Hello all -

Do you find that to abstain from binging you must cut a particular food out completely? Or does moderation work better? I hate the thought of cutting something out completely but also know that when I'm doing lower carb, I get fuller and my cravings are less (ie little/no sugar).

Thoughts? Just trying to find balance...

At first I found the foods I binged on, or was more likely to binge on, and yeah I cut them out completely at first. Then I started getting a bit more gutsy and I would eat them occasionally and then was able to work them in more in moderation. It worked for me, I hope you find your balance, too!

I've found that if I tell myself I can't have something at all, it only makes me want it more. So I budget in potatoes, a lovely piece of crusty white bread, etc. when I want it in a small portion, to keep myself from the urge to go overboard later.

The only exception to this is refined sugars and artificial sweeteners, which I am going cold turkey off of. It's killing me, but I'm finding that I love unsweetened iced tea and water as much as crystal light and diet soda, and the natural sugars in fruits and things are seeming much sweeter now.

There are certain things I cut out completely because they trigger me, but that's worked fine because I don't even want them anymore. Most things though, moderation works best for me.

What I did was to ban certain foods from my house, but if I encounter them out in public, I can have them. I don't binge in front of others, so if I'm out and someone offers me a reese's peanut butter cup, I will allow myself to have one. But those cannot come into my house, because I can't control myself with them alone.

It works well because I can still eat everything, but it ensures moderation (that I can't provide on my own!)

paris81, this is so true! Unbelievable true for me! I also had to ban some foods from my house because when the time comes and i look for comfort and i look for crisps and chocolates, i will eat them and it will be loads.

But out with people I have began to see that it is ok. I have a little bit of something and I register that i do eat it so i don't feel deprived or something.

Also like bunnythesAINT said, cutting off foods at first and when i add them back, its better. I have through binging on crisps and cookies developed this thing that i can't have a bit, a always want more and i am left craving for more. So now I have cut them off and that is it. I do ocassionally have a bit when I am out with friends or something and i strongly believe that as time goes on, the cravings will be less. But even then why would I want to eat much of something that is not good for my body? Hopefully I will still decide to eat food that is good for me.

Some foods I do better with just cutting them out completely or will buy only the smallest portion I can get even though I pay more the single serving. There are some items that I will overeat no matter how much I tell myself I'll only eat one.

Potato chips, cookies, nuts, ice cream, whipped cream, cake...snack foods.
I start out being good, then it's "just a little bit more" before I know it, I've eaten the entire thing.

I don't cut them out complete, just stop buying them for the house. I've stopped kidding myself that I'm buying it for my dh. Because he never eats it.

I've even discovered that by cutting them out I don't really like them anymore. I used to really love pop tarts. I'd buy them when they were a good price and stock up and eat a ton of them. I haven't had any in a few years and recently a young friend had one and shared with me and I can't figure out why I liked them so much.

Sarah in MD

For me, the foods I am usually binging on are horrible food choices anyway (candy bars, donuts, doritos, etc.) so it doesnt feel like I'm cutting it out of my life because its not really supposed to be there. I have to completely cut out the junk for a while in order for my cravings to go away.

Occassionally in public I will have something. I will try to split whatever it is with someone else to ensure that I don't overdo it.

Like others have said, I cut out some things that need to be but overall, it's more of a moderation approach.

Good luck with your journey!

At age 45 I finally cut candy out of my life completely. I had been trying to eat it in moderation since I was a kid and finally came to terms that wasn't ever going to happen.

5 years later when I decided to lose weight, there are foods that I only eat once in a while because a "reasonable" serving isn't enough for me. For example, cookies and chips.

On the other hand I can absolutely eat a normal portion of chocolate or ice cream so I do.

I don't think there is one right answer on this, you have to figure out your body/mind/cravings. But if you've never eaten a particular food in moderation, I recommend going cold turkey on those foods.

I think you should experiment. Personally I found that now I am FINALLY having success and have lost down to a weight I haven't been in a long time. (I would bound around the same five pounds but never dip lower than that before) For me I am removing foods completely. I just wasn't able to be successful with mooderation. I think that once this new eating is a well established habit, that I will be able to cautously re-introduce foods. Then if I don't seem to go crazy I'll know I can do moderation. For me this is whats working. But I am sure some people can do great eating things in moderation. The advantage to that is you dont feel deprived.

Like you when I eat low carb I am fuller longer and my cravings are less. So that's what I am currently doing I realized that I can't do moderation right now b/c I'd just want more and more. This time I want to gradually add the carbs back but I will always watch my sugar intake not only for cravings sake but I noticed my skin is at it's best without it.

For me it's best to try to just cut out the trigger and binge foods completely. If I have them at all then it really messes things up. But I am still in the early days, so if I were able to go binge-free for an extended time and get to a healthy goal weight for a good amount of time, then I might experiment with trying things in moderation. But I have to make it there first to really even have that option.

For me, under no circumstances, would I ever "ban" any food.

In my personal view, that's exactly like treating the symptom, rather than the underlying problem. By avoiding situations where I would be likely to binge (e.g., by banning foods), sure, that might stop me binging for now. But it doesn't do anything at all to address and resolve the underlying issues surrounding why I find it hard to exercise self-control around those foods in the first place, and for me, that's the crux of the matter that I think is important to tackle, rather than its behavioural manifestations.

As for so many other people on this board, my way of eating and exercising is something I'd like to keep up for life, and I don't want to be the sort of person that "can't" eat foods if I enjoy them, because I'm unable to exercise restraint and moderation, it'd make me feel quite fragile, like I was teetering on some sort of boundary that if I crossed it, I'd just gain a load of weight again. I don't see that being satisfying in the long term, and I don't see it doing anything to address the psychological issues relating to food. If I lost weight and became physically healthier by banning foods as part of a healthy eating plan, that might be good, but in my view, it's much better to be not only physically, but mentally healthy, with regards to my relationship with food.

As has been said in the thread above, there's no "one size fits all" solution, and for some people, my choices may be totally unsuitable, but for me personally, I find this works really well.

These are all great posts - It's hard because I'll be on my way to a "healthier relationship with food" ie. enjoyed the heck out of a chocolate croissant with m coffee while on vacation this past weekend - In crested butte, outside, with the mountains - the whole experience was delicious but then I went overboard, had a few small binges and the "diet tomorrow" mentality kicked in - So here I am back on Phase 1 of South Beach to get rid of the water weight (and try to get back down to 140) before I go to France for a semester.

I do agree, and like the idea, that nothing is banned but certain foods can be banned from the house (for me it's ice cream & sugar cereals).

Yeah, this is an interesting idea and I guess I've kind of been doing this without really thinking consciously about it. There are a few foods that I just cannot bring into the house because once I get started, I will go nuts on them. All reason leaves my head. Chips and dip are a good example. Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting is another (actually, any cake with frosting is dangerous for me). I'm fortunate that I don't really care for donuts so I don't eat the free ones at work, but if I had them in the house....I dunno. So I don't buy those, either. But I do seem to be able to eat just a few potato chips with my sandwich when it comes that way in a restaurant, though. If there is cake at work, I do struggle a bit with that and I'm better if I just don't eat any at all.

I'm really kind of on the brink right now, to be honest. I went through a bit of a gaining phase in the past few months. I've caught ahold of it and am maintaining, but I'm still a good 15 pounds higher than where I was last November and I just need to somehow get back into losing mode.