Binging has been my "go to" method for stress relief when I feel overwhelmed.

I've been working on substituting regular exercise to deal with the stress and it's been successful. That said, I have still had a couple episodes in the past two weeks. A binge on "healthy" food is still a binge.

So, the cereal thread in particular got me thinking about the role of childhood influences (nostalgia/emotional) on the binging urge. In your experiences what's been the most helpful for dealing with this issue? Boards like this? Books? Professional counseling?

Any thoughts are gratefully appreciated.

Great question! I still binge but what has helped me a lot is counting calories and working out. I also try to keep busy and to do something relaxing from time to time. I also have to workout every day. Any day that I miss, I'm at serious risk for a binge. I've just heard from a good friend a little tip she heard from Wayne Dyer (a motivational speaker on PBS). He said that every night, before you go to sleep, focus on anything good at all that you did that day...nothing bad and let that marinate all night (for lack of a better word!) and that helps too. I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds like something worth while.

That sounds like an awesome idea!

When I am in the midst of a binge, I sometimes will think of how little control I will have over food if I do binge, and other times I just try to go somewhere or shop. Yeah, the shopping thing isn't so good. Although, I must admit that I did some good relaxing shopping the other week and only ended up spending $4 bucks (not including the water I drank!) for like an hour or so of shopping. Not too shabby!

I'm glad I'm not the only one that shops when I feel a binge urge... Although I'm trying to cut down on that. What has helped me is the influences of loved ones. A good friend once said "Sarah, I know what you're doing and it hurts ME to see you hurt yourself." Now, when I think I want to binge, I remember those words before I do it. Sometimes, I can keep from doing it, and sometimes I can't, but it's definitely helped.

I have gone through some professional counselling before, and it has helped. One thing that has stuck out to me is being advised to tape affirmations on my mirrors like "I deserve to eat healthily and feel good about myself today." If I feel bad about myself from the start, I'm not inclined to try to control things.

Also, 3FC has been a HUGE help for me, because I know there are plenty of people who are going through the same stuff with weight and body image. Obviously I am not THAT weird if lots of other people are saying things that have run through my own mind.

Okay, I think I get it. We all stand a better chance of successfully managing the binge urge by focusing on the positive and encouraging supportive relationships..with a little retail therapy thrown in here and there.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this one. This is why I adore 3FC. You're the best.

I just think about my goals over and over. I want to be healthy and live a long life. I want to increase my chances of having a baby. I want to feel good about myself.

Every urge makes me focus on the end result and realize reaching my goals is what I REALLY want. I might want to binge really bad in the moment... And I'll hate myself for saying no and I might even cry, but that's all just temporary. My goals are solid though and I want to achieve them more than I've ever wanted to binge.

At over a month without binging, I feel no more cured than the last time I gave in. I still get urges and I can't swear I'll never give in to them again. That's actually good for me also because when I say "never" to the idea of binging, I want to rebel against myself. When I say "No, maybe next time" I tend to pass it up easier, then I say the same thing when next time comes around. I have to take it on one binge at a time.

And as others have said, 3FC is a great tool. I'll come on here quite often when I want to binge and just read the inspiration in this forum. It takes my mind off of it and motivates me.

Using exercise to relieve stress has also helped me.

But I think professional counseling was critical. My therapist kept repeating three mantras to me, until finally they got through to me:

"Take a few minutes & feel the feeling."

"Ask yourself, 'What is the feeling?''"

"Then ask yourself, what is the need? What do I need to take care of myself? Will eating or food really address that need?"

So I found myself stopping, in the middle of turmoil or near hysteria or a blur of hurt, and asking, "Okay, what is going on here? What is this about?" I was actually able to get outside myself & observe myself & try to sort out & identify my feelings.

And once I knew what I was feeling, and what was really going on inside me, nearly always, and what I needed, eating was not the solution. Eating solves hunger. That's about it. It does not alleviate grief. It does not give me self-confidence when I feel insecure. It does not make me less tired when I am wiped out & really need to rest or sleep. It does not steady me at work when my shoulders are stiffened up near my ears with stress because I'm trying to make a writing deadline. Those are all different things & lead to different needs.

But my therapist must have repeated this to me endlessly for about six months or more before this created a voice within my head that would ask me these questions & take me through the process.

Saef, that is terrific information. I really appreciate it. I'll give that a try the next time I'm in a "binge worthy" moment.

