Binge eating

[looondonn]

Aibu to wonder if I can ever break this cycle ?

Got into the bath earlier and got wedged in it
Could barely get myself out

My knees and ankles hurt from carrying all the weight !!

Gym membership is in place and finding I can manage 25-30 min workouts - so not too bad really

Can I please ask for anyone who has managed to deal with binge eating what helped??

I am hoping to join in with a overeaters anonymous group on a weekly basis also
Thanks all for your help in advance ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Can't say I'm a shining example of how to achieve slender perfection, but I found it's very much easier to resist packs of cakes/biscuits in the shop rather than in the kitchen cupboard. If you deliberately buy ones you aren't that keen on for family consumption it's less tempting - also, don't go shopping when you're hungry.

My problem is sugary foods, so I found I do best if I restrict myself to eating no sweet foods except fresh fruit until 11pm, then put whatever goodies I decide I deserve on a plate so I can see how much I'm having in total. If I want 5 biscuits - or 3 cakes, or whatever - they have to go on my plateful first, and when it's empty, no more. And I don't use a big plate!

Love this !!

Thank you

Trying to steer well clear of sugar
One of my many demons !!

Thankfully I no longer smoke and half a glass of wine maybe once a month

So determined this time !!

Try the 16:8 diet. It’s worked wonders for me :)

Thank you

16 hours fast 8 hours of eating per day?

Yes that’s right. I usually do 12-8 as my eating window as I find it easy to skip breakfast, but you can do whatever hours fit in with your lifestyle. I like the fact that it’s such a black and white rule - once your eating window is over that’s it, there is no sneaky way to cheat! I’ve lost almost 2 stone now since June :)

I’d recommend reading Michael Moseley's Fast800 book to get you started, it was a real eye opener for me.

I doubt if a scheme which allows 8 hours of eating would be much of a restriction for a binge eater! I could eat a LOT of chocolate in 8 minutes hours

Well I can always look into it

Thank you

Not easy but got to start somewhere

@FlamedToACrisp thats why I suggested reading the Fast800 book first. I’ve spent much of my adult life as a binge eater and as I said this book really opened my eyes - and changed my way of thinking about food. It’s worth a go @looondonn - ignore negative comments until you’ve tried it x

TAKE YOUR TIME!

Honestly the best way to curb the cravings. Eat whatever you want so you don’t feel deprived.

But take your time. Ask yourself, am I actually hungry or do I just want to change the way I feel?

If you’re actually hungry then eat. But savour it. Close your eyes, chew it slowly and taste all it’s deliciousness. Don’t read your phone, don’t watch tv, just concentrate on the food. When you feel full stop eating.

Just shoving it in mindlessly is the problem.

Yes yes yes

Also - was not even chewing the food just ramming it into my mouth :(

I'd say I've had success with intermittent fasting. There's various methods to try and I had a go at the twice a week, don't eat after 9pm and don't start before 1pm.

It can be tough as 1pm approaches but if you try to stick to a regular lunch and then carry on your day, it seems to work.

Reddit has a section on intermittent fasting with some amazing results.

When recovering from anorexia I really struggled with binge eating. I was obsessed with sugar and never felt full.
I second @FlamedToACrisp advice.
Also, what worked for me was having 3 healthy hot meals per day (I found them more filling than cold meals, and less like a snack) then if I wanted a snack between meals I would set it on a plate, put it out of sight then set a timer for 30 mins- 1hour, often by the time the timer went off I would have decided I didn't need the snack anyway.

Also - was not even chewing the food just ramming it into my mouth

Please try eating mindfully. It really helps.

Because there’s no forbidden food you don’t crave the ‘naughty’ food as you can have it.

And eating really slowly? You’ll be amazed how quickly you actually go off foods you thought were your favourite.

Excellent thank you

Trying to find an online overeaters anonymous forum

I’ve just started tackling this myself. I use food to ‘push down’ my anxiety and other things I won’t bore you with.

But I found being organised helps, sticking to 3 meals a day, but most importantly dealing with the things that make me anxious.

It’s not easy.

I was in a similar situation to you OP. It had gotten so bad it was almost every day, I gained a lot of weight. I've started doing strength training with a PT (something I never considered but seeing great results so far) and I've stopped dieting. My PT told me to eat a third each of carbs, protein and fat (tracking on my fitness pal) and it's honestly working so well so far. I feel full and not deprived and not like I constantly want to eat.

