I just read a few postings here and addressed one of them. I then thought it might be a nice thing to start a thread here to talk.
Many of us lose control. We have something to eat for a meal or a snack and then it is like we are under hypnosis or something and we cannot stop. What is responsible for this?
Is it just hunger? Boredom? Emotions? Eating the wrong choices?
What are your tips for putting a stop to this kind of eating and how have you conquered this?
Also, if you are really deep down in the throws of binging, share that and perhaps some of us can help you out.

It is hard for me to have just one serving of pasta, rice, or bread. I don't know why, but I know that I just want to eat more and more and more. If I am able to get a reasonable serving and walk away, I'll just end up thinking about it and 99 times out of 100, I'll go back for more - probably until I'm miserable. I don't do that with anything else - just rice, pasta, bread. My solution at the moment is I just don't cook or have those things. I honestly don't know why other than I just really really love eating those foods.

Do you measure your seving sizes?
I hate to see you giving up on those foods as I love them too. I do tend to "guess" when I put pasta on my place and I know darn well it's more than one cup. Thanks for making me more aware that I am doing this too a bit.
With bread, I have no trouble.
I do have trouble denying myself the bread basket in a restaurant, but I have started to cut the rolls in half or slice a small piece. It's about half of what I would have had in the past. At least it's less. I count the points.
In a restaurant, I always assign 3 points for half a roll or a small piece of bread. It might be 2 but I have no way of knowing.

I have found The Thin Commandments by by Stephen Gullo to be very helpful on this front. He believes that it's not willpower but strategy that makes you succeed.

For instance, the last time I ate out there was a chip basket. I didn't take any until after I had eaten my meal and then I had a couple. Everyone else devoured them while we waited, but my "strategy" for not eating too many was not to call them a "red light" food but to simply wait and eat them at a time that worked better for me. I ended up satisfied with only 2 or 3.

He emphasizes that you may be slim (or getting slim) but you will always have the same tendencies to overeat in the same way. So you have to figure out what your weaknesses are and figured out strategies for dealing with them. I'm on my third read through this book (first time I sped through it, 2nd and now 3rd I read a page or two every night to really absorb the ideas) and I'm still getting a lot out of it. It really has changed my thinking and helped me when I seem to be out-of-control.

My thing is that it doesn't matter if I make some foods off limits because something else "red light" will take its place until I have to make the kitchen cabinets themselves "red light" foods. I binge on completely different things now than I did when I was heavy, but I still struggle with that tendency.

My biggest strategy for dealing with that issue in general is to focus on filling myself up with satisfying healthy foods. I make it a point to snack on fruit BEFORE I get hungry. When I cook, I keep a bag of grapes closeby that I can graze on to my hearts content. I put extra raisens on my cereal in place of the brown sugar - same points, but I think the raisens are better for me and I enjoy them just as much. I fill up on the good stuff so if I do indulge in the bad stuff, it's not so easy to get out of control. It's much easier to eat a sane portion when I'm almost full then when I'm ravenous. In the latter situation, it's a complete lost cause. In the former, I have a much better chance at enjoying a reasonable portion rather than calling a food "red light" and not getting to enjoy it at all.

I spend my entire day eating good foods, and I am especially careful with sweets and such (my "red light" foods) if I am planning to indulge later in the day. So if I was at a restaurant, I might eat really good if I was planning on having Cheesecake for dessert, where otherwise I might have something a little less healthy as my main portion. Again, strategy.

So those are some of the things that are really helping me out. Maybe they will help someone else as well.

I just think it is funny when someone recommends a portion control when we complain about binging... If we could do it, we didn’t have a problem.
I think most of us know what a portion should look like. We could at least have a good guess of what it should be. The problem is stick to it...
Even when the portion is big... if we could only eat that portion and that’s it, we could manage to keep our weight down... But who, with a binge issue can eat ONE and ONLY ONE portion? Doesn’t matter how big or small they are...
Today I am feeling like cr@p because I had a terrible day yesterday (which was Wednesday - I am usually good during the weekdays, but I was out of my routine yesterday and blew it big time).
I promised myself I would just eat like a normal person (there is no secrets: eat when you hungry, stop when you are full)...
Yeah right!!! I have a problem... whenever I eat something out of my routine food, I just get out of control.... I lose all my “power.” I am disgusted with myself...
But I keep trying... over and over again... I will not give up!!!
Today is another day and I am starting over clean! And I am once again promising myself next time will be different!!! We will see....

Cheesecake...cookies...ice cream



I avoid cheesecake in the house, I plan for it to go out to dinner, but I can only eat once piece if I order it out.


Cookies...I don't buy. Plain and simple. If I want some, I make them, at least they're better.


I buy Fat Free frozen Yogurt, which is really good, 1 pt per scoop. But I only allow myself 3 scoops.

