What did you do to break the cycle?
 

Hey everyone, I made an account on here a few weeks ago but have yet to have any success with controlling my food habits.
I do great up until dinner, but as soon as I get home from work, I eat 3+ meals worth of food within an hour or two. I know I'm bloated right now from the amount of salt I've been eating, but my self-esteem is plummeting.
I quit smoking a month and a half ago, and that was so much easier! I know that applying the same "delay the cravings" and "take a drink of water" tips apply for binging as well, but I never seem to maintain control.

What are your tips? How long did it take for you new eating habits to actually become habit?


Thanks

Congrats on giving up smoking!

I am in the same boat as you! I can plan my meals and do really well all day, but as soon as I get home I feel like I am STARVING and it is a free for all. It's like my brain shuts off and forgets how much I disciplined myself all day. I also would love some tips. I really struggle with binge eating! :(

I feel the exact way.. Every single night I am starving, even though I ate a couple of hours ago. Lately I have tried to do ''intermitten fasting'' and my cravings have gotten better. I postpone my breakfest until lunch, and eat my dinner late. That way I don't snack after dinner, because I am already full. Haven't binged in about 2-3 weeks and I wake up feeling amazing and not bloated as before. :)

I have recently been reading Never Binge Again and I've found it helpful to gain control. The writing and concepts aren't for everyone, it's a bit.....abrasive? But, it has been working for me.

I am on Wellbutrin to help with the binge eating and that's been going really well. But there are some non-medicine related tools too. You might want to check out The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, or watch some of the videos that summarize the book on youtube. Understanding how you can work with triggers to form better habits is really helpful.

Hey Earthworm! I'm completely understand what you're saying about your cravings.

I had that for a looong time where I'd be stressed ALL the time. I'd either be stressed about (A) having eaten too much or (B) from hunger.

One day, I just sat down and made a list with two columns: one for all the exercise regimes and combinations that I had tried; second for all the diet regimes that I had tried so far. Evidently none of these had worked for me. If they had, I wouldn't be sitting here frustrated with my health and body and the way I felt about myself.

I realized that although I was being quite active and exercising right, I wasn't eating right- the cravings. So then I made a list of all vegetables/fruits/grains that I could eat. I purged my fridge of all of the NO foods and stocked up on all the YES foods. That way I would never have access to foods that could ruin my progress. By then I had heard many people say this to believe it- you don't need to count calories if you're eating what is right for you. I'm doing exactly that. Given my PCOS, I'm on a relatively low carb diet. I don't beat myself about it. I have a healthy snack anytime I'm hungry- anytime. I allow myself a cheat meal once in about 10 days which makes it a luxury. But I don't live for that cheat meal because I'm eating tasty food despite my restrictions. I use spices to make my food more flavourful.
A good way to test if your cravings have gone is for you to walk into a bakery and not feel like you want to eat all the bread and sugar in the world :)
Once you're there, the reins are in your hands! Good luck to you. Trust me, if I can do it, you can definitely do it :hug:

I read Brain Over Binge, and that really helped me. I still binge very occasionally, but it's not nearly as bad as it used to be.

I am reading Rational Recovery by Jack Trimpey and it is helping a great deal.

Ladies
after losing 100lb 10 years ago, keeping it off for 7 the gaining it all back I sure can empathize with the binging.
In June I decided NO MORE weight and health issues. So have been doing the KETO diet, intermittent fasting and Dr. Judith Beck's program -Think like a thin person.
And exercising (mainly swimming). This multi-focus attack seems to be working.

If you only eat sitting at the table and eating food with a knife and fork you can stop some of the snacking whilst cooking dinner.
Good luck
anniemaxx

Well- for me it was to transition away from simple carbs and processed foods. I eat only food I've prepared myself now, and I avoid simple carbs- bread, pasta, sugar, etc.- like the plague. Carbs are a trigger food for me, plus I'm convinced that I'm sensitive to them and can't lose weight if I eat too many carbs. I eat more meat, vegetables, complex carbs like yams, now. I also find those foods more filling and thus I don't tend to have binges.

If you're bingeing as soon as you get home, my guess would be that you're starving yourself and not eating enough at breakfast/lunch. I'd do two things: One, I'd make sure my lunch and breakfast had protein/fat to satiate me, and enough calories to keep me from feeling starved. Two, I'd keep some simple broth based soup on hand to eat when I got home. A broth based soup with some vegetables, maybe some meat, some beans can be super filling without a lot of calories.

