Struggling with the urge to binge

[GreenMushrooms]

Feel like I've done well in recent weeks cutting down alcohol, junk food and exercising. But a few things in my personal life got a bit stressful recently, with one or two events in the past few days particularly painful.

I've been struggling with the urge to binge eat and drink. I hoped it would pass, but it has been strong for the past several days? Any tips on how to get past this or is it just a waiting game? Exercise has gone out the window too - I just want to sit under a duvet and stuff my face! I know it won't help, but I'm craving the feeling of warmth, comfort and something to "look forward" to. The colder weather isn't helping.

I feel like I'll get back there eventually with he exercise, but with the food I'm worried I will start a downward spiral (I can't really moderate, and only have success cutting out "all junk" as I get strong physical cravings like an addict).

Dont have high calorie food in the house

Do buy something really lovely and low calorie, I go for premium coffee

Fill up with low calorie food so you don't feel hungry - lettuce, cucumber, apples, etc

Write your current weight on post it notes and stick in clear view in kitchen ( possibly in code if you don't want your family to know the exact damage!)

Don't carry your bank card with you when you are out, just carry what cash you need, so no impromptu purchases

Go for a little run, and build up a little bit of a virtuous feeling to protect

Any time high calorie food appears in your mind, picture your/your friend or neighbours dog being sick on it

Here is another one, have you tried chocolate scented candles? Worth a go - If I burn one for an hour I feel so full up of chocolate I couldn't consider another mouthful. But try it without any chocolate in reach, in case it has the opposite effect!

Thank you for your replies. I made it through the evening. Sending my DH out to get some healthy snacks as suggested, premium coffee and chocolate scented candles 🙂

I'm going to try and do some exercise today, hopefully this will boost my mood. Thankfully there is no junk food in the house, so I just need to make sure I don't give in and buy it.

U need healthy things to grab for. But find something u really like. I really like strawberries and a vanilla yogurt. Which the calories are not huge. But it fills me up and is better than eating crisps and chocolate.

also. Find something u enjoy doing and do that for when u feel the urge to get that hit.

Do you write what you eat?

I'm trying to do 1400 calories and knowing that I need to write it down puts me off going over the target, even though it's only me who will ever see the list

I think when you get the urge to eat you need to eat something, so make sure to have appealing alternatives like a couple of sugar free sweets, square of dark chocolate etc.

Thanks for the replies! I've been scared to write down my eating and I worry that I wouldn't be honest with myself. Also my everyday eating is generally good - I tend to eat 3 healthy meals a day. However, I also tend to "let go" and eat packets of biscuits until I feel sick while drinking a whole bottle of wine a couple of times a week. For the past 2-3 months I've avoided this and I've been losing weight without dieting as such or calorie counting. Right now I feel the urge to binge as I'm in this sad/stressful period.

As an update, I've done some exercise, which really helped my mood so I'm going to prioritize exercise. I have eaten sweet things 😪 but I didn't binge this time - I went to a cafe with DH and ordered a slice of cake, which I ate inside the cafe. I am worried that this will make me want sweets more and make me want to buy something to eat at home - which is where my binges happen. Leading so a slippery slope.

I'm going to try more of the advice here: sadly, the chocolate candle didn't work for me 😅😅 but having some fruit in the evenings has helped.

I'll perhaps get some sugar free sweets instead of going to a cafe again. In the past I've tried the squre of dark chocolate but it just made me want normal chocolate and lots of it! God I sound so pathetic writing it out like this! No will power or self-control 😭 I just need to be really strict with myself over the next few days to make sure I don't spiral.

I would suggest avoiding artificial sweeteners too, like those in diet drinks and sugar free sweets - they cause obesity all by themselves, even without the calories, messing with your hormones and causing insulin surges worse than real sugar.

They also keep the craving for sugar going, and even ramp it up

I gave in to the urge just once, it’s slippery slope…
Like you, it was a stressful period, and I binged at night.

Keep up the good work. Maybe do a bit of shopping?
Or something else “nice” that doesn’t involve cake!

Sounds like you're doing great overall OP. A few things that mostly work for me -

• Relatively large meals so that I feel full when I finish eating.
• Drinking plenty of fluids so dehydration isn't mistaken for hunger.
• Only eating at dinner table. (No food in living room)
• Defined end to meal (leaving dinner table). If I'm craving food I brush my teeth and sometimes go for quick walk - even 5mins round the block can be enough to reset my mind.
• I do have biscuits in the house but just one type of fairly boring ones. I find that if I'm shopping and I've nothing sweet in the house I'm really really tempted to buy chocolate/cake etc. Whereas if I remind myself I have biscuits at home somehow I find it much easier to not give in to temptation in the shop. And because the biscuits are boring ones I'm not really tempted to eat loads of them in the same way I could scoff a cake!