Hi everyone!

Please share your personal insight and knowledge! What do you feel triggers a binge for you? What, if anything, has helped you stop, minimize or eliminate binges?

Do you believe that certain foods are addictive, triggering a binge?
Can sugar, wheat and flour trigger a binge, like alcohol triggers an alcoholic binge in alcoholics? If you believe this, do you try to completely eliminate these substances? Are you successful?

Do you believe that bingeing is emotionally based, irregardless of the food?
If you believe this, what steps do you take to take control? Do you seek professional help, group support(like OA or 3FC forum) medication, meditation or distraction techniques?

Do you believe that binges are caused by other things, such as boredom?

I've been wondering this myself. I'm a horrible binge eater, I have been for a few years now and I can't seem to get it under control.

Myself, I binge when I get discouraged about my weight. Backwards isn't it? I just seem to give up and eat like crazy. THen when I get back on track I've gained about 5 lbs. I also know that boredom triggers a binge for me. My finance read a study about genetics and binge/overeating. It said some people are just more genetically prone to overeating and binge eating. Some people lack the receptors to let them know they are full. The way I control my binge eating is to find something else to do! I read a book, take a walk or call a friend on the phone. I don't think there is any real answer. A girl I work with's psychiatrist gave her a pill to control her binge eating. You could look into that.

I don't think I really have any definite triggers...well I guess too much alcohol can definitely lead to a binge. What I do to minimize them is to start out with low calorie, but filling foods. Apples work best for me, salad or a veggie plate can work well to start off. Then I move on to what I'm really craving (usually cheese for me, since I don't keep chocolate or chips in the house) so I don't feel like I'm depriving myself by eating only fruits and veggies. However, those starter foods make me feel fuller so I end up eating less of those higher calorie foods. No matter how much you want to eat, there's only so much food that will fit in your stomach. Your body and mind can start to learn that you can actually satisfy a specific craving just as well with one portion as you can with a whole family sized box of what you're eating (that took me a long time to learn). I've found lately that even when I do binge, I seldom go over 1,000 calories, which helps to ease the guilt. I definitely am a night time binger, so I keep my daytime meals deliberatly lower in calories because I know I'll make up for it later.

For an example, last night I had (in this order): salad, popcorn, crackers and low-calorie peanut butter, crackers and three kinds of cheese, yogurt, even more cheese. This may or may not sound like a full-on binge to you, but this is more of what a binge has become for me, and I haven't really eaten anything that was all that bad. My boyfriend mentioned ordering pizza last night, which of course sounded good, but I knew I could feel happy and full with what was in the house. My binging habits have definitely evolved over the course of the past several months; it's been a slow, but positive process. It's not always the quantity of food, but the quality of food that can make a huge difference.

I only binge when I'm depressed, sad, or stressed, and I still do it but instead of eating bad things I restrict myself to diet friendly foods. An entire bag of popcorn has a lot less calories than a whole box of Honey Nut Cheerios!! It makes me feel better and I don't feel guilty about eating bad foods.

my binges are brought on by, stress, feelings of low self esteem, loneliness, basically anytime i feel out of control. i lose it with food. when i binge it is usually at night when everyone is asleep, or when no one is home, i flip back and forth between salty and sweet and i never have the feeling of fullness until i am done and all the regret creeps in. i can eat a lot of food during a binge i don't taste most of it i just have to have it.

i tend not to binge when all the rest of the stuff in my life is in order, you know kids are good, husband loves me, bills are paid, house is clean etc. i am also a lot less likely to binge when i eat well all day and exercise. i guess i feel good about myself on those days and don't want to mess it up. for me there are no real food triggers that i can identify, it all seems to be feelings related.

to get back on track?? (still working on this) well this last time, i talked myself out of it. i stopped myself on saturday morning after a 6 day post easter candy and ham free-for-all, before i put a thing in my mouth i stopped and sat down and made a plan, i decided to spring clean 2 rooms of my house and reorganize some things. i made a detailed menu for the week and shopped for the food. i just basically talked myself down before totally giving up. i stopped feeling sorry for myself and it worked. i am now on my 3rd binge free day!

I binge when I eat dessert, be it full-sugar/full-fat or sugar-free diet desserts. The same thing goes for sweet cereals and breads. I've avoided these things since Christmas, and have been binge-free since!

I still eat fruit - sometimes 3 at a time, but it doesn't trigger a binge for me. It's truly a miracle, this turn-around. I still think about food more than I suspect most people do, and I'm almost never "full," but I no longer stuff myself with abandon. It's a huge relief feeling free of the anxiety of the next looming binge. I'm not afraid anymore!

I actually just stopped a binge fest (similar to Jodi's up there - candy and ham) It is my drive to get to my goal weight that stops my bingeing. I'm so determined to get to my goal weight, and this last binge put weight back on me, and I hate seeing the scale go up instead of down, so I decided to take control back. I just have to keep telling myself, "You're destroying all of your hard work and not making progress." I think anything that is not on my plan triggers a binge for me, because I usually say, "Well the day is shot; it's a free for all tonight!!" It really is anything, whether I eat something someone brings me or if I go buy some chocolate. I LOVE chocolate and I've come to the realization that I can't give it up completely. So I sneak it in in miniscule amounts. Although it's a complete under-indulgence, I just have to deal with it. Today I had ONE hershey's kiss, and though I wanted to go out and buy a jumbo Cadbury bar, I was strong and I didn't. It really sucks, but I know if I had gone out and bought that bar, I would have had to contend with an overwhelming urge to binge later tonight. For many people, bingeing is emotionally based. I haven't exactly figured out why I binge (sometimes I'm really happy and I binge) and I rarely get depressed. I'm not the most psychologically healthy of individuals, and I'm not quite sure if I'm really in touch with my emotions at all. I feel I may bury them deeply and never have bothered to deal with them. So I think I binge as a way to keep those emotions from surfacing. Sometimes I'll eat when I get bored, but they are not neccessarily binges. I might eat some pretzels or something, but I binge because I just have this overwhelming feeling to do so.

i am always thinking about food, what i will eat when and where

my trigger foods are mainly alcohol, sugar and bread but i'll binge on almost anything. i'm triggered by anything sweet tasting even if it doesn't have sugar in it

i binge from boredom, sadness, loneliness, frustration, anger, irritability mainly. but i will overeat on pretty much any occasion or excuse

cures - yeah well still working on that puzzle. i don't binge when i'm in love but it's a long time since that happened. if i'm superbusy i tend not to binge. to head it off i try journalling, talking to people, going for a walk or having a sleep.

sometimes for sugar cravings i have chocolate chips. they are tiny so you get chocolate and sugar but only in small portions. or you can shave dark chocolate for the same effect.