How do you talk yourself out of it?
 

Hi, I’m new to this forum and I have a question for all of you. Sometimes at work I get thoughts in my head about food, and plan out how when I leave, I’m going to be bad. I think to myself, I’m going to skip working out, I’m going to not eat a healthy dinner, and instead I’m going to Wal-Mart and I’m going to buy a bag of Funyuns and eat the whole thing. 980 calories and 49 grams of fat later, I end up feeling depressed and angry at myself. While I’m eating it, I like the feeling, but it’s afterwards that sucks. Lately I’ve been getting better at talking myself out of it, but how do you talk yourself out of these situations? What are your reminders that this type of behavior, though exciting and somewhat gratifying before and during, leads you to feel depressed and angry at yourself when you’re done?

I just remind myself that after the binging is done, I'm going to feel read bad about my decision and that bad feeling will last longer than the "good" feeling of downing those chips. Most of the time, this works for me.

I've been fighting the same freakin brownie in my cabinet for 4 days! I say one, but it started as a whole box...I let my kids split them for snacks and even threw a few at the neighbor kids (haha I'm awful). That one though....sat there, and I SWEAR it's called me! LOL. My youngest finished it today and I was so glad.

How did I not eat the whole box when I threatened to? (Even went as far as opening the box before any kids had gotten into it!!!) I have no idea...lol. Cucumbers, yogurt...I ate anything less damaging that I could get my hands on and I kept opening the cabinet just to look at how many calories and all were in it! It was like 230 calories and 120 fat calories, or some insane number very close to that!

I exercised through the craving...I talked to my hubby (not like, 'how was your day honey?'...like, picking on him, get him, the kids and me all laughing at each other) or something like that. Anything to get my mind off that brownie...lol.

I will NOT be buying more brownies! At least, I say that now. I wonder when I'll be found in my car, and headlines proclaim 'Death by Brownie!'

Kim

It sounds hokey, but a personal trainer I met believes in it--EFT. You are supposed to karate chop one hand with the other and say to yourself three times over "even though I have cravings for funyons, I deeply and completely accept myself." After you say that three times, you then start tapping these areas with your fingertips while you repeat "I want funyons": your forehead or brow area, temples, sinuses (cheeks), upper lip, chin, armpit, and then tap your wrists together. After you do this a few times, you're supposed to feel really silly about wanting funyons, and then you don't want them afterall.
I've never tried it, and it does sound strange, but you can read about EFT on the internet. It's also called Emotional Freedom Technique.

HEHE...Allison, I think I see why you feel silly about wanting the Funyuns...you feel silly having to do all that...lol. On the other hand, if you had someone around to reinforce it, you probably wouldn't be reaching for the stuff, nor would you voice your desires...so it might just work...lol..

Kim

I remind myself how much it totally sucks to UNDO weight loss with weight gain which always happens when I binge. And now that I'm smaller, I really don't get away with not packing on the pounds from binges. I keep telling myself, "It is not worth it and you'll gain 5 pounds in a few days and it will take a couple of weeks to take it off." This is what I've been telling myself for the past few days.

-I find drinking lots of cold water throughout the day helps curb my binge urges. Drinking hot tea does the same thing.

-If I really feel like I have to binge, I make a big fruit salad or something. It satisfies my need to munch, but it's healthy. I also buy lots of little packages of fresh cherry tomatoes, snow peas, etc. to snack on.

-Another thing I find helpful is crossing off the days I DON'T binge on a calendar. When I look at a bunch of good days in a row I think, "Do I really want to mess this up now?"

-For some reason the thing that helps me the most is reading books about women who have had similar issues with food. It's nice to not feel like I'm the only one who feels like they're starving again 5 minutes after dinner. Two of my favourite books are "Fat Girl" and "The Dieter".

I hope this is at least a little bit helpful for you.

