What do you consider a binge?
 

Absolutely no judgments here, just curiosity.

I told a coworker a few weeks ago that I had gone on quite a binge over the weekend. She said she had too: she ate ten mini Heath bars. I didn't say it, but I was thinking "you call that a binge??? I call it an appetizer."

But it got me thinking about what really is a binge. In my mind, a binge is eating everything in sight, taking in massive amounts of food to the point where you don't feel well. I'm talking a whole bag of Heath bars, possibly followed by a pizza, or donuts, or something else.

Am I wrong? Is ten mini Heaths really a binge?

I don't think it's a set amount; I think it kinda depends on typical eating habits. For me eating 10 candy bars, even if they are mini, would be a binge. Really, anything more than 2 servings for me would be. Eating a lot in one sitting has never been a problem for me. It's the grazing that gets me. ;)

I believe a binge is when a person over-eats out of obsession, beyond the point of being full, and like you said, to the point where they feel ill.

I used to do that.

Does two out of three count? I've never felt ill from a binge, even a 5,000+ calorie bingeathon. My stomach can take a lot of abuse, which is definitely a double-edged sword. I've also never binged on junk food, unless you count Belgian chocolate and fat-laden French cheeses as junk. Obsessive and overly full -- that I've been on many occasions.

F.

I can sit down and eat a BAG of chips with candy bars and 2 liter of soda and dont get me started on white cheddar cheese-its . This is after I have eaten dinner. I feel like binge eating is eating way to much junk for no apparent reason. I mostly do this at night. I really feel for people who have this problem.

To me, there's a definite difference between a binge and overeating. I have a friend who struggles with her weight and she overeats a lot but she never binges. I, on the other hand, rarely overeat. However, I can binge frequently. I feel sick, I almost don't taste the food beyond the first few bites. I end up feeling ill. I've had binges that only lasted a short period of time (5 minutes) where I inhale the food very rapidly. I've also had binges that would last 6 months. That means I'm stuffing my face with massive quantities of food every chance I can be alone. Most of the time, I fall somewhere in between. To me, your friend's description doesn't sound like a binge but I guess a binge is in the eye of the beholder.

Oh geez... scarfing all that food sounds really gross...
But anyway, what defines binging is a very good question. I agree with Nikel1979 in that it just depends on how each individual actually eats. I know when I was a freshman and sophomore in high school, I would get home and just eat a bag of Cheetos and a granola bar, or whatever small stuff was lying around. I wasn't trying to stuff myself, I was just eating useless calories. According to some people, I've possibly never binged, but some people think eating like that is too much.

I think it's more about the feelings than what you're actually eating. I can over eat and be perfectly happy with my decision to do so (with friends, nice meals etc) but I could binge on anything. Eating when I don't want to, feeling bad while doing it, not enjoying it, feeling out of control, feeling sick and painfully full. It's more about the stuffing than anything. If I feel like I'm going to cry and I'm still stuffing stuff in there (whatever it is - gherkins that one time) then I'd consider it a binge.

I don't think the quantity really matters on whether the amount of something can be called a binge or not. I consider eating 5 biscuits a binge because it's eating more than I should. At most I can eat 5 or 6 slices of pizza at a time. I think the size of people's stomachs vary a lot.

I consider it eating huge amounts of something and not feeling satisfied....not because of hunger but because of some other type of psychological "need" to feel satiated. It could be a package of oreos, it can be five hot dogs like i had last night..whatever it is it is not normal or healthy.....it isnt a healthy relationship with food. It doesn't make me feel good about myself afterwards.

I think for some people, overeating and binging are used interchangeably. For myself, the difference between overeating and binging is control. I can choose to eat more than I should (out with friends, big craving for pizza, one too many beers, stuff like that). If I'm binging, I'm just roboticly going through the motions, unable to stop, because it numbs me and I don't have to deal with my emotions of the moment.

For me. . .

A binge - A feeling of out of control eating, obsession, fixation. Shoving food and not feeling satisified. Doesn't matter the quantity.

Overeating - Most often I DO overeat when I binge. But it can happen accidently and without any sort of out of control feeling, like just having too many extra bites at dinner just because it's on the plate and I'm not paying close enough attention to my hunger cues.

