Binging
 

Do any of you still have a problem with binging? I was thinking how this is the one single eating behavior that I still have trouble with, even three years into maintenance. :devil: :devil: :devil: I'd love to hear your strategies for dealing with/preventing binging. Maybe we can put our heads together and brainstorm ... :chin:

I don't really try to prevent it altogether. I chew gum to occupy my mouth at times. But if I'm gonna eat, I'm just gonna eat. I just make sure that if I'm binging, it will be on healthy foods.

Hi:
I still deal with binge eating. It happens less frequently and less intensely than in the past. Things that help me are my journal, trying to figure out what is causing this reaction. Accepting the fact that overeating, happens even "normal people" overeat at times. Realizing that overeating and binges are not the same and not letting overeating lead to a binge. TLC, tender loving care of me, at this time I need extra care. BFFL: Best friend for life thats what I am to myself and to treat myself when in need like a best friend. Accountablity, write the binge down and forgive myself. I tend to have a binge episode after a stressful event, so now I attempt to prepare for this post tramatic event before it happens. I don't always suceed. My manta to get through not matter what happens is: A lapse is not a relapse and I can keep it from becoming a collapse.
Eager to here other idea's.

I noticed that I tend to ringe when I am hungry and exhausted and stressed. Most of the time it happening when I rush from work without visiting washroom, get stuck in traffic, rush into day cares to pick up kids who had hard day today, rush home and try to listen to their stories and cook dinner. Well, smells are everywhere and I still did not make it to the washroom! That is when binging kicks in. Recently I know about it and I am prepared. I have a small pice of sausage or cheese (I generally love sandwiches without bread) and eat it. Bad days is when I do not have my favourite sausage or it is too late or something goes wrong even more, anyways = my rule is = be prepared. It happens (sh* happens and we know it) and prepare for it. Often enough I have to hide the rest of sausage, often I binge too much and suffer thrut he night, but most of the time I am doing fine and I win!!!

Yes, I still "binge." But, what exactly is a binge? I would define it as eating more than necessary to satisfy physical hunger. Sometimes this happens because we inhale a lot of food in a short period of time so that our bodies don't have time to send the "enough!" signal. Or sometimes it's about eating high-density, low-bulk food so that the actual calorie intake is out of synch with the amount of room it takes up.

As a compulsive overeater, I think that is a behavior that will always be with me. Being binge-free is a concept I gave up a while back. I have finally come to understand that the voice saying, "Eat, eat, eat more," are ALWAYS going to be with me. However, I've gotten a lot better at saying, "Don't be silly." But, I do still listen sometimes. The thing is, the size of the binge has dwindled drastically. Now a binge might constitute two bowls of cereal as a nighttime snack instead of one. Previously it would have been a pint of Haagen-Dazs or 1/2 pound buttered & cheese'd pasta. Also, in my previous life I binged daily, even more than once per day. So ...

I've just made peace with the fact that my brain will never NOT want to binge, at least on occasion. The trick is, as Sandy described, recognizing triggers, planning, and having the most supportive, binge-deterring environment possible. I look at it as MANAGEMENT, not a cure.

"I look at it as MANAGEMENT, not a cure." Very powerful statement FG, I'll try to remember that.

I typically binge in response to stress and/or fatigue. Watch out if I'm tired and upset.

Keeping trigger foods out of the house is my best tool but can't always be done since I'm not the only person living there. However, I have been known to tell my DD to put her snacks in her closet unless she wants me to help her eat them and my DH to lock his up in the gun safe. This doesn't protect me 100% but it does help.

If I'm really having a hard time really focusing on just making it from one meal/snack to the next is a technique I use. I don't even try to make it through the day eating clean, just the next 2 hours. There are times I literally watch the clock to see if 2 hours have passed yet.

And lastly I will take a little time to pamper myself. For me lately it is a trip to the tanning salon for 15 minutes (a healthy tan sure makes the gray hair look less old) :lol: , a little pampering makes me feel a little more attractive. If I’m feeling good about myself I’m less likely to start doing something harmful, like binging. For someone else it might be a manicure or a massage or even giving yourself a hot oil treatment or facial.

Obviously I have to work on binging alot. :o

I've discovered that I tend to binge when I'm stressed or tired as well. But I keep lots of apples, cantaloupe, watermelon, or grapes on hand for just such occasions. :D

I like FunnieGirl's phrasing, too. Management is my key. I still hear the voices, but give into them less and less. Now a binge is 3 tablespoons of natural peanut butter rather than a large bag of m&m's and 2 bags of popcorn. Now it happens once every 3 weeks instead of once every couple of days. I know the triggers, and sometimes I think it's really just plain hunger and having eaten too clean and low fat for too long, or an extra hard workout. I don't live in a trigger-free environment, either. My son and husband have "their" food in the house, readily accessible. Not too much outright junk food, because nobody eats it, but in the bad old days I would have been happy to binge on just about anything. Now I can stop and think about the aftermath: eating salty, greasy, carby food or just too much food leaves me in physical pain, and mental anguish for days. I know that a 3 pound bump on the scale will take 2 weeks to get off. I'm much more rational about it than I used to be.

