Originally Posted by debbie

yes. i think if you are feeling out of control and you are making yourself sick it is a binge. we all have different levels of it at different times in our lives. you are at this great point where you have come so far, but if this feels off to you, by all means join us. diets/restrictive eating are notorious for inspiring binges, i wonder if that's what's up for you on your day off. also, it may be ok one day a week - depends how you feel about it and the negative effects.

Never thought of it like that. It's like I bust loose on Sundays, but by Sunday nite I am just sick. I need to learn to moderate it. Thank you

Originally Posted by Tatiana

Kama, I agree with Debbie. If you can't stop eating cookies and it makes you sick, it's emotional overeating. Are there other ways for you to deal with stress?

I think it is emotional, maybe due to stresses I feel I have no control over? I just don't want this to lead me into a gain/relapse. Thanks for letting me join in, this has really been bugging me.
Thanks for your input, too Dara, I'm wondering if I should stop taking one day off a week? Maybe once a month is enough? What did you do?

Originally Posted by FiestyKitty Kama

Never thought of it like that. It's like I bust loose on Sundays, but by Sunday nite I am just sick. I need to learn to moderate it. Thank you

yeah, i was doing that when i was losing weight. i had my one night i'd let the old behaviors come to life. i found that for me it was helpful to have a sanctioned binge-ish night. the funny thing is, then i ate less, still went to sleep relatively early b/c it wasn't taboo and i was so connected to the bigger goal and picture of what i wanted for myself. maybe remember that for yourself. you are under alot of stress, good to find other ways to let it out - so food isn't the answer. once it becomes the answer it is a hard habit to kick - i can tell you that!

Dara, what do you do?

Maybe it's like me and smoking. I know i can never have one so i never have any...there are some foods that need to be on a list like that for me...namely cookie dough...

Hi guys... I am new on this thread (mostly because I only joined Buddy Slim last week), but almost all of my weight issues stem from overeating and night binges. Over the years, it has gotten to the point that there are just certain foods that I will not keep in my house:
Peanut Butter
Anything more than a single-serving portion of ice cream (WW bars, popsicles, Skinny Cows aren't as tempting- maybe because I can't scoop?)
Icing
Frosting
(Clear pattern there)

I also will not start eating a lot of foods unless I know there is a way for me to be limited (someone else around, not that much there, pre-portion controlled):
Any types of chips (low-fat, baked, regular, Pita, Cheetos, etc)
Nuts (mostly Brazil, Cashews, and Almonds, but just about any)
Cereals with nuts or oat clusters (I will eat all of them and leave the cereal)
The cream center of cookies (Oreos, Nilla Wafers, etc)- I can eat an entire package of just the cream centers

I haven't had a real big binge in about a week, but my most recent types had been with these really good animal crackers (From Costco in a big jar) dipped in a Costco-sized container of Low-Fat cream cheese

I always binged at night when everyone else was asleep. It was freeing to feel like I could finally eat what I wanted without having to watch myself. For however long I could stuff my face up until I reached the sick point, I could pretend that I was a skinny girl with a fast metabolism who could eat freely. I would fess up to "having a bad night and needing to be healthy" in the morning, but never, ever spoke about how bad it really was. I was mortified.

Well, I took both my kids to Disney & CA Adventure yesterday. We were there from 8am-10pm! We had a great time! We brought snacks and ate from the backpack the entire day.

Okay, onto the matter at hand.

First, welcome Rachel, you're in the right place.

Kama and Debbie - My top weight when pregnant w/ my daughter was 225. Before that, my top weight was probably 190. It's all been trial or error for me over the years. For many years, I fluctuated between 150-165. I would generally take a day off, but I think what started happening is the off days got worse, which meant the 'on or clean' days had to get better to offset the one off day. After restricting myself for 6 days, holding my breath, by the time that 'off' day came I was ready to exhale, binge.
This worked for awhile and I was able to maintain my weight.

About 2 years ago, I got down from 151 to 130. I've been staying between 130 and 135 until May. I started struggling. What was working for me stopped. I found that I could no longer eat the same 'clean' things 6 days a week. There'd be an occassion, or a vacation, or a I don't have the energy to fight it day. Too many of these things and my weight was up to 137. This morning it was 139. I am once again, changing my workouts, my food, searching for guidance, and trying to focus more on God and His word.

I would love to say I have the magic formula, and for the last 2 years I thought I did, BUT the gopher is back!!! This is a speed bump, and through the struggles and depression of the past months I've gained much more than weight, which I have total faith will come off.

I've gained:
The support system here, which I wouldn't have found had I not been struggling, because I'm here to tell you it does not end when you reach your goal.

I've given up Splenda, which I knew I needed to do, but wasn't willing.

I've changed my workouts to incorporate strength/circuit

and when I get over this speed bump, I am expecting to be in God's favor, and be better off than I was before.