For me- like many others seem to notice- it's a loss of control. Thanksgiving (as a normal) person, wouldn't count as a binge, but an indulgence.

When I binge, it is always accompanied by extreme anxiety, like I can't get enough food in my mouth fast enough. Binges for me are also followed by an extreme sense of guilt and self-loathing. :( I hate binges- but in the middle of them I trick myself into loving the disgusting amount of junk I eat.

"When I binge, it is always accompanied by extreme anxiety, like I can't get enough food in my mouth fast enough. Binges for me are also followed by an extreme sense of guilt and self-loathing. I hate binges- but in the middle of them I trick myself into loving the disgusting amount of junk I eat."

This is like me. For me, I overeat on healthy, clean meals frequently and I am not concerned about that. I am concerned about the loss of control and horrible back and forth feelings I will have sometimes around sweets and fast food. My binge might "just" be a large number two, and then stop at that, but the problem is that I am not including it in my life by choice and with satisfaction at eating something I enjoy. I am feeling sad or mad or bored and I go through the drive through to both punish myself and to take myself away from my feelings, then I feel like **** afterward, both guilty and ashamed usually.

If I am going to go through the drive through, I want to actually ENJOY the experience as a choice I am making, not be on autopilot and watching myself from far away.

Bingeing is something totally different for me. For me it has to do more about lying - like telling my husband I'm going to the mall but then going to eat food alone instead. Then I come home and have the proper dinner.

I also plan around food, so I'll leave early to go to work so that I can go through a drive-thru. Everywhere I go I know all the restaurants/fast food in the surrounding area and make time to go there.

I hide food (quite easily as it seems my husband takes no notice of food.)

Bingeing is done in complete solitude and is accompanied by feelings of extreme self-loathing and guilt. I don't eat a lot during these times, it's more about the planning, conspiring, and lyiing.

I am on the same page as Danzingurl, Leilajay, LockItUp, and LuckyMommy; for me, a binge is the anxious, out of control feeling where I can't eat fast enough and I feel physically ill from the sheer quantity of food I've consumed. I can 'overeat' and be totally okay with that - an indulgent dinner, special occasion treat, etc. - but I'm savoring the food, enjoying the company, and feel satisfied when I'm done.

A binge is something I would be ashamed for other people to see me in the midst of. It's something that is done secretly, alone, and with extreme guilt.

It's weird. My binges have never had that frantic quality to them, even when they were MASSIVE. I know it sounds strange to say, but they had a certain sophistication, because my goal was to eat all my favourite gourmet foods/dishes in an extended sitting and I did savour the foods. So were they binges at all? I say yes, because of the sheer quantity of food involved (5,000+ cals). They were also conducted in secret; to this day I haven't told anyone IRL about them.

F.

Yes I'd call that a binge too. I don't eat frantically either, but I also don't eat large quantities, sure more than I'd like but not massive quantities. Sometimes I prepare a lot to eat but I can't finish it. But that doesn't matter, I still consider it a binge because it's done in secret, it's planned, it's ritualistic and there is terrible guilt and self loathing afterwards.

I don't think you're wrong, but what you think (me too) a binge is, is in fact an actual Eating Disorder BED, where someone who doesn't usually consume a lot of food on a normal basis and they have an "overly large helping" would consider that a binge.

Am I making sense? See the difference in the definitions?

My binges only last 10 min the most. I eat huge amount of foods in a very short period of time. I never feel ill after the binge, just full... Also my binges only consist of one food, for example: bread with peanut butter, or grape tomatoes, hummus with carrots... things like that. When I binge I can see that I am overeating but I cant stop... its so fast and I also make sure nobody sees me :o

Overeating to me means that I like something that I am eating and I get a second serving even when I am no longer hungry. But I don't eat fast or in secret...

Binging for me is a lot of the above mentioned concepts and i could add "veering" off the course of what i had planned every morning 2 eat not eat and i fail almost 100% of the time

For me personally, my binges, for years, have always VERY the same each time in terms of quantity and type of food. It's very ritualistic and planned out. I get the frantic/compulsive feeling when I'm wrestling with deciding if I want to binge or not, but as soon as I start putting it into action, the binge itself is actually quite controlled in terms of what and how I consume it.

