Well I guess it's TOM for a lot of us haha. I allowed myself to eat the last of the chocolate chips today so it's no days binge free. I have not binged tho since this am hahaha, but I intend not to. I didn't even really want them, but I noticed they were almost gone and I thought I should be the ones to eat them as I was the one who went shopping for the, paid for them, hahaha, so I should eat them...all. Wow, what kind of thinking is that???!!! Well, that's the me that causes me to be overweight, and I let her out for a bit. I am embarrassed to tell you guys that I did eat them all, but I am not perfect either! I think sometimes too when I am doing really well, something comes out of me and wants to sabotage my progress. Maybe that was a part of it too. I didn't purge tho. But, I still knew when I picked up the pack that I shouldn't be doing it but I chose to do it anyways!

Hey everyone, I am new here and someone recommended that I check out this thread - and I can see why...

I identify with everything I have read. I am - correction - I WAS a binge eater. I had a tendency of eating nothing all day, and then eating a huge amount of food every night. I would rent/buy movies, or plan to watch my favorite TV shows, and then go and buy around $50-$100 worth of extremely high fat, high sodium, high carb foods. Often I would get 1 or 2 meals from a fast food place, or order pizza or chinese food, and on top of it buy a bag of chips, some chocolate, some candy, some pastries and a 2L of non-diet pop to wash it all down with... I remember thinking that I wanted a bit of everything (every junk food group). I would go home, put in my movie, or turn on my show and eat all of the food I just bought for 2-3 hours straight and then go to bed.

The next day I could barely get out of bed. I would have problems getting to work. I would struggle with my day - starve myself - and then go home and do it all over again. I got myself into an insane amount of debt this way - wasted away my money, and gained close to 200 pounds over the last 6 years.

I would always, ALWAYS, eat in front of the TV or computer. Now I have difficulty sitting down on the couch to watch a show - I always want to eat when I am there... so I am watching less and less TV. I refuse to eat in front of the TV or computer... I make myself sit down at the kitchen table and eat there. When I really focus on it, I am shocked by how fast I eat food.. even healthy food when sitting at the table. I guess 6 years of binge eating every night taught me a good way of getting down that insane amount of food in such a short period of time. But... I am getting better. I am done with this habit. I no longer need to do it.

I think it happened gradually, and eventually it became a habit, and then an addiction. I got addicted to that full feeling, and the binge 'hang over' became so routine for me, that the only way I would feel better is by feeding myself again... I actually believe that a portion of my binge eating came from a very natural urge to take in energy - I was SO tired every day because my binge eating caused tremendous weight gain and incredible fatigue followed, and so I wanted to take in energy... and the only way I knew how was by eating. So, I would eat and eat and eat - and then crash.

It is a really sad pattern to get into. And the more you do it, the more you want to do it. I agree that it is like alcoholism - often alcholics start getting addicted when they decide to drink in order to take the edge off of the hang over. I think the same is true for binge eating... a person binges, has the 'hang over' and then binges again to avoid the feelings that come with it... so on, and so forth.

Well, we are doing something about it - being here is a huge step.. so congrats to all of us for being here, reading this, and taking action towards stoping the cycle!

yeah I remember the binge hangovers. I would wake up absolutely knackered the next day and still full from the night before. Horrbile, horrible feeling. It was a different kind of tiredness. Kinda... demoralising and made me totally unmotivated to do anything that day. I guess the fatigue comes from your body working overtime during the night trying to digest all that food, when really it should be relaxing, repairing your body and getting ready for the next day.

Welcome, Angel, a very good description... I think you've summed it up well for most of us!

So, finally getting over whatever ails me... I'm actually still awake at 10:30am.. a first this week, luckily I can sleep on the job, hehe, a very broken sleep, 10-15 min at a time, but still... kept me going Mon and Tue.

I woke up huge this morning... my body's bad advice that I put a TON of salt on my pizza last night... hey, seemed like a good idea at the time

So, washing it out with plenty of water today, and luckily my jeans had been loose, cuz they fit perfectly today.

I read on the blogs yesterday that Debbie was on day 2 of contractions... so shortly we should get news of a new little one.

Yeah I cant wait to hear from Debbie. I hope the baby comes today... 2days of that is not a nice ordeal.

It's a good sign that she didn't blog about it today... maybe she's too busy to write? I certainly don't wish her a day 3 of it!

I always hated the nights when I would binge late and then try to sleep. OMG how that hurt...and I'd be sleeping when a burp would come up and I'd actually have food enter my throat from my stomach. How could I have done that to myself?

On a happy note, I'm three days binge free (since I started actually counting lol)!

yeeeayyy 3 days Catrina, that's fantastic. You'll be at 10 days before you know it... no going back from there.

All binging does is make the feelings of sadness and anger or whatever even worse by shoving it down.. those feelings have to come out at some point and it is VERY unpleasant when it does but that is what I had to do to stop it. Feel those feelings and honestly I do it everyday. If I kept up binging because of my feelings then I would for sure end up 500 lbs! After opening my eyes and really seeing this, all I did to myself was add more stress.. being fat! I cannot meditate or anything like that but I am trying to find enjoyment in walking because it can be a good way to expel the negative energy.

Is it 3 or 4 days, Catrina? I thought it was 4. Good job!

Ok you all, I am reading a book that looks good by a Dr. Roger Gould, about emotional eating, I will let you all know how it goes! have a great day!