I'm pretty much the same. But i swapped my binge foods for healthier options. Iv had a pack of the small Snickers bar treats that iv devoured in an afternoon so I can't keep that. What I can control is 70% dark chocolate and I have 2 small pieces most days. I couldn't handle Snickers or Kit Kat as they would certainly trigger a major binge so I just found a healthy alternative. And it works for me.

.

You see I don't have the abstinence option because I live with my family who keeps the type of food they like in the house as well. Which is their right. So for me this is a way to control this food. I've tried many things to deny the urges but with this I'm trying a new approach: accepting the urges. If I don't give myself choices then how can I learn to make the right ones?

I live with my family right now too, and have in the past for extended periods of time. It can be done ;).

From a site named bingeeatingtherapy. 101 ways to stop binge eating

1.)Call a friend, your sponsor, a support person, anyone who you can talk to who will either get your mind off of food, or someone to talk to about whatever it is that you might be feeling.

2.)Go for a walk

3.)Drink a cup of tea

4.)Meditate or listen to a hypnosis or guided visualization download.

5.)Give yourself a manicure/pedicure– can’t binge with wet nails.

6.)Volunteer at the SPCA to walk dogs or pet cats.

7.)Go to a movie if the food there is not a trigger.

8.)Watch a funny movie at home.

9.)Take a shower, give yourself a hot oil treatment, shave your legs, tweeze your brows– self care time.

10.)Get organized sort out your bills, create a budget– organize your home, your closet, your life! Often getting organized can help you feel more in control and enable you to thwart a binge, which can often feel very out of control.

11.)Draw, paint or color.

12.)Knit or do needlepoint

13.)Take a nap

14.)Get out of your house and into your car, go to the beach, the lake, the park… somewhere pretty and relaxing.

15.)Clean out your closet, donate your old clothes or sell them on eBay.

16.)Go window shopping.

17.)Read a good book.

18.)Clean!

19.)Put on music and dance it out.

20.)Go out dancing.

21.)Call your friends over and have a dance party.

22.)Go to the gym.

23.)Stretch, go to a yoga class, do a yoga DVD or an exercise or yoga class on OnDemand cable.

24.)Take a relaxing bath with nice bath salts or essential oils.

25.)Write in your journal

26.)Move! Do jumping jacks, run in place, anything to move a little energy and release some tension.

27.)Scream into a pillow.

28.)Pray

29.)Go to an OA or EDA meeting, either online, in person, or on the phone.

30.)Go to an online support forum with other people dealing with eating issues.

31.)Read a (non triggering) magazine

32.)Write a blog!

33.)Twitter!

34.)Read personal journey blogs about others recovering from binge eating. For instance, Eating Journey, Healthy Girl, Recovery Discover, You’d be so pretty If…, Curbing the Crave, or The Binge Diary.

35.)Sing!

36.)Get your hair done or do your own hair. Experiment with different styles, curling iron, flat iron, curlers, etc.

37.)Make cards for people, catch up on Thank You notes, send out notes to relatives you haven’t spoken to or seen in a long time.

38.)Go out and take photos.

39.)Scratch things off your “to do” list

40.)Play video games.

41.)Play scrabble online

42.)Chat with friends on facebook or update your facebook profile

43.)Write and direct a short play with stuffed animals or Barbie dolls or action figures or your pets or sock puppets and videotape it to put on youtube.

44.)Download MP3s

45.)Give yourself a foot massage

46.)Smell lavender

47.)Pick flowers

48.)Garden

49.)Create a collage

50.)Go bowling/miniature golf

51.)Scrapbook

52.)Write an angry letter to whomever you are holding anger at. You don’t have to send it, just let it out. Afterwards, put it somewhere safe. You might let go of some emotions that you’d been stuffing and you might find that you no longer have the urge to binge.

53.)Go through old pictures

54.)Cuddle with your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, daughter, son, cat, dog, teddy bear, etc.

55.)Do karaoke, you can either go out to do it, or do it at home with OnDemand Cable if you have it.

56.)Water your plants– if you don’t have any, go out and buy some plants!

57.)Go through your closet and donate all clothes that are too big, too small, out of date or unworn. Keep the clothes that you feel good about yourself in.

58.)Zone out in front of the TV, catch up on your shows– as long as television is not a binge trigger.

59.)Play music! If you play an instrument, whip it out and start playing. If not, teach yourself to play one. Beat on some bongos, ping a triangle, strum a guitar, whatever is convenient to you. If nothing, make an instrument out of household objects and play it.

60.)Tell the binge that you are stronger than it. You are stronger than the urge to binge. Just because you want to, doesn’t mean you have to.

61.)Brush and floss your teeth

62.)Catch up on your emails

63.)Learn a new language!

64.)Make a rubber band ball. Try to beat the guy who made the world’s largest rubberband ball.

65.)Write a letter to your future self, your recovered self about what you’re going through right now.

66.)Write some notes with positive messages and post them around your home or get out of the house and put them up in dressing rooms, public restroom mirrors, restaurants, — help Operation Beautiful!