Aww,
I know what you mean by binging. I do like what pageta was saying about replacing foods with other healthy foods where you can binge, but not add as much calories. Easier said then done at times. I find that I really like chips and chocolate, and I've not been bingeing on them lately, but I still have them in moderation. I'm finding that when I feel like bingeing I replace it by going for walk, calling friends or going to the gym. I'm also finding that I tend to overeat when I am not eating enough, or healthy filling foods during the day. I sometimes get caught where I don't have healthy snacks, so I take a bag of chips out of the vending machine at work. If only I could learn to plan better!

I am proud of myself that I haven't overly binged since end of August. I try not to buy the stuff that I know I'll binge on.

Around 2 months ago... I realized that I binged only when in front of the TV. Even after I've just had a full meal, just sitting in front of a television makes me want to eat Cheetos or McDonalds... doesn't matter if I'm alone or surrounded by other people. I start to crave for junk food.

But because I became conscious of this link, I've controlled myself more and slowly stopped the habit. I still get the craving (mouth watering, persistently thinking of Cheetos, hunger pangs) but I don't give in anymore. I "stop" myself and forget it.

I find this change in behavior strange as well... so I can't explain what happened. I haven't binged since that day and the thought of eating junk food in front of the TV sickens me now.

two words, chinese food....

This is me. What I binge on now is different from what I binged on when I was morbidly obese, and things that used to be OK sometimes become 'red light' foods. For instance, I used to be fine having peanut butter in the house and when I did eat it, would allot for the points and eat sensibly. But lately, I caught myself dipping into the jar and having that out-of-control feeling. So PB has been banned in my house, at least for now. I'll reintroduce it at some point when I feel comfortable and see how it goes.

A very strange binge food - grated parmesan cheese. I began eating a spoonful of it here and there, which then turned into practically a daily instance. So that's gone, too.

Another thing when it comes to binges is what I would consider a binge now is nothing near to what I ate when I was 300+ pounds. I would frequently eat thousands of calories in a sitting, outside of meals, which were also out of whack.

Now it's not so much the amount or type of food that sets off the alarms that I'm binging, but that 'needy' mental feeling, that I'm not in control and am letting my emotions dictate my response and need for food.

Thanks for that book suggestion, Pageta. It sounds like it has some really useful information; I'm going to see if my library has a copy.

I am very glad some of you are sharing those deep dark secrets and I think it's healthy. My answer about portion control, yeah I know it was "funny" but I was trying to think of a way that would mentally put a stop to a binge. For example, if I portion out a "serving size" of something and then put the original container away, maybe I wouldn't go back and reach for it?
I sometimes still feel really hungry after a meal and then pick up a bag of those mini-rice cakes and count our however many a serving size it, but then I'm still hungry and in my mind I keep saying to myself "oh, they are so small and like air and barely count for anything, I can fill up on these if I have a few more". Next thing I know the bag is gone...

I have been a binge eater since I was 12/13ish, I use food to self medicate when I'm stressed, sad, angry, etc. I would eat until I was in so much pain I couldn't move and what I used to do is stop at Burger King, grab a couple double whoppers, eat them and throw the evidence away. I wouldn't stop there, it gets worse. Then I would move on to either Mcdonald's or Taco Bell and get even MORE food, eat and discard any evidence. Since joining Weight Watchers almost a year ago, I've gotten a LOT better but I still have days where I do go on a binge. This is an eating disorder just like any other out there and for me the hardest part was learning how to deal with my emotions on my own, without food. I honestly felt 'Naked' having no food to help me through my mental anguish. While I don't binge like I used to, I will have one every few months and I get right back on track the next day.

Kimberly, sounds like you are learning to control this and I applaud you.
I do think some people self medicate with food. Feeling sad? Feeling lonely? Why that food makes you think something different and feel good in the moment, but then after the fact you beat yourself up for it.
I have a friend who will binge and purge. She has only admitted the purging part to a few close friends. I think admitting it, even to your doctor in private might be the first step to recovery.
My daughter (who is getting heavier by the day, sadly) binges and also eats mindlessly while doing things like watching TV. She is away at college and it's beyond my control any longer, but I feel for her. I think that she hides behind her weight sometimes so she doesn't have to face people. The "fat girl" (as she views herself) is not worthy and no one wants to pay attention to her, in her head she is valueless. Hope that makes sense. She is in therapy. I hope her therapist can help.

Just a minute ago I went into the fridge and grabbed the wrapped up apple pie and broke off a little piece of the crust..then a second..how the heck do you even track that?
oye..i do these things sometimes. not good

Peanut, I would write it in my journal as "pie bites" and give it at least 4 points, depending on how much you ate. I find that when I write it all down, I then quickly think about what I am doing to myself. I'm throwing out all leftover pies today, they will be no longer tempting me. I hate doing it, but that is that!
I'm excited that I go to my WW meeting today and get the new program, I know a few things about it to be true already, but am not sure how it all works for me personally. I went grocery shopping yesterday and bought healthy foods. I shied away from many carb type of things.