Oddly, I sort of miss the "highs" and the "lows" of the behavior. I don't want the lows, but I do mentally probe at myself every once in a while, trying to decide if the "high" is worth it. It hasn't been for a long time.

Mel

oh dear. what a loaded question!!!! as we know, binge eating is painful with the surgery, BUT that doesn't mean the desire goes away!!! and it IS possible to out-eat this - and binging can take the form of all-day munching rather than cramming large amounts of food in at one sitting or in the space of a few hours.

it's all psychological for me, and the longer i'm on this path, the more i realize what the dangerous emotional and physical combination is: physical exhaustion and emotional exhaustion coupled with nastiness and judgment from my family, lack of contact with my friends, no down time from stressful job/stressful home life, too tired to exercise, and craving comfort from somewhere - ANYWHERE!!!!!

so i'm focusing on PREVENTION. comfort in the form of regular massages, journaling or other forms of writing [even long emails to friends!!!!], making sure i get to see my friends, making time to knit, spending time with the dog, no contact with my family [i know, not always practical!]

when prevention doesn't work, and i'm starting to think of FOOD rather than what's
REALLY going on, i get sad. unhappy. frustrated. all those negative emotions happen, and i know i have to deal with THEM in some way other than swallowing them. because that's what i'm doing: swallowing them to make them numb so i can ignore them. and the whole time they're being fueled because i'm not doing what i need to.

i feel your pain, meg, and everyone else who has to deal with this. i realize that what i've described probably doesn't apply to everyone, but it's ME - and maybe someone else will recognize the same thing.. bottom line: I DON'T LIKE FEELING THESE NEGATIVE THINGS!!!!

and sometimes i have a wee bit of scotch. i've figured that if my goal is to numb my emotions, and there's absolutely no other way to do it, i might as well take about 100 calories of scotch rather than 500 calories or more of chocolate. it's working!!!

Still dealing with binges here, too. I can never anticipate when a binge will happen because they're brought on by about every emotion there is. It's really bad when AF is coming. For me, a binge is multiple trips to the cupboard, grabbing a sugary or salty carb of some sort and eating it way too fast. I almost always end up with a stomach ache. Before I lost weight, I binged practically every day. Now, it's maybe once or twice a month.

I have two strategies that work pretty well:

1. When I'm feeling "iffy" (like a binge may be in my near future), around mid-day, I'll have a measured and logged portion of the sort of food that I tend to binge on. It could be an ounce of baked cheetos or a serving of light kettle popcorn. It's usually enough to keep my cravings under control.

2. Like Mel, it helps if I stop for a moment and visualize how I will feel AFTER a binge. I picture waking up the next morning with that icky carb hangover and the burden of all the regret and self-loathing that comes after a binge. Then, I picture how I will feel waking up the next morning if I had NOT binged - that light, positive feeling that I normally have when I start my day. This really works for me! :)

But, of course, there are those dark days when no strategy is of any help. I get complete tunnel vision and I ignore any voice in my head that tries to stop me from scarfing down handfuls of cookies. I come up with every excuse there is and, for some reason, they sound very good to me at that moment. It mystifies me - I feel like I become a completely different person.

It is very comforting that I'm not alone when it comes to this challenge. You're so right about it being about management, not about a cure.

I want to amend/expand on what I said earlier ... of course, it's possible to binge on healthy food. Binge is a behavior and the substance we are stuffing in doesn't matter.

I distinctly remember an incident I had about 4 months into my program. It was January, which is the height of navel orange season. I ate my Jenny Craig meal and vegetables for lunch one day, and then I had an orange for dessert. Now, I've always liked fruit just fine, but had long gotten out of the habit of eating them on any regular basis. Why eat fruit when you could eat pastry/ice cream/etc., right? This particular orange was the world's most perfect orange -- fine-grained, deep orange, juicy beyond belief. The words "sweet as candy" appeared in my brain. When I was finished, my thoughts immediately went to the other oranges in the fridge. Mmmmm. Oranges are healthy, right? Sure it wasn't in my menu for the day, it might put me over a little calorie-wise, but I NEEDED another one of those oranges.

Luckily, I stopped dead-cold with the realization of what my brain was doing to me. I was content, I was full, there were no emotions raging, but the compulsive side of me was screaming, "If one is good, two is better!" This was the way my brain worked ALL THE TIME. And it is STILL the way it works. It's why I'm one of those people who cannot often have "just one bite" or have a small serving of something I'm craving to satisfy it. Sometimes I can, but sometimes it sets me up to want more. So, for me binges or binge urges don't have anything to do with negative emotions or need for comfort or reward -- they happen because I've had a taste of something really good, and the compulsion takes over.