Probably the first step of avoiding unhealthy food binges is to get rid of the bad foods in your house (or at least hide them..out of sight out of mind). I do calorie count since it keeps me accountable and makes me think twice before grabbing extra food at the end of the day. I currently eat healthy foods most of the time, but I eat too big of portions and alcohol is my biggest calorie vice.

I find that every time I take a vacation or have company for more than a few days I engage in bad eating and drinking habits. After that for me mentally it is easier to say "ah well screw it I'll diet later, you only live once". Well that procrastination has allowed me to gain back 10 lbs within the last 5 months. I went from calorie counting and exercising to vacation binging and drinking....and not letting up enough when I got home. Now I am over 30 and it seems that it's twice as easy to pack on weight and that's comparing my eating habits now to back when I had lost my initial 50lbs back in college. I didn't have to count then, and the weight fell off just by a few tweaks and some exercise. Now it's a battle..mental and physical.

My self control is my biggest enemy when it comes to consistency. I can do well for a short period of time, but once I break the cycle it seems that it all goes to **** and I end up gaining even more weight. Maintaining my goal weight has never happened. It has always been a battle between gain and loose. It's so frustrating and I am sure most of you have similar struggles too. I have just found my breaking point again (hopefully) since my uniform barely fits and is so uncomfortable it drives me nuts to wear it!

I'm looking at a 5 month journey at this rate to get to my original goal weight and that is at a rate of 5lbs per month. I have never been successful since college to go beyond 3 months on a rock solid diet/exercise plan. (vacation interruptions of course!) So here we go again. This is day one.

Binge Eating Disorder is a mental health issue. I wasn't able to "cure" myself until I saw my mental illness for what it was. The worst thing you can do for BEO is diet. Dieting only makes the binging worse and worse and worse. It also causes the yo yo diet effect. You might stick to a diet for a while and then suddenly you're in a binging spiral again.

Been completely binge free now for a couple of years. With the help of my Nutritional Therapist who helped me implement Intuitive Eating, I was able to focus on important concepts that helped me let go of my obsession with food. These concepts include Health at Every Size, exercising for fitness rather than burning calories, using food for pleasure rather than obsession or restriction, finding ways to cope with triggering emotions, and meditation to cope with stress. I've never met a diet that was long term, they are temporary and at the end of the diet you usually end up binging. I can fully vouch that Intuitive Eating is the hard road to take, it has not been easy at ALL. But it WORKS and I am binge free! Am I skinny? No. Did I lose weight? Not much. But I'm healthy, I exercise every day and I love it, I don't feel a daily struggle with food and I'm not gaining weight and have not gained weight from doing this. As far as I'm concerned my binging days are completely gone. I am trying to find a way to drop some weight but participating in food-restriction brings on negative feelings that may lead to binging.

I've had to make some tough decisions and this was the toughest in my life. At the end of the day I don't want to be a prisoner to my binges. Binging is the most awful awful thing and I'm glad to be free of it, even if it means I can't be "thin."

I'm an advocate of balance. I eat well enough (but healthy enough) to not feel like I deprived myself. When I exercise, I play music I love so I enjoy myself. I actually eat often, every 3 hours. But in small portions. So I don't really get hungry.

It would also be best to get your family and friends involved. They could remind you of your goals when you're faltering, and cheer you on when you're discouraged. When I shop for food with my family, I go when I'm full. I realized I don't buy as much food (esp junk food) when I'm full.
My daughter stops me from buying chips or drinking soda when we go out.

So my point is, sometimes, it's the small things that help you. Learn how to integrate these into your life and it will help you a lot.

While doing all that, remember not to be so hard on yourself. You can still live in the present, though your goal is to better yourself and your health. Be happy while improving yourself.

All the best to you!

_______________

Lose the Excuses, Lose the Weight
womens-weight-loss.com

Congrats on giving up smoking!

No idea if you're still around, but I agree with looking at what you're eating for lunch. Perhaps you need a nice solid afternoon snack to stop you from being too hungry later? Try it for a few weeks, see how you get on. Make sure there's enough fat and protein, and while complex carbs are good, especially wholegrains, sugar is best avoided or at least limited. So my snacks are just over an ounce of mixed nuts (almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts, say), sometimes seeds (pumpkin and sunflower, toasted, and they go well with cashews), and a smaller amount of dried fruit such as raisins. I'm doing much better on it.