Obviously everyone (and everyone's disordered eating) is different, but I found intermittent fasting absolutely catastrophic for my binge eating. It just tapped right into that feast or famine mentality I already struggle with.

For me, what helped was:

• eating three decent meals a day, ideally with protein and vegetables.
• making sure I always had the food in for these meals, and also plenty of healthy or semi-healthy snacks, and some lazy quick meals like pre-packaged salads or microwave packs of veg.
• giving myself permission to eat anything I wanted, even a massive carb-and-sugar binge... IF I ate a protein-and-veg-heavy meal first, then had a piece of fruit and a hot drink. Nine-and-a-half times out of ten I never binged at all after this.
• eating very good quality dark chocolate whenever I had a sugar craving. A small amount of that really does it, whereas I can inhale entire sharer-sized (hah) cheap chocolate bars without feeling sated.

It can take a while to find the right approach for you. 'Take your time' is good advice, in every sense.

Paul McKenna might be helpful. I think he does mindful eating.

Well ,I’ve had bulimia for nearly 30 years ,on and off .more on than off.
I managed to stop 2 years ago ,but didn’t stop the binges,only the sick bit.
From there I just ate what I wanted ,but found I was still bingeing.
Mainly when I had restricted my food ,so trying diets like fast800 ,would set me off bingeing ,ww.sw...all of them would have me bingeing after a week or so.
It was as soon as I even slightly restricted food ,I would binge.
So for the past 2 years Ive eaten what I like ,metabolism is back to normal after the buimia .obviosly any weight I had lost through bulimia was straight back on over the last 2 years.
Only this last month am I trying to tackle the weight .
I’ve downloaded an app called loose it.where I track calories and exercise each day..
For my weight I can eat a huge amount of calories and still loose weight.ive joined a gym and I go every day ,I know how long it takes me to burn of 100 calories,so I’m more mindful of my food choices,
But I’ve given myself the power to chose what I spend my calories on,so I eat all my favourite foods each day as part of a healthy plan and take a multi vitamin..
I think giving myself control of my food ,rather than giving control to whichever faddy diet everyone was on ,has helped me enormously.
I will always have problems with food ,as it’s like a drug to me ,and I wish it wasn’t ,I wish I was the type of woman who picked at her food like a bird ,( my mum) but I’m not ,and I have to accept that .
Hope some of that helps op .x it’s a bugger bingeing,I know only too well x

Yes, lose it is very good. Free version works for me.

The way I do Alternate Day Dieting is not Fast/Feast, but Restrict/Normal. Does that make sense? I am finding it is evening out and normalising my appetite. When Alternate Day dieting or intermittent fasting is described or encouraged in that binge-feast/starve way, I don't think its helpful to anyone.

What I have found is that if I restrict calories one day to 600-700, and the next day to about 1500 - overall my desires for junky/low nutrition food diminishes. At the same time I kinda lose my obsession with food generally, whilst enjoying what I do eat more. Eventually I hope to get on an even keel with this, at least that is what I am finding is happening.

But if you have a more serious binge disorder - rather than being a bit of a greedy foodie like me - perhaps its not the right approach.

You guys are amazing

Thank you as always for the super advice on here

Bit by bit I will get on track

Young baby
Escaped an abusive relationship
Holding down FT demanding job
Lone parent
One income

In many ways I am not doing bad at all!!!
Thankfully I rarely drink and stopped smoking one year ago 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

After one day of sensible eating
Small portions and loads of water

ALREADY feel great

I can do this

Thanks again guys xx

I also recommend 16:8. I tend to eat from 10am to 6pm but change the hours often to suit what I'm doing that day. It's really reduced my appetite and cravings. I also like that it's black and white. I need strict rules. No eating at all after a certain time suits me otherwise I'd be thinking "oh one biscuit won't hurt. It's only 80 calories" then I'd have anither biscuit or 2 then I'd get a bag of crisps and some chocolate. Easier just to say no food after 6pm. I certainly eat plenty during the 8 hours, don't count calories, eat high calorie foods and have lost weight.

Some people have success with meal
Replacement like Exante as the weight is quick and you don’t have to think about cooking. It’s quite cheap too