I just hate it that this compulsion takes over. I binge mainly (a) when I'm stressed, (b) when I'm bored or (3) when I miss my "regular" mealtime. It's not that I don't know what I'm doing, just sometimes my brain says, "so, I just don't care right now." I have learned to forgive that brain, and try to recognize and redirect the feelings that are causing me to eat. Diverting the "missed eating at the regular time" is of course the easiest to redirect, because I can eat, it just takes the few minutes to fix what I had planned or similar. The stress and boredom factors are much harder to redirect. Sometimes in stress I don't even realize what I'm doing. I'm reading what the rest of you feel with interest. We certainly don't keep much snacky food in our house - just 2 adults trying to eat healthy - but work is another whole food landmine. :lol: 10 women who all like to cook and snack is a recipe for disaster!!

Bingeing is different than over eating. Almost everybody overeats sometimes. I used to be a hardcore binger in years past so I know. What stopped it was ferreting out the underlying issues that caused it, then dealing with those directly. In other words learning to deal with non eating issues with non eating solutions. I was using food to self medicate and to take myself away from painful feeling states I didnt even know were there. This is a common theme. And we have been doing it automatically for so many years, we dont even notice the transition anymore. I was totally oblivious of this, and when I first heard about it, I thought it was the craziest idea I had ever heard. It wasnt.

I had been indirectly taught so very young in a truly loving family that feeling sad or angry or afraid were not acceptable in my family. But in reality they are normal and natural feeling states. To push these away, I tried to use food, and it kept escalating for years till I was well over 200 pounds. Remember the gal Dip (dipthong) who used to post here months ago? Sh understood and was beginning to get in touch with her painful feeling states too.

In Thin for Life, Fletcher states a "striking 95%" of successful losers got in better touch with problem solving and facing their feelings directly instead of using food to dull them. That is how to do away with the tendency to binge -- accept you have painful feeling states, then experience them instead of using anything external (excessive shopping, drinking, food, exercise, etc) to push them away. Read that entire chapter carefully and see what she says. I would bet most people skip over that section thinking, ya, ya, I know all that stuff, and go right for physical things to do, either the exercise or food/eating facts.

Of course dealing with emotional issues is never a popular topic, but it really is a place to look if you do want to do away with the bingeing.

Jan

I'm so glad you started this thread, Meg. Binging seems to be my one still unresolved food issue. I educated msyelf about food and nutrition and I'm in shape and know how to exercise safely. Binging is an emotional part of the dieting process and I think it's incredibly difficult to grasp and get control of.

I've had two binges this week (one worse that the other :devil:) and it was such a setback for me. I'm a weight now where I'd like to be a little more confortable. Since I've lost a large amount of weight and know what it takes to lose the weight, it makes these binges so frustrating.

Is there a certain thing people head for when they start to binge? I head for sugar. My weaknesses use to be more fatty stuff like chips and pizza so the new sugar cravings I have weird. After sugar I usually head for bread and cheese. After that? Well, it's a blur. We all know what binges are like. :P

I'm so glad I found this board for threads just like this. It's nice to know I'm not the only maintainer out there with this issue.

I've had a good victory over bingeing lately and I thought I'd share. I was having problems after supper, usually after I was cleaning up and putting things away in the pantry. I know I wasn't hungry, but then I'd just start eating granola bar after granola bar. No apparent reason. Was I tired, was I stressed, was I uncomfortable about something? The answer was, at least for the most part, no. So what the %#$@ was going on?

One weekend day, I opened up the pantry to remove trash, not the usual time, not the usual circumstances, happy fun day since there was no work, and yep, started eating granola bars for no apparent reason. So I moved the granola bars to another shelf in the pantry, harder to see harder to reach. Guess what? That mode of bingeing just stopped for me. That easy. I can now eat one granola bar again. :)

Do I still binge? Yes. Do I still eat inappropriately when I stressed, tired, bored, etc? Yes. Why I started bingeing on the granola bars that way, I'll probably never know, could very well have been an emotional trigger, or overtired or something. But after a while, it obviously became more of a habit, or behaviorally based thing--open pantry, see bars, eat eat eat. Break the chain, break the cycle.

Sometimes it's just that simple. The trick is SEEING it.

Anne

Hi there Megster!

The last time I've really done what *I* consider binging (of course, remembering that we are all different and I don't say I speak for everyone - only my experiences) other than during my first couple of BFL challenges where I overate on Free Days "because it was allowed on the plan", was probably back during my first marriage prior to May 1990 - mostly out of boredom and habit, not because of any underlying psychological issues or what have you - because I actually consider my family pretty 'normal', albeit with a pretty weird and lively sense of humor which I figure comes from my dad's side of the family... :lol:

My personal definition of a 'binge' is eating a great deal of food in a very short period of time - just looked up Webster's version and it's about the same:

For me it was a habit - come home from work (or school) and first place ya go is open up the fridge and see what the Snack Fairy has left in there...or being alone in the house (like when I was babysitting or if my parents had gone out) first thing that would run through my mind is "oooh what can I eat before they get home?" because of course I was supposed to be dieting...

And during my first marriage (up until mid-1990) I was alone much of the time and that was my ACTIVITY OF CHOICE. Nothing a shrink would be interested in. I was alone with the TV, time to eat! It didn't have anything to do with blocking out pain or whatever, the food was there so I ate it.