I have this same problem, and I am feeling pretty discouraged about it lately. I do so well during the day, but then eat so much at night. And I don't sleep very well, so then sometimes I eat in the middle of the night.

I recommitted to drinking water.

I often break the rules，so it may be longer for me to become a habit.Congrats on giving up smoking! It's a good start

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR MENTIONING THIS! I am reading the book and this is what I needed!!!

Hi :smug:
I began losing weight by setting out bowls of Healthy :carrot: 'sliced foods' to snack/graze on day & night: apples, carrots, broccoli, berries, etc. Protein to toss in, setting on top of a green salad I make the evening before; I have absolutely No excuses to eat Stupid snacks anymore, I have a plate conveniently in 2 rooms. My energy & muscles have improved to.

I printed out a calorie/fat chart saying what exercise activity & how long it would take a active person to do to burn up the food. I'm +50 yrs & I don't exercise daily, I'm happy to get 3 miles daily on my Fitbit & lift handweights & on the weekends to use my kayak & go stand-up paddle boarding.

I substitute healthy ingredients & use a recipe for pre-packaged boxed store foods & use half the salt, etc. I cook & bake very similar just Healthier.
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W.Watchers has a very good points system, I bought their shopping food points guide book with a eating-out point guide included when I attended a free meeting to see their plan. I don't have the time or $ to weekly weigh-in, so I didn't join. But the points book is a good guide when buying food ingredients & packaged foods & eating out.

I hope that something I do is helpful to someone here. I'm happier with my body & my life since I began these food changes :cloud9:

I'm the same way...one of my pitfalls is that I love to bake. I'll bake cookies twice a week and eat 2 cookies worth of dough then eat seven cookies in one day...I'm a cookie monster. The solution, don't bake tasty treats. Easier said than done. I stopped buying flour. As tough as it is you have to remove the foods you binge on from your home. That works until you have a "healthy binge" where you binge on food that is good for you (I've done that too...three kiwis and an avocado later...lol) I used to (last time maybe two weeks ago) get a full lunch on my lunch break, then immediately go get another entire lunch and then eat cookies or ice cream for dessert. Still working through that..for me I resorted to meticulously planning what I will eat for every meal weeks in advance.

Actually I am turning to you guys as my help to stop the craziness that has restarted in my life. For more than 15 years I did not do any binge eating. I followed a good diet for me and had wonderful diabetic control for Type 2. But when I became more lax a couple years ago binges re-entered my life and now I have to address them as if I had never had them under control. I am turning to your forums to help break a bad cycle and recognize I am not along. Along with binges I need to get back to good activities I used to do. I hope that by reading an answering you guys instead of beginning a binge it will help me break the habit and time will tell. meanwhile I have to start one potential binge at a time. Much luck to you as you take your steps as well

Actually I do not have set rules except NO BINGES and really mostly to do that means not starting on anything crazy most especially if I am doing it alone. All the best

I cannot start any sort of baking or bring any sort of packaged cookies or baked goods home without eating all of it. My rule when I first stared getting control was NOT to bring those temptations home and that even included things like special cheeses, potatoes or anything. I was strict for quite a while and eventually lost 50 lbs and settled into a chance to have what I wanted when socializing. This worked well for years but it looks like once the actual binging starts again for me I have to start from scratch again until I see control. at least for me baking or bringing in quantities of baked goods or snacks will trigger this eating again so for now I just will write to you guys. All the best

For me. I change nothing at first. I start working out. Within a couple weeks I WANT to be better as the scale doesn't budge much. This time around I picked what I CAN and WANT to do. I read up on portion sizes and mindful eating. It works like a charm and I CHOOSE to eat healthy low carb foods during the week and on the weekend I give myself a break still minding portion control. I wish someone had told me how simple life can be. It does take a week or so to get used to eating smaller meals than you're used to but I'd have a salad with every meal as big as I want. Now, I can say 2 pieces of pizza and 3 wings fill me up. Used to it was 4 or 5 pieces with 8-10 wings. I read something a while ago it basically says once you start exercising you feel like an athlete and want to eat like one too. Those words have changed my life.

