Fatmac, have you tried not buying foods that trigger binges?
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Maybe this isn't the case for you, but I find it's so much easier when it's just not available. I wish you every success in beating the binge. We're going to have a great 100% week.
Thanks for the advice, Sandy, but that's not my problem. I live alone, and the only things I keep in my house are good-for-me-foods. My bingeing problem happens when, after I've eaten a nutritious and satisfying dinner, I decide in a blind fit to drive manically to the grocery store and buy bad-for-me-foods. Then, eat them (starting in the car on the way back). Then feel disgusted with myself. Then repeat again the next night, or the night after that... it's awful.
I've really tried to identify the cause, but I almost think it's as simple as "I WANT this, and I'm gonna have it!" It's almost like a sense of entitlement. And, making healthier versions at home backfire more than just not having it at all.
I really can't AFFORD to do this, either. I feel like I can justify buying slightly more expensive supplies (like salmon and steak) because I'm not spending money on bad-for-me-foods. But when I buy both, it's really not sustainable. I spent $15 last night on my binge. That adds up and I can't afford it.
This kind of behavior feels so out of control. I KNOW it's bad. I KNOW it has to stop. I just feel like when the moment hits, I can't do anything about it and before I know it the binge is over.
I'm sorry, Fatmac. Unsoliticted advice is a bummer...I've done EXACTLY the same thing. I don't do it anymore, though. Somehow, it clicked in my brain when I went back on Atkins, and I stopped the behavior. You've done really well, and it will get easier every time you don't pick up your car keys to stop the compulsion and panic.
One of the clicks in my head happened while I read Confessions of a Carb Queen...the lies you tell others / the lies you tell yourself by Susan Blech. I think it "scared me straight."
I live alone, too, and I know it's not easy. Have a great week!
fatmac - i totally understand. I just had this happen I did so well for a month and lost 7 lbs. Then I went off atkins (aka thought it was ok to have a cheat day, turned into a cheat month) and gained it all back. I am just back in ketosis.
This is really embarrassing but I'd go to mcdonalds and get 2 mcchickens and 2 mcdoubles and eat them all! starting in the car. I also went to safeway and got an entire pack of halloween cookies, two hagan das ice creams etc and ate them all. I did several other things like this. Consuming just absolute crap and about 2-3 times my daily needs in one sitting. I'm seriously surprised I just gained 7 lbs.
It is so frustrating because I am soooo good and then I am soooo bad. I hate having to try to lose weight and I know that if i cut out the binging I could arrive at a really reasonable weight and stay there, even with the occasional treat.
I don't know why i do it either. I know it doesn't make me feel good or satisfied or even full.
I feel so much better when I do atkins and eat whole, real food. I am really going to be good this time about not just adding full carbs back in one day. I am going to lose the weight and then add 5 carbs a week just like recommended until i hit my maintenance carb level. I will add carbs in the form of whole grains and fruit like you are supposed to.
I really want to eat nutrition for my body - real food, whole grains, real fat, not the processed crap.
I know for me I started binging bc my mom was such a health junky. when i was at a friends house and they had junk food, i ate as much as possible because I knew i would never get it at home. i never learned how to do treats in moderation. but now i am an adult and responsible for my own eating so i cant blame that anymore! i just wish i could stop. it is so counter productive. it makes me feel bad about myself, feel unattractive, and unhealthy. why why why would i want that?
anyways just letting you know that i get it. if you ever want to talk about it - feel free.
I am certainly no expert on the subject of weight loss ... but I have read what the experts have said and it is along the lines of changing what we are doing when we crave an item or are about to binge ..... so, when I smoked the first one went with my morning cup of coffee .... so for a month I switched to tea or hot chocolate and I got busy with laundry and house work each morning, it broke the routine of my sitting down with a "coffee and cigarette" . I can now have coffee in the morning with out a cigarette and have quit smoking altogether.
How about a walk each evening to get your mind off the binge that usually happens. Enroll in a class that you have to get to and that interests you so that your mind is occupied by other thoughts that cannot become those monsters that drive us to binge. I have no idea of your personal circumstances obviously .... just offering up a thought or two.
I've been curious about some of the other forums on 3FC; I only read and post on Atkins, but I just read some of the posts on the Chicks in Control forum. They have short-term Binge-Free Challenges going on and some interesting threads.
I think I'm going to start reading some of their threads. I like the current "What Did You Pass Up?" thread.
I don't know why I struggled so much this past week. This behavior is by no means new to me, but if I'm making a conscious effort to be healthy, I can usually block the binge monster before he rears his ugly head. I don't know why it's been feeling different this time around. Maybe because the changes I'm making are changes that will be in effect for life? And because this time is going to be the last time I lose weight? Is it possible my subconscious is sabotaging me because it knows that I MEAN it this time?
Taking a walk after dinner is a FANTASTIC idea! I think I will try it tonight.
