Talking myself out of binging

SparkPoints: (15,355)
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Posts: 41
1/13/13 7:41 A

We've all been there. when I'm out of the cycle and I look back at binging, I think of the cycle as being with a screaming infant. No matter do, it won't stop screaming. And so you get caught up in all the chaos and can feel really helpless. In this situation you can hand the infant over to someone who can help you. So you can leave the room and regroup and find yourself again. An then go back in. With binging, I tend to just keep giving in to the process. So I could walk away (literally) from the food. Leave that space. Call someone. Walk to a neighbors. Or just go for a walk. Till I recover my calmer sense of self. From that perspective I can re-enter where I was binging, clean out cupboards or the refrigerator, throw out trigger food, make myself a cup of tea or some other hot drink. Maybe take a bath or just relax for a while. And then reset my eating. Plan my next meal, etc........I realize I'm rambling. I hope some of this resonates for you. Through monitoring our eating we learn a great deal about ourselves. It can at time be overwhelming. My goal is to be a better friend to myself, so this journey is all worth it. Take care of yourself.

Pounds lost: 11.0

0 7.25 14.5 21.75

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1/12/13 3:43 P

LIFECHANGER33,

It sure sounds like you're ready to make a change to your life. Binging is a complex disorder with no easy solution. The fact that you recognize that you're an emotion eater is an important step towards reducing those binges. Have you read any of the Spark articles on emotional eating ? If not, I highly recommend reading them. The better educated you become about binging, the better you'll be able to cope. There are a lot of different resources on the internet. Many are free, take advantage of them.

www.sparkpeople.com/resource/wellness_arti
cles.asp?id=1396

And here's something I hope you'll also find helpful. This is a piece of advice I give to all new members,"Don't look at good health or weight loss with an all or nothing mentality". If the only healthy thing you did for yourself was drink 8 glasses of water, that's still a step in the right direction. Every little bit really does add up.

Don't beat yourself up because you regained some of the weight. That is something that has happened to every single SP member at one time or another. You can't change the past, but you can influence and change the future. That's what really counts.

SparkPoints: (24,573)
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1/12/13 9:26 A

Hang in there LifeChanger33! SP has some great articles about emotional eating/binging etc. Keeping a personal journal along with your food diary might help you understand the situations when you feel like binging. It helped me learn my triggers and now I'm working on ideas of what to do instead of binging and also working past some of the "stuff" that got me to that place. YOU CAN DO IT!!!

current weight: 290.0

315 280 245 210

175

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1/9/13 4:14 P

Hi,

I really like your post because it shows some thinking on your part as to why you do, what you do, when you do it. That to me is a big step in changing behavior.

You do not have to deprive yourself of the foods you enjoy. I believe that this can be a big trigger for many of us to binge. For me, when I made a food off-limits the minute I had a bite or two, I developed an all-or-nothing mentality. Once I allowed myself to have any foods, the more control I seemed to have. Instead of saying I can't have it and changed my thought to I don't want it, there was a sense of empowerment and not deprivation.

Hang in there and CONGRATS on your weight loss!

Coach Nancy

SparkPoints: (1,235)
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Posts: 5
1/9/13 3:43 P

around two years ago I lost just over a hundred pounds and was thrilled but got down on myself because I had so much more to go (not the right attitude). I was at a plateau losing weight I wanted to get under two hundred pounds but was shy 10 pounds and shortly after loss motivation and gained weight back quite a bit but luckily not all of it. Now I am noticing a lot of binging which makes me think maybe I am stuffing my feelings about something. When I was losing the weight I was pushing really hard to loose the weight and deprived myself sometimes, this time I want to learn to be able to enjoy food without being at war. So today I'm having some issues not getting into a binge cycle and I'm sure I'm not alone.

current weight: 237.0

245 223.75 202.5 181.25

160