67.)Make a list of why you rock. Think about what’s great about you. Can’t think of those things? Call someone who loves you and ask them to tell you.

68.)Spin around in circles like a *Whirling Dervish.

*Whirling Dervish (wurl-ing dur-vish) n. 1. A mystical dancer who stands between the material and cosmic worlds. His dance is part of a sacred ceremony in which the dervish rotates in a precise rhythm. He represents the earth revolving on its axis whileorbiting the sun. The purpose of the ritual whirling is for the dervish to empty himself of all distracting thoughts, placing him in trance; released from his body he conquers dizziness.

69.)Light candles and incense and relax

70.)Explore your neighborhood or town.

71.)Call a friend or relative who has been unhappy lately and needing some support. Sometimes giving support can be incredibly heartening and also supports the supporter.

72.)Use crayons to color hard! This can release tension.

73.)Build a terrarium.

74.)Search through your couch and house for change! Put everything you can in a jar and put it aside to start a fund for yourself as a motivator in your recovery. Every time you reach a milestone (ie: no bingeing or restricting for one week) you can buy yourself something fun, like a new pair of shoes, or some jewelry or new CD, or whatever you like within reason.

75.)Write a long, heart wrenching letter and stick it in a bottle and send it off.

76.)Roll on your back. This is a spinal massage that helps you to feel relaxed and rejuvenated.

77.)Drink a glass of water.

78.)Play solitaire

79.)Read positive affirmations.

80.)Write out your intentions or personal goals for yourself for the week. Write out both long term and short term goals- things that you are striving for and ways to help you get there.

81.)Throw a temper tantrum! Go into your bedroom, lay on your stomach in your bed and scream into your pillow while you kick your legs and punch your hands into the bed. Ever see kids do this? They expend all that energy and it moves right through them. As adults, we can’t really do this and lots of anger and pain winds up feeling stuck in the body. We often try to stuff that down with food and for some, get rid of it by purging.

82.)Plan a party or get together or weekend trip with your friends.

83.)Go bowling, play pool, play golf or miniature golf, play basketball, hit tennis balls, go to a batting cage.

84.)Beat up your pillow.

85.)Make jewelry out of household items or beads or coins.

86.)Smell aromatherapy oils.

87.)Paint your garbage can.

88.)Make stuffed animals or throw pillows out of old clothing.

89.)Give yourself a facial treatment.

90.)Look through old pictures.

91.)Pretend that you are a tourist in your old city or town. Look up things to do that tourists would do and do it!

92.)Teach yourself to juggle.

93.)Go to the museum or the zoo. If it’s not the right time, go to an online museum and learn all about art.

94.)You can also take that old clothing, especially those that are significant to your eating disorder days, and cut it up into squares and make a “recovery quilt.”

95.)Make a cootie catcher with positive messages inside.

96.)Do a home makeover! Rearrange your furniture, get rid of things that you no longer want– sell them on eBay! Put up some curtains, just make things pretty for yourself.

97.)Do online crossword puzzles or sudoku or boggle.

98.)Enter sweepstakes.

99.)Do volunteer work.

100.)Write a novel, short story, or poetry.

101.)Fight Procrastination! Do homework, write that paper you’ve been putting off, work on your dissertation (ahem…)

I agree. For me it would be very dangerous to keep my favourite foods in a box -- a continuous temptation for my inner demon. As an alternative, I recommend buying occasional treats in small quantities and eating them right away. Out of sight, out of mind.

F.

LovelyLeah, I'll be sending good thoughts you way and I hope this works for you.

When I first started, I used a number of techniques to deal with my need to binge. Looking back, some of those things lasted a few weeks while others I continue to do today. I consider them "tools" and even if I don't use them again, they were helpful at the time and helped get me where I am.

Good luck.

I think it's worth a shot. Will it work? Will it backfire? Maybe, maybe not. I'm learning more and more that what works best for one person can be the absolute worst path for someone else.

I'm becoming a great believer in paying attention to experimenting in my weight loss journey. If you have decided its worth a try then you obviously have your reasons! Give it a go and you will find yourself, whether the temptation is too much or whether knowing its there and accounted for might just beat that mind battle when we feel a binge brewing. Please let us know how you get on!

I crave sugar almost all of the time. I'm pretty good at ignoring it except around that TOM. I do find that when I am eating more nutritious foods, I don't crave the sugar as much. A year ago, I was drinking probably 2 liters of regular Coca Cola a day. Insane, I know, but it didn't feel like much at the time. I'd get disappointed when my drink was gone.

Quitting was so hard, but I managed. First I started with buying a 12 pack. I knew if I drank all of them in one day, I couldn't buy anymore. I don't have a car right now and the buses stop running at 7 pm, so I can't just run out and get whatever I want anymore. Anyway, I would have my one coke can a day and I would always look forward to it. Then I started just buying a few of the small bottles and weaned myself down to one coke a week. Now I can go months without having one.

I don't think its too bad of an idea, just don't put too many items in there. You also have to make it a little more difficult to get the snacks in the first place so that you don't just run to the store for more.