15 years later, I've gotten to the point where I do NOT like the feeling of overstuffedness after 'an unrestrained and often excessive indulgence'. Basically the times I do overeat (I'm not a saint, trust me!) is usually not all in one sitting, but what our Meg has called BLT's "Bites, Licks, and Tastes" aka the "Just one won't hurt" type of thing...ya know where something's sitting around the office or whereever and you just take ONE BITE, and then a little later you come back and take ANOTHER BITE (or another Triscuit, or another Hershey's Kiss) and eventually working up to a significant number of calories from BLTs that are usually forgotten about because they were 'too teeny' to write down. THAT type of thing can be just as damaging (I mean physically damaging - I don't claim to be a psychiatrist - and who am I to make judgements or diagnoses about other people?) as a pigout, IMO.

Anyways...to me, it came down to "replacing one habit with another". Instead of having all that time sitting on my fat butt open for pigging out, I found other things to do to occupy my time. Exercise was and is a BIG one for me - at the beginning it was walking around our very hilly neighborhood, taking a low-impact aerobics class a couple times a week, that morphed into Jazzercise classes 4 - 5 times a week...now it's my current schedule which I won't bore the crap out of you with but suffice to say that between the gym, the stable, my current heavy workload and what Jim calls the "girly" stuff (mani/pedicures, beauty stuff, that sort of thing) I don't generally give myself the OPPORTUNITY to pig out.

(and incidentally, I don't consider myself an "exercise addict" or one who "exercises excessively" unless I'm being compared to a couch potato...I LOVE to exercise and still love to be able to do what I couldn't do at 265 lbs - and my PCP has NO problem with it whatsoever, so there ya go!)

Plus at home, we don't keep that much around the house to have a chowfest on anyway - the 'worst' thing in the house at the moment is a box of Wheaties - gotta keep cold cereal, the staple Guy Food, around the house, otherwise he gets really anxious. :lol: Probably the two worst situations I have to deal with are at my sister's house when I babysit - she keeps stuff like peanut butter and Wonder bread - and the Betty Crocker on our floor who feels that it's necessary to keep two baskets constantly filled with chocolate on her desk (Hey! Pat has the same problem I do!!! Woo-hoo!! Don't you just want to DUMP all that crap down the garbage chute sometimes when noone else is looking? Unfortunately it would be futile because she goes to Costco and buys huge Industrial Size bags of the stuff every week, so she'd just replace it. :lol: :rolleyes: )

Anyway...summing up this novel... :D it depends on what you mean by 'binging' ya know? For me, a binge is just eating WAY too much in a very short amount of time and feeling nauseous afterwards. Nothing 'deep' attached to it. My girl-cat does it too - if we put a lot of food in her dish she will WOLF it down, and if we feed Chalupa Boy next to her, she'll finish hers and smack him away from his dish and chow down! (of course, we put a stop to that and she's on a strict diet and Boy eats up on the table where she can't get to his food.) I haven't had a chance to question her about her habits, but I assume it's because she's an indoor cat and that's one of her main fun activities - eating (along with chasing her toys around the house).

Whew...I probably didn't say much but there ya go...

For me binging is that uncontrolled, feverish, shoveling of food that will only take place if no one else is around. My meals and eating schedule are, for the most part, extremely planned out so, fortunately, binges are few and far between for me. They usually occur when one of my trigger foods (which I don't normally have around) is present, I'm feeling weak, and I decide to "have a taste". One taste will lead to another, and another, and another and that's all she wrote. I am usually completely aware of what I'm doing and internally screaming at myself to stop. Sometimes I do, but not always right away. When it does happen, it is never as bad as the old days. I don't think I am physically capable of that anymore (thank goodness) and now it would be confined to only the one food item on hand instead of the free for all's of the past. I absolutely despise the out of control feelings they evoke and I strive very hard not to allow them to occur. Unfortunately, I know that this is something I will always struggle with since it seems to be just the way my brain is wired, but at least now I know that a binge does not signify failure. And instead of beating myself up about it and allowing the viscous cycle to continue, I make a point to understand how and why it happened and then get back on plan right away without delay.

Beverly

I've had a few examples the last few days. EXTREMELY stressful time on the homefront right now. I was very tired yesterday, and I've had approximately 5 hours (in stages) of sleep starting at 3:30 a.m. this morning. Last night, with all the stress, though I'd already eaten, I was still wanting to eat. I recognized that I was not hungry. But I had to do something because I was GOING to eat regardless because of the situation. So I cut up a cantaloupe. I ended up eating the entire thing. It came to a little over 2 cups however, which is just over 100 calories. So if I have to, I at least will do it with the least amount of damage to my system.

You are absolutely right Mrs Jim, its not deep psychological issues or people necessarily from unhappy homes, though some are. That is what makes it so sad that people are afraid and resistent to the idea of just looking a little bit below the surface of bingeing to see what is really there. Its not a big dark secret that will pull you in, but just a mis-learned response from childhood taught by often well-meaning parents. This is not a witch-hunt, but rather a means to de-code head hunger, which bingeing is a form of.

"Here, Baby Girl, dont be sad, stop crying, this ice cream cone will make you feel all better and happy" is a pretty common experience from many of our childhoods and how we benignly begin to use food to push away unpleasant emotions. Its that simple.

