what's special about your binge foods? and how do we keep them at bay?!
I'm wondering what is special about our binge foods. What about them makes us tick? And how can we learn to manage these foods in our lives???
I feel like I've come so far. Like I'm past the point of binging. Then, out of nowhere, the beast attacks! I've noticed there are certain foods that bring me to binge: pasta, cereal, ham-fried rice, tortilla chips, ice cream. What is the common thread? Is it that they all have a high GI index? I don't know, but I do know I CAN'T BE TRUSTED with them.
For the most part, I've banned these foods, but I'm wondering if that is actually making it worse. They are like my forbidden fruits - so tempting to me because they are totally off limits. When I've tried to incorporate them, I'll say to myself, 'I'll measure a serving and only eat that'. But I inevitably find myself overwhelmed with the desire for seconds, thirds, FOURTHS!!! And what's worse, one binge food often leads to the next. Say we have pasta for dinner (BTW my pasta is always WW with tons of veg so I try to fill up on those - doesn't work though!), I'm much more likely to say "let's go for ice cream!", then come home and have a bowl of cereal too. This happens to me rarely, because it's rare that I allow myself items on the binge list. Nonetheless, it still happens. It happened yesterday . I want to know that I have control over these foods, that they don't have control over me. I'm obviously not there.
CEREAL. That is an absolutely HUGE one for me. The problem I have is that I like my kids having it. It's easy and cheap. The type I buy is healthy too. The problem is I will eat 1/2 the friggin' box! ARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGH!!!!
I could binge lots of things but nothing else is in the house to binge--just necessary staples--salmon, turkey, fruits, veggies, eggs, almond milk.
I'm the same way... I think I have myself under control and then WHAMMY. Yesterday was a bad day for me too. I'd been binge free for several months. Then a trip to Wendys for a frostie at lunch was followed by a dilly bar from Dairy Queen at dinner. It's wasn't pretty.
I don't know what makes those foods special. For me it's ice cream and chocolate things. I don't dig doughnuts or pasteries and that type of stuff. But Reece's pb cups, hershey bars, ice cream.... my weaknesses.
What is it with the cereal? I seem to see lots of posts on here about chickies going crazy with the cereal (myself included now!).
Yeah, I am kinda wondering the same thing.
I actually love cereal, too! Before I joined WW I'd eat it several times a day. Who knows how many servings I'd have each time! Maybe 2 or 3!
Being on WW now, I still eat cereal! Lots, actually. I have it maybe every 3 days or so for breakfast. I eat Honey Nut Cheerios, Rice Krispies...or Fruity Pebbles or Cocoa Pebbles! (had Cocoa Pebbles this morning, actually). LOL! My point in saying this is cereal doesn't make me binge (even though I love it...a lot!). I wonder why this is. I have such an addictive personality that this really surprises me. Especially since so many folks on here say that cereal is a trigger for them.
Cereal doesn't really do it for me either. I am definitely an ice cream type person, sadly I can put away a whole thing of Ben and Jerry's in about 30 min . Also, those stupid little fake snack cakes. I don't know why!
And, uh, buffalo wing chicken. Don't know why for that either.
Same here--everything seems under control and going along well, then all of the sudden, I binge. It seems like I always binge on sweets--you name it, cookies (especially chocolate chip) and candy (chocolate of any kind). I guess I considered them my "comfort" foods which is why I tend to binge on them.
My binging in the past was related to being lonely and bored, not to specific foods, nor to hunger. And being too lazy to plan meals and cook. So knowing this, if I'm bored, I read 3FC or a book or go to the gym or take a nap instead of eating. When I'm lonely, I think of the fabulous man I'll find after I'm comfortable with my weight and the fun activities I'll be able to do when I'm healthier. Unplanned food doesn't look so good then.