Allicat, welcome to the forum! :wave:

I suffer from depression as well as an eating disorder. My husband is a social worker with adults with mental health issues, and he's going to sit down with me and help me to list the things that make me feel good. That's one of my biggest problems. When I'm depressed (my depression is biological, but I still need to "get through it" until my meds kick in), I NEED something tangible to get me out of that pit. Same with eating.
I honestly forget that when I exercise, eat healthy foods, meditate, etc, I feel a little better. And sometimes I feel a LOT better.
I need that reminder. :shrug: I hate having to write stuff down, but I can't do it alone. I'm actually going to make it into poster form and laminate it. :lol: A pretty poster full of tips to get me through the difficult times. :)

lol that eft thing is freaking haliarous! i am going to start doing that. Does anyone own an ab lounge?
http://www.3fatchicks.net/img/bar-da...5/130/165/.png

Sometimes I can talk myself out of it, sometimes I can't, and sometimes I just mitigate the damage with getting just one thing and splurging on it. What helps me the most is that I am soooooo lazy, and I don't keep any bingey/trigger foods in the house. If I really, really, really want it, I gotta get up, get in my car and let people in public see me buying crap - yep, of course the fat chick is buying... whatever it is... That embarassment (even though it's unfounded - no one notices or cares what I buy, do they?) often keeps me in check.

Other than that I have a backup plan to leave the house with just my ID and no money and head for the park or the library or a bookstore. Can't buy any food and can't blow money any other way, either.

I guess different things work for different folks... thank goodness!

-Lala

Talking myself out of binges...mmmh...good topic. A therapist told me, I had to ask mayself what I really wanted, like you want food, but really you are tired, need comfort...all these things. That sounds very good, but to be honest it never worked for me. :^:

What works for me (sometimes) is to remind me what bingeing does to me. Not only the weight gain (believe me: I can turn into a very radical politic activist in seconds, telling me and the world that being overweight is a political statement against society and media). But bingeing leds me into depression, depression may leed me to bozing again, and that will lead me to that nice wooden box under the flowers and the lawn.

And I am collecting binge free days....

And I admitt that I am powerless concerning certain trigger foods...so try not fight and stay away from them.

I think i will google EFT. Doing this is silly (in my opinion), but damn, I really did a lot of silly and awful things being active in my addictions, so that wouldn´t do much harm ;) So if it helps....

I have a hard time talking myself out of binges. I thought I did so well the other day, just to go home after work and go nuts. Did the same thing yesterday - I'm nervous about getting my old job back, I was offered two new positions yesterday, and I'm so stressed about making a decision! So I went home and figured that food was the only answer. Once again this morning, I feel like doggie doodoo. If I'm not stressed then I can walk away fairly easily - but as my daughter told me this morning "Mom, you seem like you are always so stressed out" what a drag for my family...

Here is something I learned from a friend, another hokey thing, works for her but I haven't tried it.
You hold the food you want in front of you in both hands. Stand very relaxed with eyes closed. Think of the food and say "do I really NEED this"? Say this over and over again. This should take about 2-4 mins, if you fall forward you need the food. If you fall back you don't, it doesn't help really with craving, but you body is telling you what you need and don't need. sounds hokey I know, but we did a controlled group and it worked every time.

If I am to binge there is no stopping me, I have to get to my alter ego way before the binge starts. I tell myself that I am worthy of taking care of myself and my health is more important. I am worth the effort.

Getting naked in front of a mirror is a new strategy of mine. I tell myself:

"If you want that bag of doritos you'll have to eat them naked in front of a mirror." Then I go take some peeks of myself naked as a reminder. It's a real turn off. Then I look at my skinny pictures.

Helps alot.

Tyler, that is such a great idea! Sitting down on the floor naked in front of the mirror... *shudder* with all the rolls...

Ugh!

Exactly. And then watching myself put food in my mouth like Jabba the Hut. REALLY, REALLY not appealing. So far, I haven't had to do it!!

