A friend and I at work started a friendly weight loss challenge for 90 days. The problem is that Monday and Tuesday I had total stupid binges for no good reason. The only thing I can put my finger on is PMS but I hate using that as an excuse or crutch.

What ticks me off the most is eating when I'm not even hungry. I need to learn to avoid the "child's voice" in the back of my head and only eat when I'm hungry. It seems like it would be so easy! But it's not always.

Anyone else have a similar story?

Need some support. Thanks.

I have a really hard time identifying real hunger. I often mistake the need to engage in the habit of eating for hunger, kwim? Like I am not actually hungry, but I am feeling the need to go through the act of eating -- hand to mouth, tasting, swallowing, how it makes me feel physically -- because it's a habit. This comes up a lot more when I'm bored, and a lot more when I'm at home, even if I'm not exactly bored. When I'm out, it almost never does.

It usually starts with a child's voice in my head, though. lol "Ooooh, I wonder if there's any cookies in the house."

Personally, I'll find any excuse I can to binge. "But it's not my fault! Blah blah blah..." But I have to admit (to myself, at least) that I'm using my life circumstances to do something I want to do; it's not my life circumstances using me, or forcing me.

But I'm also trying to let myself be okay with that, and forgive myself for it, rather than letting it build up as emotional strain (and thus giving me more reasons to binge later!)

I don't know if it was just an excuse or not for me, but I've been ranting about an almost week long binge I was on last week, which began the 1st day of my period. I totally blamed mother nature at first - I was cramping so bad I just couldn't workout the first day, ate pizza, yada yada yada... But I don't think I can blame my period for how long the binge lasted. I *think* it set it off, but it was my fault I couldn't get back on track. HTH.

I think it's really important not to be upset with yourself. It's a real issue and it's not something anyone would choose. You wouldn't be mean to a best friend who had a problem like this, nor should you be mean to yourself (not saying that you are, of course). I've experienced lots of self loathing and disgust over my binge eating in the past and that only led me to eat more so that I could numb the horrible feelings....which led to a vicious cycle. I still binge at times and I have to make a real effort to understand why I did what I did and to move forward as quickly as possible. I do think PMS is a definite trigger for me (although not the only one). Regardless, it's possible to make good choices and make it through this time without going off plan.

One of the things that help me get back on track? A very good, sweaty workout and drinking lots of water. I spend the next week very focused and often times I don't just lose what I"ve gained, but even more.

Another thing I recommend is having a plan of action. If you feel the urge to binge, even have a list of ways to distract yourself. I usually eat sugar free popsicles or chew gum. Some people paint their nails or draw. You may even put on a song and dance around (dorky, but sometimes it helps!).

Don't be hard on yourself. Love yourself and visualize yourself making good choices.

I just wanted to say I think PMS can absolutely play a big role in binging--and it may or may not even be hunger. I know for myself, just the hormone change when I'm having my cycle, is enough to really send me into a tail spin if I'm not conscious of it. I'd say 90% of the time I binge, it's not because I'm physically MORE hungry, its that I'm bent out of shape, irritated, grumpy, bloated...hormonal! Also, I didn't really ever understand this until I went on birth control. I was fortunate and had really light, 3-ish day periods, even until last year (I was 24), but after I'd been married a little over a year my husband and I decided I should get the Mirena implant birth control--because we don't really want kids until 5 years down the road. This totally changed things for me, and I realized my binges were coming at the end of the month when I should be on my period. Even though I'm not menstruating, I'm still experiencing a change in hormones, much more than when I wasn't on any birth control. So, I guess, realize that it can change for you--and if TOM is really coming along with more binges, I think your first line of defense is knowing that TOM week is a killer week, and you have to be extra vilgilant to get relief elsewhere. If you're anything like me, I need to make sure I'm getting some good stress relief during that week because like I said before--I'm not hungrier during TOM and that brings on the binges--I'm just more irritated and irrational and emotional...and that is a giant recipe for a binge.

I agree with paperdoll-Into my second month of weight loss, I lost control- starting with the week before the onset of my period when I didn't lose weight due to water retention and bloating. It mentally wrecked my swagger I had going and made me very discouraged and upset. During my period, I snacked on what I was craving because I started to give up and then the week after my period I was still snacking because I think I readdicted myself to the stuff I was supposed to cleansing my body from. The trick is to just look at it as a minor set back-a hiccup, on your path which we all know is life long

Glad I found this thread!

Ditto for me... I've been slowly piecing this together for the past few months. Usually, my self-control is quite excellent. I can trust myself to make really good food choices, and I don't have many over-eating episodes (anymore). But lately, it will happen occasionally, and afterwards I try to figure out why.

Well, for the past two days, I've been on carb binges. Last night was eating 2 boxes of italian breadsticks...have NOOO idea why I did this! And tonight, I ate two large bags of Smart Pop microwave popcorn.

Both nights, because of the low-calorie content of these foods, I am not sure what the rebound effect will be, but I noticed today that my period will be starting soon...like end of the week probably. And I think these little binge episodes occurred like this last month too. I really think it's the PMS, and it makes me angry, but also more knowledgeable, I guess.

I am getting so close to goal though that I cannot afford these slip-ups. I am going to have to figure out how to manage this...