I ate 2000 calories. When I plugged what I ate in on here I was mortified.  I couldn't believe I ate 2000 calories in like 20 mins.  No wonder I feel sick.  Atleast you went with Luna Bars and Peanut Butter lots of protein. lol.  Just think of this you didn't fail as miserably as me.  My binge was on Sonic and Arby's. Yep that's right I went to 2 places because I didn't want the drive-thru person to see me twice.  I hope you're having a wonderful summer.  I can't wait 1 more week and my son is out of school and it's summer time.   Summer is always a happy time.  Plus, I tend to eat better during summer months.

I think this is a great idea too.  Thanks for starting it.  I have all of the above and then some so some support would be great, for all of us!  my binges tend to happen in the evening..ill have dinner and then think its a great idea to go to another restaurant or bar and order something else to snack on.  or when i get home from dinner and the snacking or just later after dinner if im home, ill wait until everyone is asleep and continue to snack.  the next morning i feel awful, but physically and emotionally.  i always feel so ashamed and guilty.  then even worse if i dont exercise the next day!  i wish i knew why i continue to do this.  many have said its emotional and perhaps out of boredom.  at the time, i think, its okay, you can eat this and not feel bad later..but it never fails that ill feel terrible after the fact.  its amazing how you can really make  yourself believe something you honestly know is not true. 

does alcohol trigger binges for anyone?  that seems to let my guard down even further and make it worse.  but i cant help that i like my red wine! 

thanks again for any support!

I think this is a great idea too. Thanks for starting it. I have all of the above and then some so some support would be great, for all of us! my binges tend to happen in the evening..ill have dinner and then think its a great idea to go to another restaurant or bar and order something else to snack on. or when i get home from dinner and the snacking or just later after dinner if im home, ill wait until everyone is asleep and continue to snack. the next morning i feel awful, but physically and emotionally. i always feel so ashamed and guilty. then even worse if i dont exercise the next day! i wish i knew why i continue to do this. many have said its emotional and perhaps out of boredom. at the time, i think, its okay, you can eat this and not feel bad later..but it never fails that ill feel terrible after the fact. its amazing how you can really make yourself believe something you honestly know is not true.

does alcohol trigger binges for anyone? that seems to let my guard down even further and make it worse. but i cant help that i like my red wine!

thanks again for any support!

oops..sorry for the double post

Doug,

I don't know if alcohol is considered a trigger but I know I sure as heck overeat when I drink.  Or will make the decision not to order any food at a bar but then I'll start drinking and just know I have to have nachos or some spinach dip or something.  I for sure think that all the binge eating and everything is emotional.  I definitely binge when I'm feeling down and out.  Boredom I think stems from feeling alone.  Whenever I feel lonely I eat.  So I know my binging is absolutely 100% mental.  I ordered a book on emotional eating so I'll let you all know if it's worth reading or not.  I'm trying to help myself in every way I can.

jeri,

thanks for the reply.  i know alcohol is a problem and just like you, it causes me to order things that i would normally not eat.  or maybe i should say, things i might normally order, but do end up eating more than i would have if i had not had a cocktail.  i trick myself into thinking im being good, by breaking up the chips into really small pieces and eating those small pieces one at a time..or trying to fish out the spinach with the least amount of cheese on it or scrape the cheese sauce off of the artichoke hearts in the dip...  its so crazy the things that we do! 

id love to hear what the book says about all this.  i have read many a book on food issues, ed and everything related.  the one thing that always blows my mind is how similiar the thought processes and actions are.  im always blown away and think..man, i could have written that exact paragraph! 

i get anxious at night because thats where my binging starts.  i dont even like to go home at night sometimes, because it just reminds me of whats to come.  some have suggested to just eat more during the day..healthy as you can, and maybe will feel less likely to binge in the evening.  however, if its mental, then even eating more in the day may not make a difference.  im glad you are doing what you can to help yourself..and others.  we can do this.. we can beat this! 

I am not alone! Yeah! Maybe that will help with the whole alone/binging thing! ;-)

My greatest problem is in the evenings when watching TV or snacking before dinner 'cause I'm already hungry... And as soon as I break the "today-I-only-eat-healthy-food" rule, I totally go beserk because I already broke the rule, so there's nothing to lose. Which of course leads to the whole pantry being emptied of "bad foods" and me left feeling guilty/ashamed/you know the story! And instead of that motivating me to exercise it all away, it does exactly the opposite - I get all depressed and want to eat some more (ironically we have a cookie in here in South Africa called a "eet-sum-mor" - where I do as told! ;-)

So I've found that not keeping anything sweet in the house helps alot... and doing the exercise in the morning (when I'm more motivated) helps to keep away the munchies at night, because you know how hard you've alrady worked to burn away the calories, you don't want to spoil it!

Thanks for the support! Keep strong!

i totally have the same issue. i am addicted to carbs.  i eat them and cant stop.

what can we do????  its a terrible cycle.  im afraid.