YOU have just stopped me from a binge! What a great idea. Thanks so much.:hug:

Ooh, do I hate being in front of a mirror when I eat. That's why I absolutely detested eating at this paticular chinese restaurant. Because all of the walls were mirrored!! No matter where you sat, you could see yourself somewhere in a mirror!! They should really make buffets with mirrored walls, and maybe people wouldn't eat as much. Or they should take pictures of the people stuffing their faces and display them like they do with roller coaster pictures. I know I'd stay the **** out of buffets if they did that!!!

Tyler~ Excellent point about the mirrors!

:rofl: Harpo~you are sooooooo funny! I love the roller coaster picture analogy and the idea of using mirrors in buffets!

Facing reality---in the form of mirrors---makes it impossible to enjoy mindless eating. Another reality check would be to put the fattest picture I have of myself on my refrigerator. It's enough to make me lose my appetite! :eek:

I try to remind myself of the way I feel when I binge- the unhappiness,feeling unnatractive and feeling out of control. I then remember how much happier I feel when im a healthy weight and that really helps put things into perspective. In my first post I mentioned that I dont keep any junk food in the house and because I live by myself right now its much easier for me to keep on track. I really dont know if I would be able to resist temptation if I had to cater for a husband and kids so for those of you that do 'Well Done'! :)

Mami

We have a resturant close to us..buffet style called Barnhills and They DO have mirrors EVERYWHERE....im serious there are mirrors on all the buffet area walls (full wall mirrors), even the door to the kitchen is mirrored..then as you walk to your table you pass anywhere from 2-6 columns (floor to ceiling thingys) that are mirrors.....FULL LENGTH mirrors...I saw myself loading up my plate last time we were there and i ate MAYBE half of what was in my plate and avoided dessert.....:lol3:

PSSSt harpo quick LOOK....SHORT POST HERE....haha

I very rarely manage to talk myself out of it once I've made my mind up. The only thing that helps sometimes is getting out of the house, going to a cafe and bringing money for coffee but nothing else. If I've been doing well recently I get out loads of clothes and try them on, as it's a huge motivator when you can feel them getting looser; of course this has the opposite effect when I've gained weight recently!
Sara x

me too!
:carrot:

I have been going through this latley. I have gained tons of weight. I weighed myself at the gym the other day and it said nearly 300 pounds! I think it might have been off, but even if it was, then I have gained serious weight.

What I do is I look at the snickers bar or whatever it is and ask myself, what do I want more, to look good in my wedding dress or have a snickers. I also like keeping things in cabinets. If it is out on the counter in a box- like pastry or whatever, then I am doomed.

I also try to negotiate with myself. I will say, ok so maybe I really want an oreo blizard. But what else can I have that will satisfy the craving? Maybe I will have one of those 100 calorie packs of oreo crisps. Like instead of the sorbet (which is the ice cream substitue) I might have an orange.

What can really get to be a problem for me is when I only want one of something but keep eating. Like the other day before I went to the gym I was hungry so I decided to eat a granola bar. And normally I buy the healthy kashi ones, but instead this time I got the unhealthy chewy ones. I ended up eating six of those things- one just wasn't making a dent in my hunger. So I am trying to think of alternative foods. Like protein bars- I like the snickers marathon bars because if I eat one, it is satisfying and I don't keep eating them. Or I get granola bars that aren't very sweet, like the kashi. I can't have stuff that is too sweet sometimes because then it triggers the binge and I just keep eating it. I also keep fruit visible and remind myself to eat that instead. If I need it to be sweeter I use a light yoghurt fruite dip.

Work out first thing in the morning (if you can). I found I used to work out after work and I would spend ALL DAY sitting here thinking of all the reasons why I didn't want to work out or why I shouldn't have to. I started doing it as soon as I got out of bed and now I don't have to think about it all day. And then when you want a cookie or something you think, but I already worked out so hard, why blow it.

Works for me... sometimes, haha.