Mmmm, secret eating.

I do this too, although I don't know the reason.  I used to steal my roommates cookies and treats.  I refused to get them for myself, but I would sneak into their supply, and hope they wouldn't notice.

I also wait for my husband to go upstairs to binge.  It's not like a "ok, great, he's upstairs... ready, set binge", but probably more like I'm embarrassed of it, so I don't do it in front of him.

I also tend to do the same thing with drinking.  Do it when he's not around, or do it in such a way that he's not aware of it.

I don't think I get a thrill from it, so much as I don't want to share those behaviors with other people.

Original Post by member76:

 I do the same thing in work sometimes, when I'm carrying the plates from the kitchen to the resteraunt downstairs I always have to steal a couple of fries or bits from the plates. I DON'T even LIKE FRIES, I think I just enjoy the naughty feeling.

 ok that's gross, tell me where you work so I don't go there :/

And think about how YOU would feel if you spent money buying all that healthy food and your roommates just ate it in secret, that's STEALING. Doesn't matter if it's bad food or good food. Groceries are getting more expensive so like gas, it's going to piss people off if you eat their stuff....I wouldn't want to do it because then they'd call me all sorts of names when I left the room....and fat ____ is not something I'd really want to be called. Those would be MY reasons for not wanting to binge eat OTHER peoples food not to mention my own. At least I would earn that food.

Sorry if it was harsh, but just trying to give some reasons not to do it!!

 ok that's gross, tell me where you work so I don't go there :/

And think about how YOU would feel if you spent money buying all that healthy food and your roommates just ate it in secret, that's STEALING. Doesn't matter if it's bad food or good food. Groceries are getting more expensive so like gas, it's going to piss people off if you eat their stuff....I wouldn't want to do it because then they'd call me all sorts of names when I left the room....and fat ____ is not something I'd really want to be called. Those would be MY reasons for not wanting to binge eat OTHER peoples food not to mention my own. At least I would earn that food.

Sorry if it was harsh, but just trying to give some reasons not to do it!!

 Yes it is harsh, and unneccesarry to be honest. Do you not think I KNOW these things? A "binge" is an episode of eating where you feel out of control. I am already incredibly ashamed and disgusted at myself every time I do this. It makes me guilty ridden and unhappy and yet I can't stop it. I was looking for help on how to control it. Instead of offering me help or support your cruel response has made me feel so much worse. I understand your take on "tough love" but I think I, along with all the other people who suffer from binging on this forum, are already critical enough of ourselves without having more nasty little voices added to chorus.

As someone who has had a diasnosed ED in the past, the feelings of self-loathing are very easily triggered. You may have the willpower of a saint, but not all of us do, and some of us really struggle. Maybe next time you respond to a problem imagine how YOU would feel in that persons shoes, and the kind of constructive replies you appreciate on your questions.

I'm pretty sure misspriss316 was just trying to guilt you out of it, not make you feel like a jerk.

I don't know what the thrill of secret eating is.. I do it as well, and honestly mine isn't even that i don't want to get caught...in fact, i think people would think i was more normal if they caught me biting off a piece of a random cookie from the cabinet. My eating is normally pretty structured, and I think that might be why I do it. On the days I have been most careful to follow a strict eating plan, I slip up the most. Whenever I wing it, I probably take in way less calories.

what i did was even WORSE...i would steal cookies or cliff bars or any sort of food that i would NEVER buy myself from my roommate, chew it, and then spit it out cause i was afraid of the calories. I "ate" 25 peanut butter bars in one sitting.

this is absolutely disguisting gross rude blahhhhh i know. and i have been able to control it lately. (although she did it a whole TWO boxes of my kashi cereal, so i felt kind of justified?)

I really dont know what pushes me to that sort of behavior. At the same time, I have trouble eating in front of people that I want to impress. For example, when I first started dating my ex, it took me 3 months to finally eat in front of him. And it was only a couple of crackers.

Original Post by member76:

 ok that's gross, tell me where you work so I don't go there :/

And think about how YOU would feel if you spent money buying all that healthy food and your roommates just ate it in secret, that's STEALING. Doesn't matter if it's bad food or good food. Groceries are getting more expensive so like gas, it's going to piss people off if you eat their stuff....I wouldn't want to do it because then they'd call me all sorts of names when I left the room....and fat ____ is not something I'd really want to be called. Those would be MY reasons for not wanting to binge eat OTHER peoples food not to mention my own. At least I would earn that food.

