Motivation

Hi everyone.

I'm a very healthy eater from day to day. VERY healthy. And I'm quite proud of my diet and my will power. I eat whole grains, lean meats, fruits and vegetables and low fat dairy products. I also eat portions of nuts and drink lots of water.

But I have a problem. I'm in university, and tend to go out to the bars on the weekends every now and then. Now, I can deal with a night of drinking, because I can control how much I drink and I dont drink really hefty sugary drinks. My problem is my loss of will power to junk food when I drink. I eat so much... SO MUCH chocolate when I'm drunk! So much that sometimes I feel ill the next day, but of course, I get back on track and dont drop my calories the next day because I know it's unhealthy recoil.

After this rant, I propose creating this group to support and track / log how many days myself and any others interested in joining can go binge free. I still dont mind having small portions of chocolate throughout the day because they might be just 5g portions. I just want to be able to motivate myself to stay on track and not destroy my healthy diet every weekend.

So, I'm going to start out. Since I went all out last night, today is...

Days without bingeing: 1 (I know the whole day hasnt gone by, but I know I'll control it today haha)

Thanks! 

Essays on the ego-syntonic nature of anorexia are a bummer. Every time the topic of eating disorders, especially anorexia, comes up in lectures / tutorial I feel like an immediate failure. And binge. And then purge. I binged on a whole lotta sultana bran today... And the thing is I've been within my calorie limits for the past couple of days. But the urge to purge is coming on again even when the foods I've eaten haven't been a binge. I don't want to go through this again.

I have come to the conclusion that if I'm jealous of the anorexic girls I read about in class then there is something wrong with me. As soon as this piece of coursework, and the next are done with I'm going to see the Uni counsellor.

I just wanted to be able to share this with people, and vent a bit, as I feel uncomfortable doing it in the real world.

rampant - im sorry to hear that these essays are bothering you so much. what type of courses are you taking that require these essays?

I think I understand your jealouosy. And I doubt that's a good thing on my part, but I think its the idea that they have reached a 'lower' weight, one that we're aiming for, even if it's by unhealthy means, though not one person should ever subject their bodies to that type of torture. I'm glad youre going to see the counsellor. Is this about course or about the eating habits? I hope that after these essays are over, the feeling/want to purge recedes and you can flow back into the healthy emotions/eating.

And vent ALL you want. It's such a great feeling, I know, especially when its sooo hard to talk to even some of the closest people in your life about this stuff. No one knows about my eating habits, not one person, except all of you fantastic / helpful people in this support group.

And now to add to that, things have continued to go well on my end. I had a full-year **** physiology exam today. We had to know: body fluids, skeletal muscle, neurology, cardiovascular phys, autonomic nervous system, respiratory, endocrine, renal, reproductive, gastrointestinal systems. ohhhhh myyy goodness. I think I had about over 300 pages of personal notes, plus our 500 page study guide to know. I was STRESSED today!!!! But I kept at 1500 cals, even including some small snacks of cookie dough ice cream! yay!

annndd after the exam, I went to the weight room. My achilles flared up again after that... so I might not be able to work out tommorow :(

Anyway, thats all Ive got for now. Days without bingeing: 14

and now, I start studying for more exams! hurrah!

well done alexwilliams, 14 days is so impressive. you have no idea how jealous i am of you! not caving in to stress is brilliant. well done.

i feel terrible today. im back at day 1, after 2 huge binge days. i feel horrible because i really thought i was going to get through it this time and then BAM, ruined. yesterday i had no motivation to start again at day 1 so i just grazed continuously from the moment i got up. i feel huge. the 'fat' me has returned in the mirror again and its making me feel so low. im even looking back at photos of me when i was very underweight and feeling jealous. even though i know its not a good idea to be there and i am much healthier now. i have no motivation to get through today without copious amounts of peanut butter but ive asked my mum to help me. hopefully i wont cave in again :(

i really hope everyones doing well. keep going everyone:)

bugsylover: terrible days are part of the game. stay with it! it will change. soon you'll be pulling an alexw!