If I am not in pain, I don't change.

The way that I'm looking at this is I'm not in fear about gaining all the weight back. I am looking for the way that I am supposed to be living, and maybe, just maybe, it is for me to get the focus off of food and myself and onto God and others. When I have this one day off with the food, I think about it the entire week. I would look forward to this or that. It was a hangon mentality.
I have to train myself at 44 to find joy in something other than eating, because unlike a day at Disney with your kids, the flip side of bingeing is pain.

Today, if someone asked me what would you like to do today it would be eat and watch tv or eat and read. That is sad. It's not knit, take a walk, go to the beach, play with my kids, paint, read, etc. I don't have any hobbies that I enjoy or look forward to. I do them, but I don't get real joy or release. I feel like there's a whole inside of me and I keep trying to fill it up with food. What's been coming to my mind a lot lately, is the only thing that's going to fill it up is God.

Well, it's official... those 3 lids of peanuts did not cause me to be sick for 3 entired days... especially the exhaustion.... I musta caught something visiting my friend in the hospital last week, everytime I go to the hospital, I end up sick.

So, I'm finally getting to respond to some of the posts... a bit late

Julie Nope, don't talk about my binges, once in a while I will binge in front of someone, but very rarely... and never an all out binge.

Tatiana idk why I was eating them... my daughter was snacking on them... they were there, and yeah, I'm taking vit/min supplements... I think it was more of a texture thing, I love to crunch!

Kama I think that 6 cookies could be a binge, especially if it's several times a day... kind of slowly working on the whole package... I think that the smaller you get, the less food it takes to be a binge cuz the less food you need in general

Debbie My trigger times are BEING TIRED that's my all time #1 by far! The others are when I have no "me" time, or have been doing to much for others and not getting anything for myself... like I "deserve" to treat myself (lol, and we all know what a treat a binge is...especially the next day!) and, like you, the rebellious thing, if someone comments on my weight, size, portions, whatever... I eat to "show them" (uh huh... show them what? that they are right? duh )

The consequences are weight gain, feeling like crap, physically, guilt sometimes (but I'm not too big on guilt, cuz after all, I "deserve" those treats) isolation... if I'm wanting to binge I gotta get away from ppl so I can. My best (worst) thing... going on a food run (alone) I'll hit one place, eat that in the car, ditch the evidence, get food from the place we're getting from, and eat that with the group/family... that way the receipt matches what "we" ordered

Dara Yep! 1 container=1 serving (not so much now... I count, measure, portion... but I still do the multiply the cal per serving by the # of servings... to see if I can eat from the container... knowing that it will more likely than not be single serve... but so far, I've been doing very well in getting my portion and getting away from the container. I don't really count the days... only the first couple... takes me about 3 days to get back on track after a binge, to where I'm not thinking constantly about eating what/where/when/how much...

Rachel Sounds like your binge trigger is something smooth that you can dig your spoon into over and over... I'm a big cruncher... dry cereal rocks!

Well, I feel more caught up now, and I'm feeling pretty decent today, although I'm bloated... I think maybe due to my tummy troubles... I'm down a pound and up a size the last 3 days!

Hey girls,

No binge for me for three days!!! And three days ago I binged on nuts. Anyway, stepped up the exercise but I feel that I gained weight back, maybe 3-4 pounds. Feel, because I didn't weigh myself since the binge state started again. I can't believe how easy it is to get back into the binge state.

My sister is here and we are going to Las Vegas on Monday. Tons of walking ahead of us.

Stay strong,

XXX

Great night last night! Hoping for the same 'win' at this battle tonight! Congrats on 3 days Tatiana! Haven't read the previous posts but I will for sure before tomorrow. Just wanted to check in and say Hi.....feeling a bit more up....am thinking I may be entering into another PMS stage...Tom due next week sometime....I haven't won EVERY battle but I did last night...so yet another press forward as we all do this together!!

Hi to all the new folks here....glad you found this thread....the secret being out is the very first, hardest and beneficial step!!

Wow thanks for all the input. Ok, I am slowly trying to make this Sunday less of a binge day. I wanted the cookies but remembered you all, and told my self no, this will take some doing, though.
I do agree, that I really think this is stress related. It is for sure like I am holding my breath all week.
And I also agree that I can't get away with what I used to, I wasn't feeling well, and am up 2 pounds.

It definitely is a spoon or something dipping in a jar/container thing that is very satisfying for me... isn't it bizzare what can do it for us?
I didn't exactly binge binge the way I used to, but I definitely overate this weekend. I used to let myself go on the weekends and even though I've stopped going to that extreme, it is a very very hard habit to break out of. Any advice for what to do when your mind expects you to eat poorly/whatever you want out of habit? I can do great during the week and as soon as I know the weekend is coming, something in my head tells me I've earned it. The logical part tries to fight it, but that urge just always wins... grrrr