I agree with Nicole. I think 2 serving is pigging out but going beyond that is a binge. Cleaning the cupbords out eatting everything is too. I haven't done anything like that in a very long time but I have (in my lifetime) had many benders like that.

I don't know if it really matters what each of us considers a "binge" -- except in trying to understand what each of us means when that term is used in these forums. I think that what matters is that each of us recognizes that we often engage in eating habits that are counter-productive to our goals of becoming more healthy.

My definition of a binge has changed as my diet has changed. Before going on a weight loss plan, a binge was a daily routine for me. Like others here I could go to multiple drive-thrus and order a smorgasbord of fast food. I could order an extra large pizza and eat at least half of it for dinner... then when my wife went to sleep I would proceed to eat the rest. On a nightly basis I would sit down in front of the TV in the late evening and snack on an entire bag of ______.

But now that I have been on a diet plan, I know I can't do any of that anymore. So, my definition of "binge" has changed to include instances of over-eating that are far less serious than what I used to engage in routinely. For example, now binging includes eating way more than my 1 oz serving of almonds ... or eating my serving of almonds right after I eat my protein bar supplement (because the snack should be either / or)... or any sort of compulsive eating that I find myself doing, even if it is on relatively healthy foods. I had to shift my definition of binging so that I don't veer off course. Because while the foods I'm eating now aren't the junk I used to eat, and the quantities are not nearly as big as I would scarf down before, they are enough to keep me from staying on track on my diet plan.

For me personally I define a "Binge" as anytime I eat without control, and am not hungry and just keep eating. It is sually a very emotional thing. I am trying to stuff anger or sadness or "self-worthlessness" down with twinkies or ice cream or chips or cookie dough...or what ever. Sometimes a "Binge" lasts a few minutes, sometimes hours.

I have done very well not Binging for the past 6 months. This past weekend I felt the urge, but I did not give in. Although I did eat nearly a whole a bag of baby carrots, no dip yesterday afternoon. I finally told myself..."Okay you REALLY think you NEED to stuff yourself, then do it in the least damaging way!" So glad I didn't turn to ice cream or chips!!

I agree with you 100%. For me, I didn't need any reason to binge. Binging was my everyday habit when I sat in front of the TV late at night. Now, I try not to binge, but if I do, -- like you -- I try to limit it to something far less damaging, like veggies. A funny thing happened though. When I limit my binging to healthy things like veggies, I don't find myself doing it! Its funny how I won't eat healthy things when I'm not hungry... but I can have no problem raiding the fridge and/or pantry for junk food even when I'm not hungry.

Binge (my version) = the entire time you are doing it (if you are thinking) I REALLY shouldn't be doing this. No matter what it is wether it's one doughnut or 15 mini candybars . I had one this past weekend & it made NO sense (they usually don't) I even ate banana pudding... something I normally don't even like ( the whip creme got me). :?:

I simply consider a total loss of control. Where I might be double well and then something catches my eye and I literally can not stop myself from eating and after I've eaten it my mind is racing for other things to eat that I have been avoiding. I might go to the store and get a bunch of junk food I've been craving and just eat it all at once.

I know they say to avoid binges don't cut out junk food but sometimes I just can not justify the calories. I might eat a serving of Doritos and be okay, but 400 calorie donuts? That's often an entire meal for me. For some reason when a binge comes on it's like, I look at that donut and something in my brain snaps. I can feel it happen.

Before I know it I've eaten not one but four donuts, drank a big glass of regular soda, chowed down on some pizza and am feeling sick on the couch, trying to pull it together.

I would also be another person who believes mostly binges are to do with feelings. When I'm just out of control and feeling awful and just eating away and won't stop.

To put it into quantity, I would be talking like 2 bars of chocolate, couple of packet of crisps, jellies or some other form of sugar sweets. It doesn't take a lot of food to make me full. I get full easily. I would get full probably after the first bar of chocolate but will just keep on going which goes back to how I'm feeling and when I'm at the point that I...just...can't...stop.

While I don't disagree with you, I do think that thinking like this gets us in the habit of thinking there are good foods and there are bad foods and virtually no food is a bad food (unless it's sugar, which is pure evil). Part of overcoming my eating disorder is realizing that food is not the enemy.