From Thin for Life by Fletcher, old version, page 201: "A number of masters reported that, in the past, they had used food to obliterate their emotions rather than confront their feelings. Research does suggest that overwieght individuals tend to eat more than those who are of normal weight in response to negative emotions, particularily if tasty foods are available.

"There is little question that the short-term effect of stuffiing yourself with food can be anesthetizeing, bringing temporary relief from anxiety and frustration. Food provides immediate gratification, and overeating can lead to feelings of sluggishness, drosiness and calmness. In the long run, however, the pay-off diminishes, and the person who overeats is left with feelings of guilt and remorse, and a worsening weight problem and the unresolved problems that precipitated the eating in the first place."

And later: "Unpleasant emotions and problems are part of life. They will be there whether or not you turn to food. Sometimes you just have to accept what you are feeling. Master and weight control counselor Kelly S. says, "I think sometimes people need to be 'there' for that feeling -- or just feel something and do nothing. You can choose to use food one more time, but you know what the consequences will be."

Fletcher also has sections on "putting a lid on emotional eating" and also one called "dealing with specific emotions" .

Why not read these sections too and see what you think. Or do you still want to be battling bingeing and head hunger a decade from now? If you accept what the first several chapters in Thin for Life say, why not this one too?

There is a way out if you are willing to take it. Just like losing weight, its your free choice to look into this or not. No one has to of course. If what I have said makes you angry, resentful, or fearful, there just might be something to it..... Overweight is really not just about food and eating -- Its just not that simple. This is partly why diets have a 95% failure rate.

Jan

I wonder. Are you addressing *me* personally with this post - or are you just using me as an example?

One of my personal axioms is "take what you need and leave the rest". ANY time I read a book - or article or what have you - I use what is applicable to my personal situation. I do believe that Thin for Life is an excellent book and recommend it highly. HOWEVER that does NOT mean I feel that everything in the book - or ANY book - applies to me. (for example, I often recommend Michael Fumento's Fat of the Land - however that doesn't mean I think everything in the book is great - the chapter titled "Pill Talk" can be skipped over IMO).

If your entire post quoted above was addressed to me, I can assure you - not that it's any concern of yours - that my parents did not 'shush' me or my three sisters with food.

Anyway...I think after maintaining a 100+ lb weight loss for well over a decade; living a life I truly enjoy; a wonderful husband who unconditionally loves me; my family and great friends close by; fulfilling my dream of becoming an equestrienne; and my career (which I truly enjoy) advancing with each passing year...summing it up...I believe I'm doing pretty well for myself, without someone who really DOESN'T know me at all attempting to pick apart my weight loss because I didn't follow every word in every chapter to your satisfaction...well...'tain't my problem.

I KNOW that *for me* I've got it figured out (Kinda reminds me of Anne Fletcher's tip - Do it your way dunnit?). Maybe it's not to YOUR satisfaction, but again that's not my problem...and I think I'll pass on your homework assignment, thankyaverymuch.... :rolleyes:

...also...I note you didn't mention my "binging" cat. :P

Karen, thank you for taking all the time to put your experiences into words for us! I can’t tell you how valuable it is to have a long-term maintainer here at 3FC sharing the wisdom that you’ve acquired from LIVING maintenance every day for the past fifteen years. You, my dear, were the first person who let me believe that long-term weight loss IS possible and sustainable and you continue to be the shining beacon for me as I travel the path. :)

I know you’re too modest to ever admit this yourself, but all the talk about Thin For Life brought it to mind, so I’m going to let out your little secret to our group. Ladies, you all know how Anne Fletcher interviewed her ‘weight loss masters’ for TFL? The ones who have maintained large weight losses and gave her the tips and insights into maintenance that make up TFL? Well, Anne Fletcher didn’t know Karen when she wrote TFL then but she sure knows her now and has been corresponding with her lately. She even sent you a stack of autographed books, right, Karen? Anne Fletcher knows that a long, long, LONG term maintainer - like Karen - is a rare thing indeed and has tons of valuable insights to offer to the rest of us.

So thanks for sticking aroung here with us, Karen – you’re definitely our own in-house 'weight loss master'! :D

It is so comforting to know that there are maintainers out there who still struggle with the same demon as I do-binging.
My binges always start at work, where I am a caregiver. Today I am at work, doing a 24hr shift! There is a lot of junk food here, but that is what the rest of the world is like, so I know that quitting my job will not end my binging habit. Anyways, I am not binging today.
The biggest thing I have learned through my weight loss journey is the "pause" that comes from having the disciplines in my life of planning my food, exercising, etc. By pause I mean that split second where I can choose to put the food in my mouth or not. Due to the aforementioned disciplines, I am hyperaware of my behavior and thinking about food, and I think that this deters me from binging most of the time. However, sometimes I pause, and I think "screw it, I want this, I am gonna have it, and I really do not care about the consequences".
My problem is listening to the lies that my mind tells me. I am getting better and better at not believing the lies, but sometimes I still cave in.

