Sweat Pea - I still try to avoid my trigger foods as much as possible. But I have been following my own version of the Rice Diet Solution (no it is not just rice) which greatly reduces your sodium and sugar intake and deals more with the "whole" foods and this has been a Godsend within about 2 weeks of sticking with the Rice Diet it has almost completely diminished my cravings it is great, my stomach also never growls anymore which it used to do even though I was eating tons of food. My sister got me started on it, she has lost over 75 pounds in about 6 months. She follows it to the letter though, I travel 5 days a week so it makes it a little harder I had to make some minor adjustments to the plan to work with that. Check it out the next time you are looking for a change.

After 16 months since changing my lifestyle, I thought I had the binges kicked. I was WRONG. Friday was DH's birthday and I baked a chocolate cake. I ate 2 pieces in front of him. But, when I went to clean the kitchen and put it away, I ate 2 more pieces, licked the knife and sucked the chocolate off all 42 candles. Now is that sick or what? It just tasted like the best Da@@ cake I ever had in my life. Now I'm guzzling water and pounding the treadmill even more. I sent the leftover cake (what little was left after I got through) to work with him the next morning. I know without any doubt that I could easily have eaten that whole cake.

this is really interesting

val - is that white or brown rice?

lilybelle - i know a lot of people have trigger foods that they feel they have to resist their entire life. i don't want to live that way but after reading your account maybe it's the only solution for now i will keep working towards moderation but i know that once i get sugar in my system it is hard to stop. when i am balanced i can but the rest of the time hmmmmm

Lily, I have a sour milk chocolate cake that I can't leave alone. I haven't made it in a long time.

Hmm, a typical binge for me will consist of:
Cholate Bars - 3 or more
Cheese, sometimes up to half a brick
Ice Cream, usually heaping and covered in chocolate/strawberry syrup
Melted Cheese Bread
A couple of ice cream drumsticks (whatever was left in the box)
Rice Crispy Squares
Cookies, up to half a box or more.

Literally, anything sweet or cheesy that I could get my hands on. And I was a big hider. My DF would be saving something for himself for a later date, like a chocolate bar, and I would eat it, then run out and by him a new one, eat that one, then have to run out again (and I don't drive!). There was just too much stress and hiding and lying involved

Sweat Pea - It isn't just Rice that is just the name they have for it. Many years ago it was started with only rice so I guess they just kept the name. I think their web sit is Ricedietsolution.com but I'm not sure you can do a google search and find it if not. If you look for the book it is a hardback and it has a blue cover and is called Rice Diet Solution I can't remember the Dr.'s name who was the author. But one meal I do eat alot because I love it is Success Whole grain Brown Rice (1 bag of boil in the bag type) this makes about 2 cups of prepared rice which is a giant plateful and I add 4 tablespoons of Desert Pepper brand Peach Mango Salsa. This salsa is great and it only has 25mg of sodium per 2 TBS compared to most I found that have between 200 and 300mg of sodium. But for the huge plate of food which is usually not all eaten it has 330 calories, 2g fat, 4g fiber and only 50mg of sodium. The average of the little frozen dinners I have in the freezer are about 220 - 270 cal, 5-7g fat, 4g fiber and about 550-700mg of sodium. and you only get a little bit of food. So thats one of my favorite meals.

it's definitely an ongoing battle to manage food and eat in moderation. it's not like you can flick a switch and suddenly change. even if you are good for weeks or months or even years it is easy to get back off track

val thanks for the info. i do remember having brown rice as a breakfast at one stage. it has a nice nutty flavour and you can add a few raisins or sultanas or a bit of honey but it's pretty nice. might have to do some research as i need to widen my meal choices. i'm eating all the same stuff each day at the mo

A binge for me is all about the circumstances. I only binge while alone, at home or in the car or if I'm traveling by myself. I think it is something about "no one will know" and then later when my diet isn't working I can say see...nothing works for me. I've been convinced that it is something I'm doing to sabatosh myself, just not sure why.

I'm somewhat confused by the food trigger? Do people have a certain foods that causes them to binge. Like they can't eat them or they'll fall into a bindge. I always assumed binges were more emotionally driven and there might be certain foods that one is drawn to. Now I'm wondering if there is something in my diet that causes me to go for a binge at first alone opportunity.

When I used to go to school two hours away from home, I was so upset that I would eat whole boxes of cereal, even dry if I didn't have any milk, and as soon as my roommates/suitemates left, I would go into stealth mode and steal their food...this was my lowest point ever. I would eat bags of cookies and candy and pop tarts and homeade goodies their moms sent them...it was horrible. Then I would bury the evidence in the trash so the wrappers weren't on top. And by that time, I was so mad at myself I would lay in bed and cry because my stomach hurt so much that all I could do was fall asleep. Then I would wake up, feel better, and do it later again that night because of some other thing that triggered it. Now, sometimes I will start to binge, on WW or Cocoavia chocolates, but other than that we really don't have anything bad or even processed in the house. It also helps to keep recipes and even products on hand that seem like "bad" foods but aren't...like Annie's EasyMac...obviously not considered actual health food...but wayyy better for you than KraftCrap. Oh, and being vegetarian, because there really isn't that much to eat at the 24 hour McD's drivethrough at 2 in the morning for you.

oh my gosh i read about the things you eat at one time
i can def do that
do'nt know how not to eat
this morning i had a bowl of carmel without the apples to dip and a piece of cin toast
i/ve only been up 3 hrs
i could eat now

Wow this thread hits so close to home. There's been so many times that I have been from drive-through to drive through. Or I'll make my boyfriend dinner and we'll eat and I'll say I'm full but offer to go get him more food and while I'm in the kitchen I eat more (just so that he can't see me eating it).

A binge to me is something I tend to do over a period of time when I'm going through a bingeing phase: I dont tend to eat a massive amount in one go but graze all day. Every time I walk into the kitchen something else goes into my mouth .. a couple of biscuits (cookies), some nuts, a yoghurt etc.

It can be junk - it can be healthy food ... it's just anything that's to hand and in a constant trickle. Consequently it's usually 'hand to mouth' food i.e it doesn't have to be 'prepared'. Another thing is HOW I eat it. Usually furtively, standing (usually in the kitchen) .. wrappers thrown instantly into the bin.

I used to do the fast-food drive through thing: ordering for a family when it was just for me. I also used to go into a sweet shop and pick up several chocolate bars and mutter just loud enugh for the assistant to hear 'Umm - a kit-kat for ***, a snickers bar for ***, a mars bar for me,' etc etc so they'd think I was buying for a bunch of people. Of course, I wasn't.
The good news is that I never do either of those things now so that's a positive step in the right direction!


I don't know what the answer is but having at least ONE area under control (the outside bingeing) gives me hope that the other areas can, in time, be beaten too.

when i hide it from my husband, it's a binge. sometimes while i'm waiting at the mall for my connection bus to go home, i'll go in and hit the food court. then come home and make dinner and act like it never happened.

i have no problem binging in front of my husband because he does it right along with me. i can eat a whole bag of tostitos and cheese and then a pint of ice cream or go to a resturant and eat a salad breradsticks a meal and desert and later have hubby go to the gas station for more food. my binges can last from one meal to a week of horrid eating. i am really working hard on controlling it.