just wondering, what are your binges like and how long do they last?

I 've realized that my binges fall into two categories.
1. eat very slowly and consciously but constantly for up to 3 hours.
2. eat very quickly and wolfing any food down for about an hour.

anyone know the reasons why I binge despite both ways being totally different?

Mine start with fear--always. Fear that I won't get to eat any of the food before someone else does, fear that I've already blown something for the day, fear that nobody loves me, fear of an important event, fear, fear, fear.

They always consist of wolfing, and they always involve this intense need to include every *type* of food (meats, starches, sweets, etc., etc.).

They don't end until I start zoning out...which maybe is the point in the first place.

Interesting question.

i binge when i am bored and when i am sleepy. also, when i havent eaten the entire day and i am finally home around food and i cant wait the three minutes it takes to microwave some beans.

Hmm... never thought about this... let's see...

My usual is spread over several hours, but spurts of eating over that time. Like, I'll get home and start with a snack that I eat in some kind of daze. Then we'll go out for actual dinner and I will methodically pack in appetizer, bread, salad, entree, and be full. About an hour later I go cruising for dessert, and I'll usually eat a couple of servings until I am absolutely sick and can't even lay down for bed. I have to sleep sitting up because I can't breathe...

The other is what I call grazing. I just snack on little things all day long and never ever get full. I don't eat as many calories this way, or get as full and sick, but it's still binge behavior.

The good news is that I don't really do the first one any more, or at least, I haven't in a long time. I still have a grazing episode every few weeks, maybe not as much as once a month. I CAN still sit down and seriously overdo it at a meal, but it isn't that same "bingey" feeling, it's just plain lack of portion control. I feel really different when it's a binge rather than just eating too much, does anyone else? Kind of like I'm stoned or in a trance or something...

-Lala

Almost always, my binges occur when I'm tired (usually mid-afternoon), and if I haven't eaten "properly" in the morning.
I have both types of binges, too, Rachel.
I think that for me, I have a "quick" binge when I'm not too tired, and I just want a pick-me-up, you know? The long extended binge occurs when I'm really tired and don't make a conscious effort to do anything about it. Like simply taking a nap.

It also depends of the quantity and quality of food available. For instance, if it's Christmas time, and the house is groaning with food, I'm all set for a full-out long term binge. Which is good reason for not keeping trigger food in the house.

Boredom, worry, waiting ... I usually eat an inordinately large amount of one thing like ... soda biscuits until the box is empty. It is 'killer' for me to have a couple of pounds of trail mix in the house.

Mine can be brought on by many factors. Fear, boredom, worry, stress......I have to KNOW that I have plenty of food in to satisfy my binge and if I am cooking something, I cant just wait till it's cooked properly and then eat. I will eat while I am waiting. I also have to know when I am eating that there is plenty more food for me to get to just in case I want more. When I am on a binge, food is all I think about. Nothing else comes into it. I get REALLY frustrated if something interupts my binge and this can lead to me continuing on with the binge for longer than anticipated.

Fear, boredom, anxiety, stress.....

in addition to the types of binges listed, I've also had entire weekend binges where I cut off all contact with the outside world and eat so much that I cant sit or lay down comfortably. Thank goodness I havent had that happen in a few months....

When I eat something off plan or just unhealthy, I say "ooops, guesss I'll eat like this the whole day and have a HUGE binge later to make it worth it." And I'll eat whatever I want throughout the day, and then go to the grocery store and buy tons of stuff to binge on. Of course, lots of sweet stuff is involved. And that last binge is the major gut busting binge where I barely chew and just shovel in. Eating might only last 15 minutes because I eat so fast. And I'm talking about POUNDS of food here.

My binges are perpetrated by my binge-monster AKA Bigfoot or Sasquatch, a large apelike creature reportedly sighted hundreds of times in the United States and Canada (most often in the Pacific Northwest) since the mid-19th cent. (He actually LIVES in my kitchen in a large metal cage!) Similar to Asia's abominable snowman, Bigfoot is variously described as standing 7—10 ft (2—3 m) tall and weighing over 500 lb (227 kg), with footprints 17 in. (43 cm) long. Sasquatch is a Native American name for the creature. Most scientists discount the existence of Bigfoot, and some supposed footprints of the animal are known to be hoaxes, such as those produced by Ray L. Wallace in Humboldt co., Calif., in 1958.

Ha! Seriously, I do actually feel like I am having an "out of body", "out of mind" experience when I binge so I blame my alter-ego binge beast! It's easier to HATE him, he is huge, hairy, has very poor dental hygiene and smells bad!

My binges are like compulsions. A stong urgent desire to eat something even though I am not "hungry". Like a drug addict, I KNOW that I don't need the extra food. In fact, it is harming me. But sometimes I just can't resist.

I'm still trying to figure out what causes my binges so I can help prevent them. The one truth that I have accepted is that I will always struggle with my binge beast. He is immortal. He will not die just because I reach my goal weight. In fact, he becomes even more aggitated! It is a life long struggle. But one that is worth FIGHTING for!

Wow...What a question...I binge like I am never going to have food ever again. I hide large amounts of food...and go through extensive measures just to get the food to my room and hidden, such as, using suitcases, overnight bags, etc.... When a binge happens, I lock my door and shove food in my mouth and eat it so fast, and if I get too full, I sometimes go puke...but I don't do that too often which is why I am sooooo fat.

Sometimes if I am driving around, I will stop at multiple places and then park somewhere private and gorge myself. Just sickening!

I hate it! I hate it! I hate it! This may sound so incredibly dumb, but I promise sometimes it feels like a drug...can anyone relate?

LOL telemetrynurse!!!!!!!!! I was dying over your Sasquatch description.

fidget, yes, it does feel like a drug, and with good reason. It IS a drug. Enough food dulls the mind. It shuts us off. It takes over our bodies. As digestion of such enormous quantities commences, that is all we can handle at the moment, and therefore we are sort of "transported" into that drugged state. You know, the post-Thanksgiving-esque one where everyone in the family is lying around mumbling to themselves and nodding off in the living room? Well...there you have it.

The whole point of bingeing, in my belief, IS the fact that it turns off our minds and gives us one type of pain to mask another one which is even harder to bear.

Now we all have to take a page out of Ilene's book and turn these confessions into positive affirmations ....

I feel blessed and thankful that I no longer ....eat an inordinately large amount of one thing like ... soda biscuits until the box is empty