I am on day 3 of combating MY HUGE EMOTIONAL TRIGGER...it's starting to feel funny...like those stupid commercials where someone's talking and a booming voice interrupts them. Anyway, for me, all my behavior was not about the (bingeing) behavior...that was a symptom. It's always been about the triggers. I guess it was just time to put this trigger aside because it feels right to.

That said, everyone enjoy the day! :  )

Hey Sharon, good luck combating your emotional trigger. You've gone pretty far without binging before, and you will definitely be able to again.

So today I'm working on day 5! It doesn't even feel like it's been that long. I'm feeling no pressure what so ever. I actually was out all day yesterday, and even had ice cream! Well actually, no sugar added chocolate frozen yogurt. Ha, but I seriously have no idea of my calorie count yesterday, and I'm not too worried because I don't think it was over my maintenance. Well good luck everyone!

Good job kae! When you feel in control, you feel like the calories don't matter that much anymore. Just listening to your body will be enough to control yourself.

Today I had a binge. Not a huge one, granted, under 800 cals. And I think I fit in my maintenance cals (or close). But still, it's a binge, so I'm therefore back to day 0. I still made it 2 days, so it's an achievement.

around here that's called a Mini Binge, faustic...not a crisis binge...just a little blip on the radar! you are being honest with yourself...that's all it takes.

I am beginning day 4. I am definitely Trigger Happy (my triggers aren't getting the best of me!) Everyone have a great day!

Good job on day 4 Sharon. That's great that you are controlling your triggers.

Faustic, good job on controlling a binge and not letting it get out of control.

Oh, and Alex AWESOME on day 14!!

So I'm working on day 6. It's only like 9 in the morning, so I really haven't started the day yet. It is so cold here, well like 60 degrees. But that is cold to me because I'm so used to hot weather. Oh well, it's a nice change for a few days. Well good luck everyone!

I'm soooooooooooo glad I found this tread. This is exactly what I need.

I just binged on chocolate and chocolate cupcakes. ARGGGGGGGGHHH!!!!!!!!

I'm so annoyed at myself. I went 1200 cals over my limit. This is so frustrating. I eat really well all week and in just 15 minutes I ruin everything. I haven't been losing weight because of this. I mean, I used to be 154 and after 2 binge-free weeks I was down to 149(my current weight), but now I keep going up and down between 149- 151 for weeks thanks to my binging. I exercise every day too. I eat well, exercise, then binge for 15 mins for one day and for the rest of the week, I'm working out to burn all the weight I gained from that binge.

I'm so frustrated.  I really wanted to lose 30 lbs as a gift to myself for my birthday, but if I continue to eat this way it's definitely not gonna happen. :((

Dev, try writing down how you feel right now after your binge and try to think about it when you're about to binge. It's not guaranteed to work, but it's worth a try.

As for me, no binge today. I probably went over my cals a bit, but I didn't binge when I came back home. What disappoints me the most, however, is that I didn't go running like I planned to just because I wasn't motivated enough. Argh. I'll make sure to do it tomorrow.

*sigh* Ok. I posted on here Monday that day one was starting. Of course I messed up that night and messed up Tuesday and today as well. Great. So yeah....tomorrow will be day 1 again.

Hey Devirm, welcome to this thread. Hey, at least it was only 1200 calories over. Always look on the brightside of things. Just think of how happy you are going to be on your birthday if you lose this weight. It always helps me to have something to work for or having something for motivation. good luck!

Great job on your no binge Faustic! Hey, don't stress too much about not going jogging. We all lose motivation every once in a while, heck I lose mine more often then never.

Hey Chicklette, how do you feel about binging 3 days in a row? Does it make you feel frustrated or guilty? Try and think about how you were feeling those 3 days, and today might be easier.

