Support to stop binge eating, stop emotional eating, and stop overeating.
Andrew Bolis
Forum Administrator
I gotta admit today I did have some junk food. Chips and cheese dip to be exact. However it didn't turn into a binge eating episode or anything like that which is what matters anyways.
I'm curious, how do different junk foods impact everyone's binge eating or overeating? Do you feel that there are certain junk foods you can eat in moderation and others that you can't? Please Share 
Jeanne23
Member
Definitely! I had to give up junk food due to my many food restrictive diets for medical reasons, but thanks to modern food technology I can still have gluten free cookies, sugar free ice cream, nuts apple sauce etc. Not your normal binge buffet, but as close to it as I can get. And yeah, Anything sweet opens the door: cookies are my downfall, ice cream etc. And I fantasize about what I cant have non stop: donuts, cake, sandwiches, burgers, pastries, pizza, pasta, chocolate, chocolate,chocolate...AHHHHHHH. It's taking over my life. I hate this inability to stop or control myself. Even though I binge in minor qualities, its the fact that I do it period that overwhelms me.
Andrew Bolis
Forum Administrator
Jeanne
I was curious, do you ever binge on those food alternatives? I remember in the past when I would try extreme diets - obviously a bad idea - I would often overeat sugar-free candy and fat-free foods and so on.
While I do think that certain foods have some addictive elements to them. I've spoken to many people with sugar addictions and so on. I also found that for many of them and for me it had to do with emotions. Whether I was overeating healthy foods or junk foods, it was often an attempt to comfort myself, my stress and so on.
Andrew Bolis
Forum Administrator
Every notice how after a great fun night you don't really have any temptations to binge eat or overeat the follow day?
well I had a great night out with friends last night. Today, I actually feel like working out even 
so I'll actually get my lazy butt to the gym
Andrew Bolis
Forum Administrator
Wrote a post today about how binge eating, overeating, or emotional eating is the easy way out, read it here.
ebrenlee
Member
I crave salty and sweet foods. It's hard for me to put down a bag of chips without finishing the bag first. The same is true with cookies and candy, it's hard for me to be satisfied with only one or two. There's just this compulsive side of me that wants to be like the "Cookie Monster" from Sesame street and eat the whole package. Box included, just kidding, smile!
---Brenda
Blueberries
Member
I know there are certain food which once I started eating, I'd eat non-stop until I'm overly stuffed. A long while back, it was frozen yogurt and/or sugar-free ice-cream. Just a few weeks ago, it'd be fruit and crackers (it has to be the two together; I don't like just having one or the other). So, I've learned to stay away from them. After not having them for a while, I don't crave them. And I move on with my life. Currently, my downfall is wasabi peas. No matter how big a bag I purchase, I feel like I have the need to finish everything. The next morning, I'd be feeling bloated, and my mouth would feel raw from the crunchiness of the peas. I'd tell myself that I should lay off of the peas for a while...but I always eventually come back to them. It's definitely my hugest obstacle yet. I think what I need to do is find a healthier alternative...
Andrew Bolis
Forum Administrator
That's very interesting how you feel the next morning. Whenever I overeat I tend to wake up with a very dry mouth.
Andrew Bolis
Forum Administrator
I have to admit, I haven't kept up with my eating journal as much as I would like to How dare I ask others to start their own eating journals if I can't keep up with mine? haha
Well I think my eating journal is the only one right now, so no one can judge me unless they start their own eating journal
Anyways I did some overeating last night. While I rarely binge eat these days, I still occasionally overeat. If you that sounds confusing let me clarify.
Overeating is simply eating more than normal. Everyone does it occasionally. A sever case of overeating turns into binge eating. Overeating episodes are generally limited to a single meal, or just eating bigger meals. However binge eating can extend to several meals, hours, days or even weeks.
How did it happen? Well I had all these big projects I was working on, I felt lazy and decided to watch some tv shows instead. I started feeling hungry, and decided I'll have some coffee cake I ended up eating more than I planned, and I was still hungry, so I also had some pasta.
On the surface this might not sound like an overeating episode, in fact it could just be another regular meal. However something about it felt wrong. I reflected back on it I realized that I used eating as an excuse to avoid doing the work I had planned and the feeling of guilt that went with my laziness.
I doubt if the hunger was even real because I had a meal a few hours earlier. I realize it was emotional eating. So I had to dig a little deeper and figure out what the real issue was.
I realized that I haven't really done anything fun or relaxing in the past few days. In fact I've just been doing a lot of work and probably felt overworked. Instead of planning a fun activity I resorted to food for a break and comfort.
So tonight I'm going out for some fun crazy times
Andrew Bolis
Forum Administrator
So last night I called some friends and ended up hanging out with them for a night out in the city. I currently live in the Chicago suburbs and love going out to downtown Chicago. I've always loved big cities By the way if you are ever in Chicago you can hit me up.
It's amazing how taking a break and going out, having fun makes a big difference. I'm certain now that the other night when I overate it was to satisfy emotional hunger and not real hunger.
How fun is your life? How often do you give yourself breaks? How often do you have fun crazy nights with friends? The more fun you are having in your life the less you'll engage in binge eating.
binger
Member
very true Andrew,for the first time yesterday in years i went to the natural history museum and it was lovely..really relaxing...i didnt relize how much i needed that time.The funny thing is that i did not feel in the mood to go out!