Hi everybody! I'm a not-yet-at-goal maintainer. This thread is really interesting. I wanted to jump in and say that I agree that the bingeing doesn't have to be from emotional issues. While I've had emotional issues with it in the past, bingeing for me usually is just because I LOVE FOOD. I love to cook it, I love to read recipes, and I love shopping for obscure items I've never seen. To me, it is art to put together an amazing recipe, and testing it is an indulgence that I too frequently give in - not to mention trying what every restaurant in town has made. I read travel magazines and food industry publications. Forget the marble bathrooms and seaside verandas, show me what they're cooking up in the kitchen! I know head hunger, and it still hits me on the rare occasion, but I have to say that overeating or bingeing for me is purely because I love food and that love is stronger than my self control. No emotional scarring underneath.

My solution? For now, it''s usually because I am never alone. My husband works at home and we homeschool our son, so we are most always together when I'm not at work. They know I'm trying to shake off the last of the weight and if I blow it, they'll see me and I'll be disappointed in myself. I'm not staying on track just because of them. Along the way, I have learned self respect for myself, and I learned that I can do without bingeing, and that I hate the feeling afterward. If they were to both go on holiday tomorrow and leave me behind, I'm not sure if I would stay on track without them. That would certainly be a test! I'd like to say that I've learned the self control by now, but I really just don't know because I haven't had the chance to see *really* if I have learned to control it solo. Of course, I mostly control it anyway, whether I like it or not :D , but I'm talking about the control that happens by habit. I think I'll always have to tell myself it is time to stop eating, or justify in my mind that I DON'T need chocolate even though I want it.

I was always an overeater and not really a binge eater until I lost weight... messed up eh?

I still overeat sometimes, I still binge occassionally (well too much during my recovery from surgury).

I binge mostly when I am tired, haven't had enough protien or if I am extremely anxious (I binge when I don't really know what is bothering me).

Anyway, I am working at it. I keep redlight foods out of my house. I moved offices to where we don't have too many Betty Crockers (well I moved due to a promotion and this is a bonus). I usually have something to do every evening of the week, be it a run/workout, coffee with a friend, a trip to Costco or a shift at my second job and it helps!! I am not a huge fan (although I do enjoy doing this occassionally) of watching TV all evening (I love newsy indepth shows). I made a rule in my teens never to turn down plans due to something on TV, so this in itself got me out of the TV watching habit. I also watch TV in my bedroom where I don't want to bring food to and get crumbs everywhere.

I can mostly contain my desire to binge, but it isn't always successful... ONe day at a time right?

Cheers ladies!

Ali

I think one of the issue this thread has brought up indirectly is that there is a huge difference in what is truely considered binge eating, and just plain eating too much every once in a while. From my understanding and experience, bingeing is an all-out assault on food: pretty much an unconscious drive to continue stuffing food into yourself in a short period of time. What most of us are describing here is just plain overeating: 3 cookies when one would have been plenty, an extra lick, bite or taste, an unplanned meal. That's not a binge. I'd liken a true food binge to an alcoholic's bender...eating until there's nothing left or you physically can't stand any more. From what I'm reading here, I see way too much rationality and self-awareness for that to be happening. Terminology difference, and a huge difference in behavior.

Just my 2 cents.

Mel

I wish I could find someone courageousinvirginia. My FIL has just come out of surgery for a massive heart attack and we can't even leave the house because we can't find a caregiver on short notice to care for my bedridden MIL. :(

Mel: Yup there is a difference, when I binge I eat anything and everything it seems... bread, toast, tortillas, cheese, peanut butter, cookies, apple or whatever, it is not just having a couple of extra goodies... I eat until I feel sick, but the only difference between me and bulimic is that I don't throw up. Luckily these incidences are becoming fewer and fewer.

Cheers!

Ali

This has turned into the best thread! What great responses and insights! There's nothing like knowing that we're not alone in navigating the challenges of maintenance.

You're not going to believe this, but I just finished reading Chapter 5 of Thin For Life for next week's discussion - Nip It In The Bud: Break The Relapse Cycle - and it's going to dovetail perfectly with all the issues that have surfaced in this thread. So if you have TFL, read chapter 5 and we'll carry this discussion right over into that thread. If you don't have it, don't worry, I'll summarize the chapter in detail so you can join right in. Of course, everyone's welcome to keep the discussion going here too. :)

"I look at it as MANAGEMENT, not a cure." Ain’t that the truth!!

I’m sure glad someone mentioned that binging doesn’t have to come from emotional problems... because certainly my mother never ever gave us food when we were sad or mad or whatever, we ate because it was dang good....

My binges used to be eating till my stomach hurt, I felt bloated and guilty, and would continue my binge for the whole day or weekend... Now, I can think through a binge and manage them, although I am NOT cured either...

What has stopped me from eating certain things OFTEN is thinking of the carb coma I’ll be in if I eat too much processed food... and I really DISLIKE being out of commission for the afternoon just because of a donut or muffin ... Thinking ahead and visualizing the aftermath of a binge is key...

I loved the discussion here, I could see myself in every single person's post... I hate being the last one to the party because I don't want to repeat everything that's been said :( ...