Hey Sharon, How are you doing? For some reason, I feel closest to you on here. You're an inspiration :)

So it's about 11am here, and I'm just starting day 7! yay! I did pretty well last night. I went out to a restaraunt and had ice cream and a slice of key lime pie. It fit into my daily calorie limits, so it was a great treat. And I came home and didn't eat the whole kitchen. I just went to my room. Normally, I would have eaten a lot when I got home. YAY! It feels great.

Day 1! This is going to be hard!

Kae- Mmm, Key lime pie... It's great that you were able to treat yourself without it turning into a binge afterwards. Good job!

I also had a binge-free day. I did have a few sweets, but nothing out of control. I was feeling a bit of a "binge-y" feeling coming after I ate a small piece of chocolate, but I immediately left the kitchen and went outside, and forgot about it in less than a minute. Day 2 completed!

SO glad to have found this topic! Some things I've found to be helpful in resisting my overwhelming urges to binge:

-Thinking about what is MORE important, eating that cookie I'll enjoy for 10 seconds, or looking good in a bathing suit this summer!

-Thinking about how proud of myself I'll feel if I resist the urge!

-Drinking a bottle of room-temperature water (totally kills my appetite)

-Identifying what emotion I'm confusing with hunger... boredom/lonely/stressed etc... and doing something to solve that emotion like calling a funny friend or just taking a nap!

-If I screw up early in the day, instead of having the "I'll start over again tomorrow" mentality, I try to clean up my act *right then* and start eating healthy again.

-Diet Dr. Pepper almost works as a dessert for me! It's so sweet and *calorie free*!!!

-Above all I just try to remind myself that a few seconds of good food isn't worth how long it'll take to work off!!

 

Good luck to all! :]

Thanks so much Hookem87. All of that was very motivational and helping.

I'm working on day 8! I've passed the one week mark. I did overeat some yesterday, but not a binge. I'll be okay. It's not going to ruin my mindset or progress.

On the brightside, I grew a half inch! Woo hoo! So now I'm 5'3.5. haha. Hey, I'll take whatever amount of height I can get.

Well good luck everyone!

Hi everyone! Sorry I havent been around... exams are crazy. Only 2 more to go though! YAY!

Welcome hookem!! thanks so much for those tips.... the *right then* is something I try to use on my own emotions, as well as the part with looking good in a bathing suit :p

faustic - congrats on day 2!!! keep it up! thats such a good sign, being able to walk away like that :D

Kaw - DAY 8!!! WOOOO past a week! I had just up to my count too yesterday, a lot of it in candy, but none of it was out of control, it was just small amounts of sweet all through the day substituting for my regular food hahah. MMMM ice cream!

Today is day 18 for me!!! I feel so good about my body these days. I still cant do aerobic exercise, which is still so wierd considering ive done it about every day for the past 2 years... but ive been going to the weight room on alternate days, and I see results showing through already :D My crepatis (creaking) came back yesterday, but I have no time to go to the gym in within these few days, so it doesnt matter so much!

have a great day everyone!!!

 

OH and CONGRATS KAE on growing half an inch!!! thats awesome!!!

... I dont know what Id do if I grew another inch.... I'd duck/hunch HAHAH

i have been SO GOOD since sunday. no binging, hardly ever even going over my calorie limit! but after six days of not binging, all i can think of are s'mores and donuts. luckily those are not easily accessible to me, but if i happen to be walking down the street and find one... watch out!

what do you do when you want something that's really bad for you and will probably trigger an entire day full of binging? i can't think of any substitutes for a s'more or a donut. any suggestions would be much appreciated!

Hmm... Samesofan, you could try buying one donut (if you can), because it's not healthy to completely deprive yourself all the time. Also, if you buy just one, your craving will be satisfied without having to deal with the temptation of a whole box. The s'more, however, is kind of harder to figure out.

I had smallish binge today, nothing huge, but I know a binge when I see one. Back to day 0. My binging problem is not completely solved, but I'm feeling a lot better than before, so that's great. Have a nice weekend!