Anonymous
Andrew, I have been reading your posts and noticed that you said to include junk food in the diet. I have read some literature on binging in which they said to eliminate sugar because it causes more cravings. What do you think about this? The fun factor...I am always so stressed, nothing is really fun for me...I am not quite sure what fun is anymore? I just binge a lot. I feel guilty about everything. It seems like something always needs to get done and by going out, Im neglecting something. Also, intaking binge foods makes me just want more, and intigates a binge, almost always...that sugar...I have had problems with addiction in the past though also.
Andrew Bolis
Forum Administrator
I think you are basically questioning whether food addiction really exists or is just a big lie. Are certain foods (like sugar) addictive?
In order to stop binge eating I realized I had to try out every piece of advice I got or read about for myself and keep doing what works, and stop doing what didn't.
Why? Because I was reading all kinds of advice. Some support groups and some books on binge eating would claim that food addiction is real.
According to them the only way to recover was to completely cut out all junk foods (including sugar) from your meals. Not only that but you had to do it immediately.
From their perspective it was black or white, there was no gray. when I first heard this idea, I gave it a try. And to be honest with you it worked great for probably 7 or 8 days.
But guess what happened in the background? My cravings for those foods I cut out kept my meals kept getting stronger until they just got out of control.
And I ended up binge eating on all those foods I avoided the previous 7 or 8 days. In many ways it felt like I was trying another diet and couldn't keep up with it.
I've tried way too many diets and I can tell you that they never worked for me long-term.
Anyways I thought at first that maybe I just didn't have enough "self-control" or whatever you want to call it.
So I would ask others in support groups who have also try to cut out junk foods and sugar from their diet.
I kept hearing the same answer, all of them relapsed, or in other words would have binge eating episodes sooner or later.
So I kept learning more about binge eating recovery, reading more books and so on. And I noticed a very interesting trend in newer books.
Many of them recommended that you actually do have junk food or sugar. They reasoned that if you completely cut it out, you'll always crave it and end up binge eating it.
More interestingly I even found a more shocking fact. MOST if not all of those who deal with binge eating have generally tried multiple diets throughout their lifetime.
So I wondered if dieting is a root cause of binge eating? I mean it kind of made sense. Because most diets deprived one of junk foods and sugary foods.
At the same time most binge eating episodes consisted of eating large amounts of those "forbidden foods".
So it made me wonder. What if I never ever dieted in the past? What if I never judged the food I was eating? What if there was no "good" foods and "bad" foods.
I realized that I would of never dealt with binge eating in the first place. I realized that even if I did occasionally overeat, I would have never felt guilty about it and it would NOT have ended up being a full-blown binge eating episode.
So I started bringing back all kinds of "forbidden foods" into my meals. Of course I did it slowly because just like you, I would binge eat on those same foods.
I also tried to do it in controlled settings, ones where I knew I wouldn't binge eat. For example when I'd eat out with friends. I never engaged in binge eating in front of my friends, so for me that was a "controlled environment".
After a few weeks I started noticing something. My cravings for junk foods and sweets were starting to decrease. I really didn't crave junk foods any more or less than I craved healthy foods.
All of a sudden I really felt like I had a choice in what I eat. When I ate a healthy food I ate it because I wanted to not because some diet was telling me to.
When I ate a junk food, I ate it without guilt and didn't judge myself for it. Also since I was regularly having it, I started overeating less and less.
Now that's my experience. The question I have is what's yours?
You've said you've been told to cut out sugar from your meals because it's addictive.
I'm guessing you've tried that, did it work?
If it worked out well I'm guessing you would of kept doing it and made progress. If that's the case then great keep doing it.
However if it didn't work for you, and you can relate to my experience then maybe try the alternative.
Now I'm not recommending that you go on a junk food eating frenzy or anything. All I'm saying is that you should slowly introduce junk foods back into your meals, and see what happens.
If you are already binge eating, you really have nothing to lose.
At the same time I want to make it clear that I don't know whether food addiction is real or not, and don't really want to pick sides.
A big part of my recovery was trying every piece of advice I heard for myself.
So if you are someone who doesn't eating junk foods or sugar and it has helped with your binge eating recovery great.
If that's the case then I would like to hear from you and get your perspective on the issue.
I guess to add to that, I've also found that most binge eating is a form of emotional eating.
When I learned this I tried to focus less on WHAT I was eating and focus more on WHY I was eating.
ComA
Member
You're right, Andrew. So many advices out there. Who shall we believe? We have to check what is working for us on our own skin. Even if it means failure. Learning machines 8O.
I also got sad conclusion for myself lately - I was cheating on myself - even if I had binge on grainy cereals, that huge amount of food didn't make me healthier. Contrary. Not mentioning some sweets episodes - another lie to myself. Yes, I was there :?. I'd go to tree different shops on my way home and buy a few in each just to have a binge after stressful day. Another matter - I was so long striving to eat healthy (in my decent days) - thinking what is right for our bodies is so stressful which makes things worse after all. I should let go and have listened what my body really needs, even if it was piece of chocolate. But I was judging it as sin and deprived myself. Mistake.
I have to remember to let go sometimes, stop judging food (and myself within) as black-and-white-thinking box and finally have some relax/fun from time to time.
binger
Member
i agree with your theory andrew and my therapist has always maintained incorporiating so called forbidden foods...
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