Again...I think Mel really summed things up here for most of us. Eating the food 'because it's there' and then eating too much.

Like when you go to a Mexican restaurant that puts a big ol' basket of chips in the center of the table the minute you sit down...and you just start 'picking' at them and before you know it - POOF! Then the busperson will bring ANOTHER basket automatically. (This happens at Chevy's a lot - but they have great menu choices otherwise, lots of veggies, lean protein and such)

Same if you go to an Italian or 'California Cuisine' restaurant with the basket of bread in the center. It's there, so of course the first response is to eat it. If it wasn't there, who would care?

Actually last time we went to Chevy's (been awhile - Jim's been REALLY busy on the weekends with his music lately) we tried an experiment - BEFORE we were seated I asked that no chips be brought to the table (I gave the reason "your chips are just too damn good and I'm a weak, weak person" :lol: ) and that worked...for awhile - after we ordered, before the food arrived I went to visit the ladies', and when I came back, Jim was eating chips (he salts each one individually before he eats it). Apparently the busperson was uninformed as to our wishes, and Jim just could NOT resist! :dizzy: On the bright side, they DID leave a full pitcher of iced tea on the table as well...

Anyways - Mel summed it up perfectly I think...

Aw jeez, Megster... :o

Ya know, for me, it's just a matter of sharing my personal experiences, and if I find something interesting in a book or article or whereever, I'll share that too. We're ALL different. Being obese is not something I would wish on ANYONE. I'm not going to LIE and say that losing weight is a walk in the park - changing established habits and patterns can be really, really hard, to say the least - but at the same time, I get kind of annoyed at the "95% failure" quote that is bandied about, because to me that's a defeatist attitude - I would hate to think that someone would read that statistic (and where it comes from I have NO idea) and say "screw it - why even bother trying, if I'm going to gain it back anyway" and give up? I would think that people trying to overcome a drug or alcohol or tobacco addiction have at least as high or higher failure rate...but they keep trying again. I know quite a few people who worked VERY hard to quit cigarettes - it took them YEARS of quitting and then starting again, repeat, repeat - but eventually they were able to overcome the ciggie monkey.

As you learn more about what works for YOU, what fits into YOUR life, and learn more about nutrition, how exercise works, working on finding new hobbies other than 'recreational eating' then you start succeeding. It's most definitely a LEARNING PROCESS. Heck, I'm STILL learning, the day I stop learning will be the day I cease to exist...science is finding out new things everyday.

And I've said this before - but I want to STRESS it again because I don't think you can stress it enough - Maintenance DOES GET EASIER OVER TIME. Trust me on this...you work on making the right food choices and regular exercise - along with finding other activities to replace 'recreational eating' and they become HABITS, you will have truly made a LIFESTYLE CHANGE. You know, I don't get to watch Oprah since she's on during the day, but I read her magazine, along with bits and pieces of her website - I've been following her weight since the 1980's when she rolled out the wagon of fat - and I am SO impressed. To me, it looks like the tide is turning and we're getting away from the "Lose 40 lbs in 30 days" type of diet (IMO that's why 'diets don't work' - because of the mindset that many of these create, "I'll stay on this diet until I get down to my goal weight, and then I can go back to my usual way of eating" - and many of these diets you see in the rag mags are totally unrealistic), and more towards "a diet for life". I mean let's look at Webster's again for the genesis of the word:

So no matter how we eat - we're on a diet. EVERYONE has a diet, from a week-old breastfeeding baby on up. It's just finding a manner of living - a way to lead your life that is healthy and sustainable for the long term. And at first, that means you have to LEARN about things like nutrition, calories, exercise, and all that stuff, just like when I first started riding hunt seat 4 years ago - I had to learn how to post the trot at the correct diagonal, good posture in the saddle, asking the horse to do what I wanted him to do, collection and impulsion and so on (I'm still learning - I still consider myself a pretty green rider!). That's where doing a 'diet' can help to put you on the path - we are all seeking the same destination but there are many paths - there is no one path right for everyone.

Whew...after that soliloquy time to hoof it over to the gym...I'm sure it will be crowded today as it's Super Bowl later on (our local boy, Tom Brady, is one of the *stars* so I hope that your Philadephians don't mind that I'll be rooting for the Patriots. Besides, I'm a sucker for chin dimples... :cool: )

Most of the time when I overeat/binge, it's because I just really like food. I do have one "trigger" that I've recognized, though: free food. Whenever there is food available just for the taking, it's very hard for me to resist. I think it may stem from growing up in a large, relatively poor family, and knowing that if I didn't eat something now, I might not get to eat it (or anything else) later.

Something that has helped somewhat, sometimes, is mentally dividing the food among everyone there so that I can only take "my share" of the food.

Then, of course, there are times (like last night at the Superbowl party) when there is so much more food than everyone could eat that "my share" would just about feed a football team. I tried to pace myself by taking one thing at a time (after the initial plate of food), but I still ended up eating until I felt ill - then ate another cookie or two.

This is a very interesting discussion.

