are lower in caffeine than drip and they suppress my appetite with surprising success. I do herbal teas late at night when I want something sweet (this manages to satisfy without triggering like a low cal snack would for me)
- Physical distraction (things focused on senses like showering and also things focused on task completion like cleaning or organizing)
- Mental distraction (movies work well for me if its captivating, calling a friend)
- Sleep
- Meditation (2m deep breathing)
- Rationalization (I am rarely mindless in eating, but I a phenomenally will full…as in, "yes Im about to binge…so what. I dont have to rationalize it, Im just going to sink deeper into this hole." If I can simply force myself to actually go to the rationalizing step I can back down sometimes)
- No food in the house. I shop pretty much daily.
- Bring leftovers to the office/throw it out. I have seriously bought a pint of ice cream, had one serving and melted the rest down the sink with hot water.
- Destress! Usually if Im having bad binges, its because Im having bad stress. Plus the binges actually stress me out. This tends to make me hide from life, but what helps is destressing by getting massages, visiting with friends, volunteering, reading a magazine, etc.

[ImpalaHoarder]

I find that the most dangerous times are when I'm genuinely hungry. If that's the case, I remind myself that the amount I'm hungry doesn't correlate to the amount I need to eat to not be hungry anymore. After you eat something, you stop being hungry. That's how hunger WORKS.

In that vein, strawberries really help me out. They're about 150 calories for a pound, which means that they're filling and by the time you've finished eating them your stomach has had the time to register that there's something in it.

If I am eating something that I know is kind of a trigger food, I follow it up with small portion of a safe one. For me, fatty things make me want to eat a ton, and after I have a sweet thing, particularly fruit, I don't feel the need to eat anymore.

[my2cats]

Pixellate - your post definitely just caused me to think - "Wow at least surfing the internet doesn't have calories. I'd be screwed."

So.. something to be thankful for?

As for avoiding binges I don't keep 'loose' snack foods around the house. Anything I have is in prepackaged containers so if I eat 1 I know exactly how many calories it is and I can't "rationalize" that it was probably just half a cup and I can have another few to really be at "serving" and what is "1 more piece going to hurt".

Also.. and this is probably not exactly great emotionally, but it's motivating.. I think about all the times in the past I've been horribly embarrassed due to weight and usually whatever it is doesn't seem -quite- so appealing.

I'm rolling my eyes at myself a bit that I'm using my low self esteem as a motivational technique but there you go.

[The Bad Men]

Drinking flavored (unsweetened or just barely sweetened) tea tends to keep me from eating junk food. I usually get something like Celestial Seasoning's Honey Vanilla Chamomile tea, Numi's Honeybush tea, or Lipton's Green Tea with Jasmine, Orange, and Passion Fruit. I get less sugar than I would if I ate a bowl of cereal or a muffin and I can get antioxidants, so it's a win in almost every way for me.

I still have to eat something before I go to bed (I find it hard to sleep on an empty stomach) but it's much less likely to be junk food if I've had some tea.

[foreverandalways]

Usually I'll chew some minty gum, or brush my teeth - as I'm sure everyone can agree that It's not nice eating/drinking with that minty aftertaste!

The best way to prevent binging is by keeping busy.. sometimes I'll just go exercise, because half way through my workout I'll be thankful I didn't ruin my diet plan and once I'm done, It's rare for me to go waste all that effort after exercising by going and eating badly.

I just try to think that if I sacrifice a few foods now, then I can look forward to treating myself and maintaining weight when I'm at my goal weight!!

I'm not sure about everyone else there.. but although during the binge session, I feel great because It's dealing with all those cravings, but I ALWAYS end up feeling horrible afterwards!

Why binge when in the long run it just makes you feel even worse?