Ijust took the self-assessment on the BED (Binge Eating Disorder) thread. That would be me. Yikes! I knew it, but didn't really want to think about it.
I didn't realize so many of us Atkin'ers are bingers!
It helps me feel not so alone.
It's taken me months to break the cycle. I started slipping again in September, old habits started back up with me making food to eat in bed before I fell asleep (I was never hungry, just wanted to lay in bed and eat before sleeping). It sounds so horrible when I talk about it, but it helps to be honest.
In the past I was doing that, plus I was a binge 'planner'. I would wake up thinking about all the foods I could eat, and what I would have that would taste the most delicious. I would spend time making elaborate meals for myself. It doesn't help that I do smoke pot once I get home from work (I do live in BC where it is not as big a deal as it is in the US).
I've broken the habit of eating when I do, so it's gotten a lot better. It's taken months of training myself to get normal again.
I have a binge/emotional eating problem as well. Whenever I get upset all I want to do is eat. The other night I got some bad news and I ate a slice of pizza and a few bites of spanish rice, but I realized that this isn't what I want and I stopped.
Put your car keys and/or wallet in a place that requires effort to get to (like high up in a cabinet) or even stick a note on it reminding yourself not to waste money on a binge. Set a mini-goal for yourself. Don't binge for a week and buy a new lipgloss, don't binge for a month and buy some sunglasses. Don't binge for 2 months and buy a pair of shoes. Whatever would make you happy (that you can afford). It would give you much more satisfaction than eating.
One thing to remember is that if you slip, (like I did by eating the pizza/rice/orange juice) DON'T tell yourself that you already ruined your diet and may as well keep doing damage. One tiny slip-up will NOT ruin your diet! I'm not encouraging you to eat off-plan but if you happen to give in and eat a candy bar, don't eat more just because you already messed up. Eat a regular on-plan meal and act like you never ate the chocolate. You will feel more in control this way.
Good luck.
Edit: I feel like a hypocrite because I just went in the kitchen and had a bite of a cupcake after giving you advice. "Do as I say, not as I do" at its finest.
It is in the water. I planned on going off plan this weekend because it was my birthday. My friend brought me my favorite meal .... Buffalo Wild Wings! It is a 45 minute drive for me so I never get it unless I have to go there for something else. Probably a very good thing. Had Olive Garden for dinner and chocolate mousse cake for dessert! We had dessert at the restaurant so I wouldn't have a huge cake sitting around at the house.
I will not let this take over my whole week. But I still have wings and leftovers that will be gone by the end of the day and then back on plan tomorrow. Hopefully I didn't do too much damage.
Since my friend was visiting I didn't weigh in on Saturday, so here it is:
SW: 183
last week: 177
CW: 177
I was really good last week. Stayed on plan, made it to the gym a couple of days, and drank all the water. So I was a little frustrated about not losing. That's okay. I talked with a nutritional/trainer and he said it can take a month for your body to adjust to a new plan and to "let go" of the fat. It almost wants to hold on because of the change. So hopefully big numbers coming soon.
Just to let everyone know what I do that helps me avoid a binge: When I see something like a candy bar in the store, I physically stop myself, then tell myself "I am in control of what I put in my mouth." Just saying it makes me feel in control and gives me the ability to say no. It makes me feel better about myself that I had self control. Then it makes it easier to say no the next time.
I also have snacks or gum (atkins friendly) on hand at all times. I find in the past that the times that I gave in to temptation was when I was hungry. If I could just get past the hunger with a snack I was less likely to go off plan.
Ps probably no one cares/noticed but I changed my ticker. I was depressed because I regained all the weight I gained on atkins (started at 148.5). This is just to remind me that I lost 8 lbs just watching what I ate before that so I am still at an overall loss. For the purposes of this thread - I am counting from 148.5 but I only want to lose 23.5 lbs by christmas! Hopefully my binge this past month won't keep me from it. I am going to stick really strictly to the plan!
Getting closer to the 30 lbs off by Xmas!
SW: 277
CW: 266
XMAS Goal: 247
GW: 170
I've been reading through this thread and came across the binge confessions. Wow, I am so impressed that you were able to recognize how it was happening to you and now you can take some steps to work it out!
I have found myself wanting to go to the grocery store and get "bad" food, I can't say what triggers it....I don't know. I live by myself too, and it's sometimes easier and sometimes harder on my own. I am a snacker....and as it turns out, I am a snacker by habit more than by hunger. Now that I am on Atkins I find myself going to the kitchen to get something to eat and then standing there with the refrigerator door open realizing that I'm not really hungry. The Atkins WOE completely curbs my hunger between meals, but the old snack habit is still there.
I know I need to kick the snacking habit, but it's going to take a while!
I did so well for a month and lost 7 lbs. Then I went off atkins (aka thought it was ok to have a cheat day, turned into a cheat month) and gained it all back. I am just back in ketosis.
We CAN DO THIS!