Well I'm feeling a little bit more optimistic today.  I feel bloated and fat but whatcha gonna do when the damage is already done.  Atleast I didn't purge so I'm still doing better than I used to.  I'm trying to work through all the pain that's made me an emotional eater and I know it's going to be a long journey but I have to deal with this because it affects every aspect of my life.  I can't even worship how I long to at church because I'm afraid my shirt will lift up and show my fat.  It's pretty sad.  Or the fact I don't put my son in a bunch of activities because I'm afraid of the other parents rejecting me and my son because of the way I look.  It's so terribly exhausting and pathetic.  So I'm going to deal with this even if it is painful.

jeri

im glad your feeling better today!  we just have to take it one day at a time.  i too feel really bloated this morning..and im sure its a combo of eating alot of dinner last nite (snacking mostly through dinner) and not running yesterday.  i had run 4 days in a row before that so i thought i wouldnt feel guilty about all i ate yesterday but i still do.  after entering everything in cc today, it wasnt as bad as i thought, but i think i might not be entering in the correct amounts.  like i said, my binges are a little bits of everything!  so its hard to correctly input the amounts i think i ate.  do you ever have that problem?  like it will be bits of cheese, or parts of crackers...its hard.  unfortunately im not a measurer when it comes to my binges so its hard to tell. 

im sorry you dont feel that you do the things that you want to in normal life.  it shouldnt be that way, and you shouldnt feel that way either.  your fighting this and thats the best part..the part you should be so proud of.  i know its tough mentally..but im glad you are determined to fight this.  i  know what you mean when you say its exhausting too..when you think about this stuff all the time..eating, what you ate, how much you ate..it takes so much effort and time out of ones day.  im the same way.  i often wonder what else i would have time to do or think about if i didnt worry about ed issues all the time!  i mean, im sure i would have better things to do.  but thats yet to come for me..theres alot of hard work ahead.. 

Hey everyone,  

I am also a binge eater, especially at night right before bed. One of the best things i do now is not stop binging, but replace foods with better choices. I still sometimes slip (like last night for example) but you'd be surprised how full you get off of little carrot sticks.  lots of my eating is emotional too jeri, and like you i also have man issues to sort of regarding these issues. But just hang in there, and know that we will be there for you.

I am an overeater. It's close to binge eating but more constant. I'm getting better and better and the key is to stop trying to control it I think (and I find it so hard).

I used to eat 4500 cals/day until a few months ago when I started CC+. I decided that I wanted to eat less... and then I saw that I should eat no more than 1600 cals/day. I am not there yet and fluctuate between 2000-2500.

I am always hungry and always want to eat. I find that eating makes me want to eat more and know it's a vicious circle. So I try to snack on small pieces (pieces of apple instead of a whole apple, cut fruits, etc.). I do end up cheating every other day i guess, but I don't beat myself ove it and just remind myself of my progress.

This group is wonderful since I have not spoke out about my problem yet and feel alone in this.

I know hat for a lot of people, this is emotional. In my case, they just ruled it out and think it's a chemical imbalance. But the good news: changing your habits send signals to your brain and can help reduce the problem.

So: How is everyone dealing with this? Any tricks or advice?

I think alcohol is def a trigger because it lowers your inhibitions and contributes to making poor food choices. I know that I am a lot more likely to eat crappy fast food (hello whataburger!) after a long night of bar hopping than I would if I was sober. So I feel ya there! Anyways... I recently broke my foot and have been unable to do much exercise so I have been really depressed and bingey lately. Last night it was peanut butter cap't crunch. No self control whatsoever. Any tips? And please don't tell me tea... I drink tea every night and it does nothing for me.

I have been a huge emotional eater/ binger for.... well as long as I can remember. What I have fond again to do is gum... just regular old chewing gum. It keeps my mouth busy and creates the saliva which confuses my body. All in all it seems to get me through to my next meal.

i dont get it. i did go over my goal calories today, not by too much, but i swear i could eat more.  my tummy feels full, but there is still this dull hunger. i dont understand what im doing wrong and why my body wants me to still eat.

anyhow, on the bright side, i for sure love this program, it helps me put things in perspective, and i love logging my activities.  so far the sight is keeping me motivated.

best part is its totally free. love it!

and i have already gotten a few people at work hooked on it.

now for the binges, one day at a time.

thanks for listening.

So, I am not alone. The thing is my binge eating is somewhat recent. When I say recent I mean since I graduated from college and moved back home approximately 17 months (almost 1.5 years). Before than I was doing really awesome I was on weight watchers and was at my lowest weight ever. The thing is, when I was in undergrad I kept busy. I was really involved on campus and always studying For a while I had two jobs, days in a research facility and nights at a bar. I got into the habit of going all day on very little food and then eating when i got off work at 2am.Now I just can't seem to break the habit. I have been trying very unsuccessfully for the entire 17 months. It doesn't matter if I am hungry or not, i need it, like a drug to put me to sleep.I have tried replacing foods so now I choose healthier foods but anything in excess is bad. I want to stop for good but cold turkey is insanely difficult. However, i fear it is the only way. Any advice?

So, maybe you guys can help me. I think I am a binger. I don't know. 2 days a ago I was at about 800 calories for the day at 6 pm. I got home and proceeded to eat A BUNCH OF CRAP. In shame, I will tell you what I ate. YOu will be totally disgusted, but oh well. 2 slices of a large dominoes sausage pizza, 2 polish dogs with a whole wheat bun, a handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips, and a cup of no sugar added choculate ice cream, and a coke and some apple juice. Then I threw it up. I even started out with the intentions of throwing up after I ate what I ate. Sad. This was the first time in about 2 months I did this.

I recently started changing my eating habits(about 2 months ago) and I have lost 15 lbs THE RIGHT WAY. I need to lose 65 more, but I want to continue on the right way. Before I started this change I would binge and purge almost every other day. Since I was already fat my weight didn't change, but I wasn't doing it for that. I was doing it because I felt gross inside and out.

Do you think I have an eating disorder? I am asking honestly. Please don't bash me.