Binging and addiction

C

CFall09

New member
I'm just wondering what experience anyone here has with food addiction or binging, and what sort of things have helped overcome those issues.


To be clear, I don't think that I have any sort of serious eating disorder. There are times though when I catch myself going to the refrigerator in a sort of auto-pilot. I might not even be all that hungry, but then I'll catch myself with a bowl of cereal or a sandwich or something that I probably didn't need. It's made me wonder what it would take to break the subconscious pull.


Anyway, any insight would be much appreciated.
 
Yup


2 big things I noticed were:


1) most of the time I'd eat to AVOID doing something - PROCRASTINATION;

2) I wasn't eating because I was hungry or needed food.


How to fix it?


1) First up just notice when you're doing it - we tend to be on autopilot and end up in front of the fridge but as soon as you start noticing, you've made a massive improvement;

2) Rewire your mind so that you believe that it FEELS better to resist the urge to be an out of control person that eats to avoid things than the short term pleasure you get from caving in. Say something like, "I choose to control what I eat and am rather than BE controlled by food".

3) replace your eating habit with a better more productive habbit, ie. Instead of going to the fridge, do some stretching, walk outside, or do anything that's simply going to reward your body in some way without feeding it more calories.


Hope that helps :)
 
I have the same problem too and now I'm at the point to wear I do not eat unless I am truly hungry and hear a "rumbly in my tumbly." I have also considered putting a note on the fridge saying "are you really hungry?" too see if that would stop me from opening it.
 
Make it really inconvenient to binge. People mostly binge when they're bored & food is readily available for grazing.


I have nothing pre-cooked or easily cooked in the fridge. It's a nuisance to have to invest 30min into cooking for every meal but this way, I can't binge. I don't have bread, nutella, cookies, chips etc in my fridge. The grocery store is far enough that I'd have to get down, take my bicycle out, and ride over. I also don't keep any cash in my house so I can't buy from the deli downstairs. I also have a pretty strict weekly budget (about $20, which doesn't go very far in NYC).
 
I've been a grazer for years and have horrified myself at times with how much I have put into myself plate by plate over a whole day. But I seem to do it most on weekends, when I am around the house, especially if I'm alone. At work I'm too busy to do that. So I think it is related to boredom and pleasure-seeking for me. So as was commented above, now I need to try and distract myself with other pleasures in life; like walks, family time, gardening.

I also notice that if I dont eat enough during the day then by the time I get home I binge uncontrollably, and so that is probably letting my blood sugar get too low or something. So to avoid that I need to make sure I eat regularly.
 
I find that when I'm eating low glycemic I don't have the cravings which lead to binging. I'm dealing with getting back on the healthy wagon right now and find that planning my day's food really helps. If I plan for an apple with peanut butter for a snack and a salad with chicken for dinner, for example, then I'm not searching for something to eat. I KNOW what I should be eating and I make sure to eat filling foods that won't crash my sugar level and make me starving. I get lazy also and look for convenient foods which are most always a bad idea. I find that eggs, vegetables, dairy, fruit, nuts, lean protein, and grains like barley, quinoa, steel cut oats, and agave nectar help keep me full Also have a glass of water by you at ALL times. This had helped me tremendously! Good luck, you can do it!
 
Accountability is huge, as with any addiction. When you feel like you want to eat, call someone that you can trust to help you through it. I have three people that I go to for this, not all at once. Accountability has been a big factor in my weight loss success.
 
In my case I binge when I am under stress. If I don't get what I am studying or my mind just blocks additional information, I eat and later feel guilty. Whenever such a situation arises I drink a glass of water and it really helps.
 
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