What is it...
 

...about my mom's house that makes me want to binge? I spent most of the weekend at my mom's house and I binged like crazy both days I was there. And of course this morning I'm up like 6lbs from last Friday because I overloaded on calories and sodium. I'm just trying to figure out WHY being at my mom's house makes me feel the need to eat everything in sight. Part of it is she keeps all those yummy foods I used to binge on regularly in her cabinets whereas at home I don't keep them around anymore (lest I binge on them), but there's something more and I can't quite put my finger on it. Any insight? I know I didn't give a lot of info, but I can't be the only one who has specific situations/places that make them want to binge out of control.

I am the same exact way. Sometimes I feel like I am the only one who does this! What makes it bad for me is my mom buys a lot of snacks and icecream treats for when my nephews and nieces are over to visit.. and sometimes I just can't resist. I think that a lot of it has to do with the fact that the food is there easily available whereas when its not in my house because I don't purchase it.

The one thing that I have found to work for me was to talk to my mom about my weight issues. Our bodies are completely different, she is 5' and 110lbs whereas im about 5'6" and heaviest was 180lbs. She didn't really understand my issues and concerns at first, but after I showed some vulnerability and told her how unhappy I was with my weight she has become my biggest cheerleader. It was a hard talk because she has always had a tiny frame but opening up to her was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Does anything about your mom's house stress you? Maybe you are too comfortable there?

I'm prone to overeating at my parent's house, too! Yes. Part of it is that the food is available. I mean that's an ENORMOUS part of it. The food is there so it actually has to be resisted.

However, I think (for me) there's the element of old comfort and memories and habits. It's like a junkie returning to a crack house. The body remembers. Only it's a crack house that my mother lives in so I can't avoid it. :lol:

I do the same thing. It is totally emotional for me. Most of my bad eating habits started in my childhood and my mother taught me to associate food with happiness and love. This weekend was actually the first weekend in a long time that I've been there and NOT totally lost control. I'd say eating at my mom's is easily in the top 5 issues that have caused me to gain/stopped me from losing weight.

I've found that I seem to automatically slip into *many* old patterns/habits when I go to my parents' house. I think it's kind of just a primal thing; you're entering the dynamic that helped shape who you are!

Binging is actually not at all a temptation for me when I'm visiting somewhere else (I am a homebody, and all of our relatives except for my safe, beloved, and adored MIL require an airplane trip, so I am nervous and have to force myself to eat visiting anywhere but her house--and she totally understands my struggle so she is awesome about having tons of stuff that I can eat safely there). It's after I visit (my parents in particular, very very VERY high stress situation there) that I tend to go hog-wild.

Are you close to your mom and dad? Do you feel safe sharing with them that you struggle with all the snacky things at their place? Would they be willing to help you out and put those away/have good things that they can feel all warm about feeding you but won't trigger you? It would be awesome if you could turn them into allies, if at all possible. If they're not safe....hmmm, let me thing about that.

I do the exact same thing, last summer when i lived away from home, i would be great Monday to Friday. The second i got home and i would go mental.

Is there any way we could try and stop this bad behaviour?

Me too, ladies, me too!! It's usually just a free-for-all when I visit home. I find that it's for 2 reasons:

1. My parents literally have TONS of food in that house. 3 fridges, 2 fully stocked pantries. They are Costco shoppers to the nth degree, so there is always a huge excess of yummy food, a lot of which is junk.

2. Whenever I go home, it feels like some sort of vacation for me (which it is, essentially), and what do you usually do on vacation besides eat? I think that it can be a real mind trick. Mom's house=vacation time=relaxed eating for me.

Add to that, my mom really loves to have people over and loves to feed them, and when I'm home she really wants to make sure that my relatives and family friends see me, so there's lots of company over, as in, BIG DINNERS. I'm supposed to go back in August, so I'm really looking forward to testing my strength this time!