This is getting more than a little FRUSTRATING! I thought I had my binges mostly under control!

So here's what's going on. I count every 5 lbs. lost as a mini goal and pat myself on the back or whatever. LOL But for ....some reason.... lately I've been running to the fridge. It's getting really annoying! I didn't do this before.

Why does my mind think that just because I've hit a goal it's okay to slip? It isn't. I'm undoing all of my hard work and I can't stop myself. Like today I hopped on the scale and it read 175.2 and I was so happy because it's the lowest ever. So what do I do? I get an instant chocolate craving of course!

I ran down to the kitchen and grabbed a sugar free jello pudding cup. Good right? Well I can't just have the pudding, so I grab a low carb Breyers ice cream bar.

Then some crackers.

Then I open up a yogurt.

Then a big bowl of Kashi go lean crunch cereal.

Then I fry two eggs in some pam.

Then another yogurt. (I am already stuffed by this point. What the...?)

Anyone else have this problem? It's so upsetting. It's like... I know better but I can't control it. Help meee!

StarryNights, I find myself doing the same thing! I don't have any answers for you, but maybe others do? It's like we self-sabotage ourselves. I think that I've gotten better over time, but have reached a point that I'm gaining and losing the same 2-3 lbs over & over again.

Sounds like a connection between food and celebration. Not an unusual thing, I tend to do the same thing. My parents used to give us rewards like cookies, candies, and ice creams when we did good. School used to celebrate getting good test scores with a pizza party. Birthdays with cake and pizza. You get the drift, so when I hit a goal I get so excited and get the impulse to go eat something I really enjoy but wouldn't usually eat on a normal basis.

This itself isn't bad at all. However, if I was just starting out trying to get myself to stop binging, I wouldn't be able to deal with a planned indulgence because then I'd feel like I did bad. Do you have confidence that you can plan something you enjoy eating on the same day, next day, or even a week after? Or do you feel like even planning something like that will make you slip-up? Of course one day you'll be able to plan indulgences and stuff without any guilt or slipping up, but go at your own pace. If you can't do that yet, then skip it all together..

And instead, make a NEW connection. What's something you usually don't have time for? Books, a long bath, painting your nails, buying a new pair of shoes? Decide to give yourself a reward without food. It's hard at first.. like.. really really freakin' hard. You'll be feeling like you're going bananas if you don't get that food, but if you ignore that impulse and occupy your time wisely, you'll forget about it and move on.

You also might want to look at your diet on a daily basis. Is it heavily restricted? Do you have a day or two where it's really okay to have an extra cookie or a nice dinner of whatever it is you want to eat? I also noticed it's harder to resist the impulse to go celebrate with food when I'm restricting myself too much. If I have a treat/whatever I want to eat atleast once during the day, then treats don't seem like such a big deal and when I do find something to celebrate, I don't feel the need to do something extravagent with my food.

I hope that might help!
Hang in there, that happens to me too.

very good answer. I would also have to blame "homeostasis". Your body is fighting you because IT DOESN'T WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT. Homeostasis is the ability to keep everything going the way it normally does. I agree with the emotional connection. But there are also chemical things going on. Just remember, whether your body thinks you are bad or not, you are doing the right thing.

Also, you seemed to want a wide variety of things--it makes me think you are trying to get vitamins and minerals. Are you taking a multivitamin?

congratulations on your weight loss sweetie.

That`s been my number one saboteur for a long time! I always used to hover around 70kg. When I weighed more I`d be careful, when I weighed less I was lax.

Ever so often I tried to diet and finally get slim again, but as soon as I was under, say 69, I was happy and content about being slimmer than I was for a long time, and I binged, piling it all back on.

Don`t know what`s different this time. My weight finally hit 74,5kg at the beginning this year. It took me 5 months of half-hearted dieting to see the 70kg again.

Seeing this number again really moved something inside me. I suddenly was determined not to let go at that any more. So far, it seems to work. I have even stepped up my regime, and although I am now no longer losing fast, I`m still losing w/a finding it hard...

The same thing happens to me with every milestone... for me it's disbelief mixed in with a little self-sabotage. I keep saying to myself "wow I can't believe it!"... they say what we say to ourselves becomes reality. So next time you hit another mini-goal, say "yeah! I totally believe I did it!". I'll try it too and see what happens

When I hit Onederland, I had the insatiable urge to just binge. I don't understand why. It seems when I make a lot of progress, I try to sabotage myself.

I'm not sure if any of your are Tony Robbins fans, but he has an interesting theory about addictions, including food. He thinks all humans have certain needs - for certainty/stability in their lives, for variety/excitement, for a sense of significance and love/connection. Any time something - good or bad - meets these needs it's an addiction. This was so true for me - food is my comfort, my something new, my connection, and being fat makes me significant, even if it's not in a good way.

My first almost subconscious thought when I see pictures of thinner me's is that I look weak. So strange right? Not thin, beautiful, but weak. And believe me I never lost so much weight that I still wasn't overweight. So somehow I feel subconsciously that losing weight will make me less of a person, so of course when I start losing weight and reaching goals, there is a part of me that doesn't want to let me win! For me that's where the self-sabotage comes in.

Not really strange. I actually have several positive words attached to fat me, all of which I will be no longer when I`m thin. Strong, statuesque, respectable, present, to be taken seriously, not a bimbo. Hm.

Hi, I have been reading this forum for a while and came across your thread......

This is EXACLY what I have been doing ..... the moment I see results of my dieting/exercising there we go......stuffing myself like crazy for few days (sometimes longer) and results are gone.....gone with the wind!

Hundred thanks for the explanations.....it really gave me an idea what to focus on

WEIRD eh? That was what happened to me this past weekend too.
The scale showed a new low on Friday, then Sunday I caught myself eating junk like there was no tomorrow. It's happened a few times too, and each time it only makes me think "if I didn't have that binge I'd be so-and-so kg (lbs) already".... Oh the irony.

If only weight loss was really as easy as a simple math equation.