And I'm proud to say that planning my food and preparing it is now an ingrained habit. And I LOVE my own cooking!
when I binged, I loved cereal in a huge bowl of milk--without the milk it is not as appealing. That would just get me started. The insulin release is what causes us chickies to go crazy with things like that...
breakfast really is detrimental to me in that sense.
my other trigger foods: pasta. rice with cheese. tortilla chips with salsa (restaurant style only) . ice cream. cookies. cake. peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches. brownies. pudding (not single serve, the box kind). rice pudding.
I am pretty sure the creamy binge foods come from the binge/purge part of my life. creamy foods are easier to get rid of.
the #1 food I CAN NOT EAT : fudge striped shortbread cookies. I could go through a whole pack and 10 glasses of milk...b4 I realized I was binging.
I have a handle on most of the foods that trigger me. but I still will not buy these things. because the smooth chocolate over the shortbread just drives me wild! I can eat just one of most cookies now. I'm not going to tempt myself with those things. They were my binge friend for way too long.
I know eventually I will have to face them to show myself I can resist the binge...just something I have to do. Plus...buying them will help me get rid of the very unhealthy obsession with them. I'm the type of person that faces my fears.
I did that too...picked out the creamy, sweet foods because they are much easier to get rid of. I often went for ice cream because it was the easiest. That is why I have to give up ice cream, cake, cookies, etc.
I realised that there is no nutritional value in my trigger . . . chips . . . so I wont be eating them and am OK with that. I spent the last year eating them in any quantity I felt like (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and the one thing that I felt each time was - hang on, these dont taste as good as I remembered. Then the next day I would be dehydrated and gassy (tmi) . . . So ofcourse as any logical person would do I kept confirming my suspicions by eating them with regularity . . . !! Now I just dont buy them anymore and the lure has pretty much gone down to zero as time has gone on.
The other stuff I can inhale without thinking twice about it is pretty much any processed carbohydrate. "Luckily" I am insulin resistant so that curbs my intake alone, but if I eat them in a meal I usually make sure I have adequate protein as part of the meal and veggies. I usually eat . . . salad then protein and carbs last. Not sure when I picked up that habit but being fuller before I start to inhale my pasta seems to help
I dont really like sweet foods so that takes care of that
I havent really made a decision to cut out anything FOREVER though, but I think I read a post that Amanda made somewhere and my focus is on foods with a soul (love that! ) So if mum cooks a cake or makes bread or pasta from scratch and I want some, I will have it. I just have to make a conscious decision to do it and not go off into that food haze where all bets are off . . .
Last edited by Madison; 07-25-2009 at 01:02 AM.
Reason: typo
My binge foods are the usuals, I guess. Sweets, bread, pasta. And hotdogs. I don't know why, especially since they're disgustingly-made and I know that, but there's something about hot dogs that allows me to each 4 or 5 if I really wanted to. Plus they're cheap, and we always had cheap food around when I was little.
I think all of my binge foods are psychological rather than (or at least more than) physiological. Foods I binge on are cheap processed foods I had in abundance growing up, despite the fact that I typically had to sneak them. Sneaking them itself, I think, is directly related to my binges. Because part of me equates binging=sneaking and sneaking=those foods.
My binge food is very specific. I can put away an entire bag of Trader Joe's Multi-grain Tortilla Chips in no time - with or without salsa. They're like food crack to me, it's insane. So, I don't even look in their direction when I'm in TJ's. I know there's no possible way at this time for me to have one or two, it's all or nothing.
what's special about your binge foods? and how do we keep them at bay?!
And what's worse, one binge food often leads to the next. Say we have pasta for dinner (BTW my pasta is always WW with tons of veg so I try to fill up on those - doesn't work though!), I'm much more likely to say "let's go for ice cream!", then come home and have a bowl of cereal too. This happens to me rarely, because it's rare that I allow myself items on the binge list. Nonetheless, it still happens. It happened yesterday 
. I want to know that I have control over these foods, that they don't have control over me. I'm obviously not there.
