SOS from a secret binge eater
 

I try so hard to discipline myself and my eating habits, and sometimes I can go a couple of days eating right- but I always end up binging on anything and everything, thus counteracting the hard work I put in. I’ve tried to stop it for so long, but it’s a vicious cycle of guilt, discipline, and overeating. I’m trying to lose just a couple of pounds (5 or so) to get myself where I want to be, but for some inexplicable reason I cannot seem to get through a month of dieting. Any tips on how to break the cycle? I’m tired of sneak-eating and wild sugar roller coasters. Please help!

Many people here struggle with binge eating. Read books about it, see a counselor, read stuff about binge eating on the web. If you only have to lose 5 pounds to get where you want to be, consider yourself very lucky you don't have 1,2 or 3 hundred pounds to lose! And maybe focus on the cause of your binge eating with a counselor or by journaling every single day about your emotions. Because binge eating or any type of eating disorder is usually about the need for control. And we try to control when we don't allow ourselves to actually be in touch with our feelings, feel them, and learn to manage them without binge-ing. You may not need a month of dieting. You may need some help with your eating habits and self image etc. Most of us go through the cycle of guilt discipline and overeating until we learn to maintain at a healthy weight. Good luck!

Intuitive eating is a great book I would recommend reading, or looking into the thought behind it.

I don't know if you do this, but make sure that you don't have any tempting food at your home. Remove everything which isn't healthy and fill your fridge with good food. I know that this was my mother's major problem. When we were little, we had candy in our home (because she thought that having kids means you have to have candy) and then, one day my mother removed absolutely everything and candy never found a way back.

I heard something about such a book. But I don't trust my intuition

Usually our gut bacteria and micronutrient intakes are all off, which drives more binge eating, which drives more dysbiosis.

Eating a giant kale and onion salad with vinegar is a guaranteed appetite suppressant and not many calories. You just won't have the room or desire to binge.

Binge eating is something that I use to struggle a lot and it was so hard to control. I am surprising so sooo much better now because I started a food journal and would not only write down what I am and the days I would binge eat but also the things I would do or how I would feel on those days. I noticed a really surprising pattern that whenever I would visit my mother, either that night or the next day or 2 I would binge eat. My family has always been thin and beautiful. I am the only odd one out and my mom (not willingly) has always made me feel bad about this. When I would visit her, little tiny comments she would make even if I ignored them or pretended they did not bother me would lead me to binge eat and get emotional later on in the day. I never would have realized this and did not know this binge eating was deeper rooted. I still have not confronted my mother but plan on doing it when I am ready.
I followed the advice of a report from a nutritionist I stumbled upon on the internet that said this: " Keep a Food Diary

You might be eating way more than you think. It’s common for most people to overindulge and not understand why the weight isn’t coming off as quickly as it should. I don’t want this to be discouraging but I have found that this helps tremendously to see how far we are deviating from the norm and to be aware of portion sizes.

ACTION ITEM: Keep a journal of what you consume each day and the time you eat it. Don’t be afraid to write how you feel on those days or quick notes about how your day went. Do this for at least 30 days and try to identify trends in your eating such as when you have a light lunch you tend to snack the rest of the day regardless of the size of your dinner for example. Or when you hang out with a particular friend you eat extra carbs those days. You might be surprised at how easy it is to fix those “binge days” when you find out what the triggers are."


This report has a lot of great tips, it's completely free and has helped me a lot. I will look for the link and post it.

I used to binge eat 3x times a week in an excess of 3,000 calories or more. Food had an incredible amount of power over me. I was scared to go places because I was worried I would binge eat. I won't go over how it got to that place. But I'll tell you how I got out and now have the healthiest relationship with food that I've ever Speed Test had.