When I feel the urge to binge, I eat a grapefruit first (sometimes two). I love grapefruit and I make myself peel it COMPETELY. Now let me tell ya this takes about 30 min. alone. By then MOST OF THE TIME the urge is over. Hince the sometimes two. This is whats worked for two months so far.

I've had these thoughts recently, whether I binge or I don't binge I'm going to feel two things: upset and happy. It's just the order I feel them in that changes. For instance, if I give in to the urge to binge, I'll feel happy for a brief period of time..maybe an hour (at the most) usually all of 10 minutes. Then, I feel upset for at least a day (usually two!) afterwards for giving in to the urge. When I want to binge and don't, I feel upset...I'd like to say that feeling doesn't last long, but that would be a lie. If I'm in a situation where I can't get away from the trigger, I'll most likely be upset until I can get away. Otherwise, I do everything I can to remove myself from the situation and then the upset "want-to-binge-but-know-it-won't-solve-anything" feeling goes away. Then, I'm happy afterwards. Happy that I made a good choice, happy that I was able to look a trigger in the face and walk away.

I've found that if I remind myself of this when I'm in that moment, then I manage the urge. Like I said, it's a recent realization, but it's really helped.

Oh, one other thing is that I've been trying to ask myself "Am I hungry?" whenever I feel the urge. So far...the answer has always been no! And just thinking about how I'm not hungry makes me realize that food must not be want I truly want (now if only I can figure out what I really want...then I'll be golden!)

I sing when I have the urge to binge! It's probably one of those things you cannot do while eating. I tried to eat and sing once and I choked on my food.

Plus I really love singing so it takes my mind of food. And when you're engrossed in a song all you want to do is sing along with every single word so you won't get a chance to eat.

Or if it doesn't work, I'll find something I hate to eat and take a bite. Hahaha.

I set the alarm on my cell phone for 20 minutes. I tell myself that I can have the food that's calling to me when the alarm goes off in 20 minutes. Almost always -- the urge to binge goes away in that time period.

I stopped a 30 year binge problem by practicing the One Bowl method. It's based on a book by Don Gerrard. I felt I could not control the binges themselves, but I could control it indirectly. I had a special bowl from which I ate all my foods. The bowl was unique and fit comfortably in my hand. I could eat whatever I wanted out of the bowl, but I had to sit with it, eat slowly and enjoy what I was eating.

His experiments throughout the book were about reconnecting to the joy of eating, something I had fallen away from. To me, in those days, food was an enemy and something to hate and fear. The bowl brought me a different perspective and eventually changed my whole relationship to eating and food. Eating from the bowl was nurturing and positive. It was really mindset altering too. I had to go through changes like at first thinking the bowl was too small, getting annoyed that the bowl had to be hand washed so frequently and that I had to get up off my butt to go fill it again.

Eventually the bowl became a symbol of nurturing myself. That is when the binge cycles stopped. So instead of trying to stop myself from eating, I gave myself permission to eat and that broke the cycle. It wasn't long before I realized what foods made me "hum" as the author calls a symphony within, when food, consumption and digestion all feel so right. It is a form of intuitive eating with a bit of portion control built right in.

I still eat most of my meals from my bowl. It is very small (see avatar) and it keeps me satisfied on many levels, including seeking comfort from it when I am emotionally vulnerable. I have not binged in about 7 years. Without dieting, I was also able to maintain my weight (although obese) during that whole time. I gained about 17 pounds last year, but that was eating very poorly during the time my husband and I lost our jobs and had to sell our home. It was the best thing I did for myself.

Wow, that's a really cool idea.

It's no coincidence that I came across this post since I've been binging for the past two days on Hostess Chocolate Cupcakes.

I'm sooooo aware of my behavior being a way to deal with stress. I've had a package of 2 cupcakes (350 calories and let's not even talk about the fat) for two days and I'm painfully aware of the triggers. I also recognize this behavior because of where I've indulged ---parked in my car in a parking lot...soooo pitiful.

Well, I've had some issues that I've been dealing with this week but today I packed my normal healthy lunch which included a snack bag of carrots which have coincidentally been missing from my lunch bag for the past two days. Having an accessible bag of baby carrots has been really helpful since I recently began this journey and I should never have allowed myself to skip this part of my eating routine.
Wow, I feel better just writing this. Thanks