Sorry if it was harsh, but just trying to give some reasons not to do it!!

 Yes it is harsh, and unneccesarry to be honest. Do you not think I KNOW these things? A "binge" is an episode of eating where you feel out of control. I am already incredibly ashamed and disgusted at myself every time I do this. It makes me guilty ridden and unhappy and yet I can't stop it. I was looking for help on how to control it. Instead of offering me help or support your cruel response has made me feel so much worse. I understand your take on "tough love" but I think I, along with all the other people who suffer from binging on this forum, are already critical enough of ourselves without having more nasty little voices added to chorus.

As someone who has had a diasnosed ED in the past, the feelings of self-loathing are very easily triggered. You may have the willpower of a saint, but not all of us do, and some of us really struggle. Maybe next time you respond to a problem imagine how YOU would feel in that persons shoes, and the kind of constructive replies you appreciate on your questions.

 Well I wasn't trying to insult you in any way, but as a former "binge eater" myself as a kid (I don't believe that taking fries off people's plates/roomates food is really binge eating, I think this is a matter of stealing and the "thrill" as you put it, as harmless as it may seem) it IS a matter of will-power. There's no magic pill, button, or anything that will stop you binging, you have to do it yourself. A therapist/counselor might help you figure out what leads you to steal food from other people. I don't know what it's like to be in your position, but I have had hard financial times where my roommates would eat MY food and not spend money on their own, and that's why I think you should just take responsibility. At least replace the food you ate...

you don't know my eating patterns either, and I'm sorry you suffered from an ED but I don't have the willpower of a "saint" as you would know if you ever partied with me....heh :/ but I digress

So in a nutshell MY opinion that you don't have to listen to is that you should find some kind of therapist/counselor to find out WHAT triggers it. The end.

Original Post by theswissmiss:

what i did was even WORSE...i would steal cookies or cliff bars or any sort of food that i would NEVER buy myself from my roommate, chew it, and then spit it out cause i was afraid of the calories. I "ate" 25 peanut butter bars in one sitting.

this is absolutely disguisting gross rude blahhhhh i know. and i have been able to control it lately. (although she did it a whole TWO boxes of my kashi cereal, so i felt kind of justified?)

I really dont know what pushes me to that sort of behavior. At the same time, I have trouble eating in front of people that I want to impress. For example, when I first started dating my ex, it took me 3 months to finally eat in front of him. And it was only a couple of crackers.

 oh one time my friend and i were drunk and ate a ton of my roommate's M&Ms...it was bad. We replaced them the next day before she got into town, and she didn't eat them the rest of the school year until she offered them to me 6 months later. HAH

PS Im not trying to make anyone feel like **** so sorry if it came across that way!! really!

Have any of you seen homestarrunner.com?  There's a character who's a marshmallow, and one of the "commercials" talks about secret eating, so the title cracked me up ^.^

When I was growing up, I shared a room with my sister.  She'd keep any holiday candy she got in a little decorative box on her dresser, and it would stay there for MONTHS.  Mine would be gone the first day!  I'd start to sneak hers when nobody was around, and when she went back ages later to get a piece - one piece, because she could do that - she'd discover that it was almost all gone.  She told my mom and my mom blamed my brother.  I felt like the most horrible person in the world, but I was too ashamed to fess up.

I live alone now so taking other people's food isn't an issue.  I'm still very secretive though, both about my restriction and about my slip-ups.

First off, you don't want to be known as that creepy roommate that swipes food.  They do notice.  They're just too polite to tell you or they're not sure it's you.  As a step in the right direction, you should immediately tell your roomates that you've got a bit of an ED and you're making restitution.  You should list out and replace everything you've eaten as nearly as you can remember it.  The first step is admitting that you've got a problem.

I think my sneak eating has/had more to do with not wanting others to see me binging.  I have/had huge issues with eating in front of people and used to avoid eating all day at school because of it.  Then, by the time I came home from school, I would be famished and binge away.  My parents would make comments about how much I was eating and it always made me feel worse.  So, I started looking forward to nights they'd be away so that I could binge without witnesses. I would sometimes deny eating food that I know I did because of the shame admitting I ate so much.

I think morrighu offers really good advice.  Try to tell your room mates that you have a problem and you're trying to work on it.  Replace food that you've eaten.

I wish you the best of luck.  You can overcome this :]