help i'm a binge eater

[starchild]

I have been on ww oline since July 2 and only lost 1 pound so far the problem with me is that once a week i just lose it usually on Friday's i eat everything in site i just keep eating and eating out of control which makes my weight loss efforts useless. I get so derpessed following a binge i feel so gross and bloated and i have a bad habit of weighing myself right after a binge which is not a good idea, the scale goes up 6 pounds this sends me into an unbeliveable state of depression. What should i do to stop this cycle?

[NicsMama]

Hi Starchild! graemlins/wave.gif
I too am a binge eater, my worst time is at night. A buddy recently gave me a great idea, she mentioned drinking large amounts of water in between each thing I put in my mouth. So sometimes this is how my night goes.... I eat popcorn (only 1pt for five cups). I drink at least two 8 oz. glasses of water. Then if I want to eat again I eat a small bowl of cherries or grapes (2pts, the pits in the cherries slow me down and I have to eat one at a time). If I still want to eat I have two more 8oz. glasses of water. Then Ill have a yogurt (4pts), then 2 more cups of water. Eventually you will be so full of water you wont want to eat anymore. If you have a lot of water, and you snack on low point foods that take a lot of effort to eat, you will probably be able to stay OP. I hope this helps.

Have a great OP day!!!
Deedle
graemlins/kiss.gif

[fritter]

Starchild, make sure you're eating enough throughout the day. If you feel like you're starving, that could lead to binging. Water does help make you feel full. I also like to eat lots of free things. I'll eat an entire can of green beans, beets, spinach or asparagus AND eat sliced tomato or cucumber wedges. Then I have little room left and I can choose more sensibly when I don't feel hungry enough to eat everything in sight. Good luck, sometimes it takes a while to get rid of old habits.

Fritter
141.8/132/120

[ReneeDear]

Here are some strategies that help me:
1)Only keep small amounts of "trigger" foods in your house. If you only have a single serving bag of potato chips in the house you can only eat that one bag (better than wolfing down the family sized one).
2)Keep lots of fruit and veggies around.
3)Take the time to prepare yourself something that is low in points and big on taste. The act of making food can avert a binge because you have time to think about what you are doing and you are able to gain control over yourself.
4)Make a cup of tea.
5)Count everypoint, guestimate if you have to. What ever you do: get it on paper . If you don't put it on paper it is easier to ignore the fact it happened.

I hope some of these suggestions are helpful.

[judyo53]

I am also a binge eater so I know where you're coming from. I had an easy time on my losing journey (only one binge day which was Easter Sunday). I'm finding it harder to maintain.

I have noticed that after working out I have completely stopped a binge night. I'm just not hungry afterwards. Not my weight lifting program, but one of my aerobics tapes. Or walking should help, too.

In fact, since I work out late at night, when I realized that it helped with binging, I wish I would have done it earlier that particular day!

[ashlee]

You must get control of the binge eating. I'm a binge/stress eater and you can undo, in my opinion, all the good you've done in the past week if you binge on the week-end, etc.

Eat full meals. Eat enough protein - protein,in my opinion, keeps you full and reduces the snack need.

Snack on carrots/free veggies/zero point soup - non trigger foods.

Get up and go do something - i.e. exercise/talk on chat/browse web sites/talk to family, friends.

Use the old rule - wait 20 mins. and see if the desire disappears.

I was an after supper eater so I've stopped it. However, I do have a lite hot choc. almost every night - it's warm (even though it's summer) and soothing somehow.

I journal (in a personal journal) about my day. Instead of eating due to stress/habit, etc., write your feelings in a journal. Follow "my" rule - "write instead of eat". You will be surprised if you make the effort, how you will feel so much better when you get all your feelings out. It takes as much time as "YOU" want to give it. I also paste pictures/motivational sayings, anything that will help me in the journal.

The rewards are great so just do it.

Ashlee

[tracitini]

TRIGGER FOODS is the key word here. I recently started ww myself and i originally was doing flex plan. I found that i was just bingeing within my points which was leaving me starving do to all the wasted low point foods i was eating. The plan was not helping my eating disorder just allowing me to have the disorder within a controlled setting. What i find is better ( suprisingly) is core because it completely eliminates the TRIGGER FOODS. If you look at cores plan you will notice that a lot of the thinggs we think are healthy like ff sf yogurt are not on core. Why???? Because WW knows how a binge begins. All it takes is a harmless little food like ffsf yogurt and before you know it you're in the mist of a full out binge. I recommend this plan because you will NEVER binge on T-Bone steaks or steamed broccoli. It is also somewhat emotional because it forces you to stop the cycle and think about the real problem which is not that youre hungry. I just started so if you want to try it youre welcome to explore the results with me. I actually had a small binge last night but it was because i ate a food that i thought was core ( whole grain waffles) but wasnt as a result i binged. Im telling you ww knows : )

[DDawnC]

Great advice so far. I would add that you should seek out food/products that seem like a treat but are still low point. This will help you stay OP without feeling deprived or wanting so badly to go crazy with a binge. Here are some that I like, but think about what would taste special to you:

low fat Jarlsberg (swiss) cheese (1 pt per slice)
red grapes (1 pt per cup)
pomegranates (1 pt, I think)
2 pt bars (chocolate carmel and choc chip are my 2 faves)
Coffeemate fat free hazelnut creamer (1 pt per serving for me)
98% ff popcorn with 1 t drizzle of olive oil and 1 T parmesan (4 pts for whole bag)
Light potato chips (1 pt for 20, I think)
Morningstar "corndogs" (3 pts ea)
split whole wheat pita pizza with sauce, veggies, and lf mozzarella (3 pts ea)

Also, look around this site for inspiration and words of wisdom. The training manual is FULL of good stuff- go ahead and use it!