In previous years I've had an incrediable struggle with restricting and binging. To tell the truth I have never really gotten over the habit and I have to work really hard not to. Of course when not restricting I always gain weight. Recently my problem has evolved as I am trying to loose weight. I have tried numerous times to keep a food log and eat healthy. Instead, haveing all of what I eat written down makes me feel awful and that I've eaten far too much. After a while I find myself restricting what I eat so it looks ok on paper. I found myself eating 400 calories in 3 days at one point. Then when it occurs to me what I'm doing I go on a binge, as if I'm trying to "fix" everything. I'm at a loss as to what I should do . I have messed up my metabolism and am trying to fix it but I'm not sure how to get around my journaling problem and still loose weight.
Has anyone got any suggestions? Similar stories?

Laura, have you tried planning your food ahead of time? I know it's not always easy, but when I do it (I write down the food/calories I'm planning on eating the next day), I look at my list and think, "Wow! That's a lot of food I get to eat tomorrow, and it's all within my calorie range!" It takes the sting out of "cutting back", you know, and I actually look forward to the food I'm planning on eating.

Also, at the program I attended this past winter, we were taught to eat three meals and three snacks a day. It wasn't easy convincing myself that it was "okay" to have a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack, but after only a couple of days, it really cut back on my "need to binge" in the afternoon. I was fueling my body all day long instead of waiting for my hunger to get out of control.

Suggestions...Not sure, but I have a quite simliar story.

In the beginning, food journal or even pre- planning my food was restricting calories. I wrote everything down for a few days and then I got strangely ambitious to cut down calories, cancel meals....

It took me a while to overcome that. The solution for me was that I re- defined my goals, my defintion of a binge....Canīt explain properly....You know, I am a full- blown food addict, an alcoholic in recovery and I suffer from depression. So my goal is to avoid binges and adapt a healthy eating plan to get healthy and stable. Losing weight is just a side effect.
I am not dieting, I am changing my life!
I am trying to convince myself that itīs about being healthy, not about being thin....More or less successful

And I totally agree with ellis: Pre- planning your meals is very helpful. And "Eat less more often" really helped me to prevent binges. You know, binges often have a psychological side (emotions etc.) and a physiological side (like in low blood sugar, starving etc.). With eating more meals, you "heal" the physiological side and youīre somehow a bit more able to cope with that psychological problems.

Hope some of my ramblings is helpful for you!

Kate