Hey years ago I used to start painting a picture and get some paint on my hands. It was crazy but something other than food on my hands actually helped and I turned out to be a good painter. Hard to eat with blue fingers. I guess I am like a little kid if I manage to actually get distracted for a while before making the decition to eat it will very often be a way of avoiding that potential problem. But for me I finally had to have a situation serious enough for me to actually DO any of this that helped me get better. I recently had a fall into old habits and getting on this site and saying hello is helping me. So I wish you all the best. Sie

I have a couple of tricks. First, when starting out I never change everything at once. Too overwhelming. So I start with what is easiest at the time. maybe food. maybe "Not eating after 6 PM" doesnt matter---just pick one. Then after 2 weeks of solidfying the first behavior I add another piece to the puzzle. Food, water consumption, no snacking in evening, weight training, cardio -- within 2 months I am firing on all cylinders and it is not too much to process.

Second trick bag for not snacking at night--- do your nails. sew, quilt, get your hands dirty somehow. ALso dont watch TV. Find something that gets you away from the chair and the kitchen. :) I also had a rule about what I could choose for snacks--- 1) I made myself drink 16 oz water before snacking. It fills you up and if you are snacking for reasons other than hunger you will be surprised at how often the thought of an extra glass of water will help you decide you don't really need the snack. EVen if you drink the water and eat the snack, the water may help you eat less. Win Win. FInally The only snacks I would allow myself were a scrambled egg (I eat Atkins) or a small salad. If I wasn't hungry enough to eat either of those then I wasn't really hungry.

new way to lose weight
 

Has anyone tried carb cycling...I lost 30lbs in just over a month. I would highly recommend it.

There are a few things that I did to break the cycle of binge eating. First, I made a commitment to myself that I would not restrict my food intake. This was important because it helped me to stop obsessing about food and weight. Second, I started to pay attention to my body's hunger and fullness signals. I learned to eat slowly and mindfully, and to stop eating when I was no longer hungry. Third, I began exercising regularly. Exercise helped me to feel good about my body and improve my self image. Finally, I worked on developing a positive relationship with food.

This is a wonderful plan lost 25 pounds so far and it doesn't come back on when you go off the diet. I do not understand why their is no thread on this plan . Extremely popular my Doctor recommends this one .

I'm the exact same way. I've heard a theory (probably pop psychology) that will power is something you have in limited supply. My psychiatrist did mention this as well so it has some credence in the medical field. So maybe having to sit at my desk and work for 8 hours drains that will power and at the end of the work day I have none left over to stop me from binging. And I'm too tired from working to pursue other activities to distract me from my obsession with food. So maybe we should just quit our jobs and live on the streets? We'd have no money to buy food with. :) Just kidding of course.

Hey there,

Firstly, congratulations on quitting smoking! That's a huge accomplishment and shows your capability for making positive changes in your life.

It's understandable that changing eating habits can be challenging, especially after quitting smoking, which can sometimes lead to increased food cravings. Here are a few tips that may help you with controlling your food habits and overcoming binge eating:

1. Identify Triggers: Try to identify what triggers your binge eating episodes. Is it stress, boredom, emotions, or certain environmental cues? Once you understand your triggers, you can work on finding healthier ways to cope with them.
   
2. Mindful Eating: Practice mindfulness when eating. Pay attention to the taste, texture, and smell of your food. Eat slowly, and listen to your body's hunger and fullness cues. Avoid distractions like TV or smartphones while eating.
   
3. Meal Planning: Plan your meals and snacks in advance. Having healthy options readily available can prevent impulsive eating and make it easier to stick to your dietary goals.
   
4. Healthy Substitutions: Replace unhealthy snacks with nutritious alternatives. Keep plenty of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and low-calorie snacks on hand for when you feel the urge to binge.
   
5. Seek Support: Consider seeking support from a therapist, nutritionist, or support group specializing in binge eating disorder. Talking to a professional can provide you with strategies to overcome binge eating and improve your relationship with food.
   
6. Practice Self-Compassion: Be kind to yourself during this process. Changing habits takes time, and setbacks are normal. Instead of being hard on yourself, acknowledge your efforts and celebrate small victories along the way.
   

Remember that developing new eating habits takes time and patience. It's not about perfection but progress. Keep experimenting with different strategies until you find what works best for you, and don't hesitate to reach out for support when needed.

Hang in there, and keep prioritizing your health and well-being. You've already shown incredible resilience by quitting smoking, and I have no doubt that you can overcome binge eating as well. You've got this!