Advice to stop binging please!!!

Posts: 10,847
2/28/13 9:34 A

1. make sure you are eating enough calories. sometimes "great throughout the day" ends up meaning you're eating too few calories overall, which primes you to binge later on. starting out with a little slower goal can help you through that adjustment period. in other words, you might be able to lose weight at 1200-1550 cals, but you might have an easier time learning how to eat fewer calories at 1500-1750. you'll still lose, just a little slower and as you learn what keeps you full it can be easier to eat at the lower ranges. plus, if part of it is that you were eating 3000 cals a day and now you're trying to max out at half that, part of the problem is that you're used to eating a lot more and time is really the only thing that's going to help you adjust. so eating a little higher as an intermediate step can help with that.

2. figure out the most filling foods for you. and when you have that first snack, fine. as you're going for the second, skip the food you want in favor of something really filling. my big aha moment came courtesy of pringles. i was hungry when i got home from work, so i had a serving. still hungry i had another. as i was heading for the third serving i decided to perhaps try something else, so i had about 100 cals of shrimp stir fry [i buy the contessa frozen kind and use whole foods teriyaki sauce in place of the sauce that comes with it so that a half serving is about 100 cals] and that filled me up. the next day when i found myself in the same situation, i headed for the shrimp stir fry first and was full without the extra 400 cals of pringles. and ever since then whenever i start heading for that second snack i divert to a filling meal/snack and about 90% of the time that ends it right there. it's much easier to eat junky stuff when you've been snacking on other junky stuff, and especially so when you are really hungry in the first place. it's a lot harder to snack when you have a full stomach from a filling eating opportunity. and if you are trying to stuff more in as you know and can feel you are full, it's time to deal with emotional eating issues. my other go to is a baked potato topped with steamed broccoli and cheese or a baked potato topped with lentil curry. both filling and both topping out around 300 calories, which is a lot fewer calories than i can eat from chips in a sitting.

Posts: 51,800
2/28/13 9:08 A

Here's an article you might find helpful:

www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_art
icles.asp?id=1703

I'm not sure how significant your binges are, but I think this second article is worth taking a look at just in case you feel like the problem is something you have serious trouble controlling:

www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_art
icles.asp?id=812

Hope that helps,

Coach Jen

Posts: 4,694
2/28/13 9:06 A

You should also try to figure out why you binge. Are you seriously hungry or are you bored. I binge when I am bored or when I am doing a mindless activity like playing on the computer or watching tv.
Get up and do something. Or sometimes I play this game. I feel like I need to eat something. OK, I will get it after i do something else-- take a shower, pay some bills, walk the dog, play with the cat, etc. Usually I don't remember that I wanted something.

current weight: 250.0

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130

Posts: 323
2/28/13 8:54 A

I'm a binger too so I get it. It happens. It's very emotional for me. If you notice yours is at night, setting a goal may help, like do not eat after 8:00. If I Iet myself have a piece of chocolate or any kind of treat, I can't stop. I really really try not to eat anything after dinner. If I do, like last night, it was a piece of fruit. It upped my fruit/veggie servings for the day, and didn't lead to a binge. Once you realize you have had one, you just have to keep going and keep trying again and again. Don't give up. WE CAN do this!

Pounds lost: 0.0

0 3.4 6.8 10.2

13.6

SparkPoints: (3,600)
Fitness Minutes: (2,887)
Posts: 3
2/28/13 8:45 A

Before I decided to join and start sparkpeople I used to do other crazy fad diets that only led to deprivation and binging...the typical cycle of weight loss and then weight gain. I wanted results fast but this time I realized the only long term solution to weight loss is excercising and healthy eating and so far I've doing great. Keeping track of my food, not surpassing my calorie limit, excercising daily, etc. So far I've done 2 binges (with last night included) if this were in the past I'd probably be feeling super guilty and give up right now the whole weight loss plan and just keep on eating. But after my first binge (last week) on this new healthy plan I told myself to move on forward and forget the past because if I don't I'll never get to my goals. So today (after last nights binge) I'm telling myself the same thing and I'm determined, I'm going to move forward and I'm going to continue my excercise regime and healthy eating. But I'd really like to stop having these binges (they mostly happen at night, I'll start with one snack and then can't stop but up until then I've done great throughout the day eating healthy and staying on track). I'm determined not to let last night ruin my weight loss plans but I can't help feeling somewhat guilty and sad that I let myself do this. I'm on the right track telling myself to move forward, that today is a new day and I will excercise and eat right...but again there comes the feeling of failure. I'd just like to stop this binging because eventually it's going to slow down my weight loss. Please give some advice on how to tackel this situation. I really want to achieve my weight loss goals this time!!!