One day a week binge
 

So I'm developing a very unhealthy pattern that I needed to vent about.

All week for six days I have healthy eating habits. I'm doing Weight Watchers and I'm always on plan all week. But then come Saturday-I binge. Sort of. I can't really tell if its a binge or if its just poor eating habits. I know I am a binge eater-I used to have a big problem with it.

My Saturday routine is to not count my points and just eat whatever I want. Last Saturday for example I had some cereal for breakfast, fast food for lunch (cheeseburger and fries) and pizza for dinner. I was full but didn't get that feeling I used to get when I would binge (that incredibly uncomfortable-can't move feeling).

Now the Saturday before that I would go to my favorite pizza place and order a large cheese pizza and hot wings. And that's what I would eat for the whole day-lunch and dinner.

My problem is that this is now an every Saturday routine. Its only Wednesday and I can't stop thinking about getting some pizza and wings on Saturday.

So has my binge eating just manifested itself into this one day a week unhealthy eating? I'm still losing weight (I average about 2 lbs loss a week) but I know this can't be healthy-especially if its all I can think about and its only Wednesday!

I think having one "free day" per week and still losing is fr from the end of the world :)

What's happening to you once each week sounds like a free day- rather than a full-blown binge... Which, if you used to really binge- is a hinge accomplishment, do congratulations!

As far as it being unhealthy- I don't thiink it sounds too bad, except for the fact that its "all you think about"... That can get in the way of life- but I think a lot of us (especially binge eaters) who eat at a calorie deficit start to feel this way sometimes. For me, being too focused on food leads to a mega-binge, so I try to stay busy with other things and try to set goals other than food/weight related things... That's what usually helps me.

I'm sorry you're feeling this way and want to make sure you know that you aren't alone! Good luck!

I'll second what danzingurl said above me. You're definitely not alone!

I have been binge eating for a long time, but most recently while working on weightloss over several months, I also had one day a week that I could binge, and I still lost weight very well. So, I definitely think it can work......

My one caution would be to not fall into the trap of restricting your food intake the rest of the week more and more to make up for the binge day. A few years ago, when I first started binge eating, I got so desperately upset about it and would eat next to nothing the day after a binge and try to keep my calories so low to make up for how much I ate during binges. But it totally backfired, and the binges ended up getting worse and more compulsive. It creates a bad cycle: binge, eat less, binge more, eat even less, binge even more, etc. etc. So, just make sure that you're sticking to a healthy weightloss diet instead of going overboard to compensate for the binges-- that's my one advice!

Thank you ladies-it feels good to know that I'm not alone. :)

Mottainai-I used to do the same thing after a binge. I would restrict my calories severly for the next couple of days but I would lose absolutely NO weight because my body (I guess) would get all confused and hold onto everything LOL. But that is good advice-thank you!

I am facing the same problem. I never have a cheat meal, I have a cheat day where everything goes which is where I gain most of my weight

I did this the last time I lost 100 lbs. I would have a cheat day every two weeks. At first it was ok, because I would limit things to one meal. But then I would plan an entire binge day. I would be so giddy the night before that I couldn't sleep.

I started eating so much on the binge day that two weeks of being good weren't enough to counteract the effects of the binge.

As long as you don't start eating more than you currently are on binge day maybe you will be all right. And don't extend it to binge weekend, which is what I have done recently.

Once a day might prove too much. What if that one day can set you back one week? It can easily happen if you start binge eating early in the day.. I prefer to go with 2 cheat meals but I still try to avoid processed sugar because of the cravings it gives me

This is the cycle I'm also in. Im just post menopausal and everything I eat stays on me and I've always struggled to stay thin. So now, it's worse. I'm struggling with it all so much right now.

Which cycle did you mean, January? Are you eating well during the week and then sorta binging one day? Do you think about that one day a lot during the week?

I'm a binge eater and am literally just starting to understand what the heck I am doing to myself, why I do it and how to stop. My gut feeling (pun intended) is that the longing and anticipation for the weekend with its cheat day is a symptom --- definitely an improvement from binging all the time, but still part of the whole mind set.

Anyway, hello and good luck!