After years of analyzing and angsting over why I binge, I have come to the conclusion that, for me, it does have emotional roots, but is sometimes brought on by other things. For me it did stem from a childhood trauma, and I think at the time, that is when I started to self-medicate with food. To try to make the pain go away. Of course that led to me being an overweight child, and all the accompanying teasing that goes with it. More self-medication. I didn't know how to deal with it any other way.

These days it can be brought on by other things. About 10 days before my period I get terrible cravings. Stress, fatigue, hurt feelings, these can all set me off. Some days at work I can hardly wait to get home and dive into the cookie cupboard. I sit there and think about it. I know it is self-sabotage. I know it is hindering my weight loss progress. But, some days, I just can't seem to get past it. Cookies are my biggest problem, but anything sweet/fatty will do.

I am gradually learning to manage this problem, but I am a looong way from being cured. I liked what someone said about being your own BFFL, and caring and nurturing yourself as you would for a dear friend.

Jude -- Cookies were my downfall too... I could eat a whole bag while making supper and then eat supper and then some more for desert... My solution was to stop buying them all together. I haven't bought a bag of cookie for at least 5 years... I have teenagers too! When THEY buy cookies I send them immediately down to the basement where THEY hide them from me. If I happen to come on the hiding spot, THEY have to find another one :lol:... After I got over the cookies I got into the granola bars, sheesh does this never end ?! But I do the same with them, DOWN to the dungeon they go... "Out of sight, OUT of mind !" It's worked for me very very well...

Hi,

Sorry to be so ignorant - but what is Suporbowl and why everybody complains about overeating while it is on... Is it like a lot of food in a big bowl and everybody pigs out? Why is it so national - I see a lot of people recently mention it... Sorry, we do not own a TV, and I do not have time to read newspapers... But is this Superbowl an enough reason to binge?
Thanks, I know I am missing something (not pigging out part for sure...)

LOL Sashenka. Don't worry, you're not missing much. It's when people gather around to take in the Superbowl (the big football game playoff - you know...the sport where a bunch of guys in tight pants pat each other on the fanny? Otherwise, nothing much worth watching). Can't you tell I'm not into sports? LOL Anyway, people will get together, throw a big party, lotsa food and beer, and gather around a (preferably big screen) television and watch the game. Hooping and hollering at the halftime antics when Janet Jackson might reveal all to the world in a another wardrobe malfunctioning moment.

BTW, if anyone really wants to know why Janet's wardrobe malfunctioned, check out this banned Bud Light commercial: http://media2.big-boys.com/bannedsuperbowl.wmv

I count my blessings when I binge these days. My foods of choice used to be caramel Twix, M&Ms with peanuts, Ruffles and French Onion dip, cheese puffs, boston creme donuts, Burger King croisants for breakfast every morning with extra bacon and cheese...if it had sugar or fat or carbs, it was my daily staple. Binging on apples and grapes and cantaloupe doesn't make me feel so bad. Though I did break ranks and had a half of a raspberry filled Krispy Kreme after dinner tonight. ;)

Hello Everyone! I am doing my 24 hour shift again, and just found out that it will be extended 14 more hours because the person that comes to relieve me has the flu! (I sleep about 16 of those hours). thanks to the support of this thread-I did not overeat or binge last saturday, and I am going to repeat this pattern of success today. We are going out to lunch at the mall, and this could definitely be a binge trigger for me. I am going to have as healthy of a meal as possible and let it go.
I am feeling angry that I agreed to stay for more hours, and this is a emotion that is a particular binge trigger for me. The truth is that I do not need to eat over any circumstance in life, I have choice, and I choose to respect my personal boundaries.

courageousincolorado -- Good for you, take those emotions by the horns and run with it... Keep it up!~

Thanks Meg for addressing this issue and to all the contributors who were so honest in their opions. Funny that you should start this discussion because I just talked to my sister about this very thing the other day. (after a binge episode) . I have always been too embarassed to talk about it in public.

Definition of binging for me... is when I keep shovelling various and numerous foods-usually fat and sugar laden, into my mouth as quickly as I possibly can (always in private), to the point where I feel sick and sometimes am. Afterwards I feel guilty and sad because I feel like I have let myself down. Talk about self-defeating behaviour

After reading other's posts I have learned,
First... I am not alone nor am I so different that others
Secondly... I need tito examine the whats and why's of binge triggers
Thirdly...Journalling would help me to see if their is a pattern to these binges.

Thank you all for your honesty and sharing, it has made my day and I will bring it up at my next weight watchers meeting and see what kind of response I will get. Maybe there are others that felt as I did, too ashamed to bring it up and ask for advice or help.

Today turned into my binge day cause I gained 2 lbs. at my weighin......I've
shoveled so much "crap" into me that I am literally sick to my stomach......It seems
that when I get unhappy with my weigh in I go crazy.....The past couple days
I've seemed depressed and I guess you could say the bingeing started yesterday
when the bowl of M&M's at work......first i thought I would just have 2 or 3
pieces....next thing you know I was shoveling fist fulls in......Realistically I'm telling myself that today is over an that tomorrow I'm going right back on track but now I
have to get probably 2 + pounds off.............It's not easy and don't think it will
ever get easy......