Breaking away from a vicious cycle

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korikun

New member
Hello everyone ^_^

First of all I will say that I'm not really trying to lose weight, but I've fallen into a pattern of binge eating that I can't seem to break away from. And since this is a diet forum, I'm hoping that it might help...

I became obsessed with weight when I was 14, and started trying to diet, but that always backfired and I've been bingeing like mad ever since. I eat about 3000 calories a day worth of candy or ice cream, or anything sweet really. I've even been known to binge on foods I hate just for the sheer volume.

And once I mess up it feels like I ruined the whole day, so I just binge more... I know this is a horrible mindset, but I can't seem to free myself of it. I've seriously lost all hope, since every time I try to stop, it only lasts a day, or not even that, before the binges come back twofold... I have zero self control, and similar self confidence.

I'm actually ever so slightly underweight, probably due to my age and the amount of exercise that I do, so doctors tend to dismiss my problem and consider any weight gain to be a good thing. Which it likely isn't, if it took this much food for my body to put on ten pounds :\ It's probably rather unnatural.

I really want to get rid of this problem before it turns into something worse, like bulimia... Which I have seriously considered at times, since everything seems so hopeless and I despise myself when I binge.

Any help would be much appreciated :)
 
Hello and welcome. I know the feeling of `I've ruined my diet for the day. Might as well go nuts and eat EVERYTHING IN SIGHT'. I used to do that all the time.

I don't have much advice on getting over it in your case, because a lot of my motivation to stop doing so came from seeing weight loss results. I think that a lot of people here share the binge eating experience.

If you're eating 3000 calories just of sweet stuff a day, how do you not put on weight? Are you eating regular meals as well? Eating only sugary stuff is going to make you unwell, but you don't need me to tell you that.

Perhaps some people here can recommend forums more related to this problem?

Congratulations on being active in looking for help, I hope you find all the support you need!
 
I eat basically all sweets... Out of my 3000+ calories per day, maybe around 500-600 of them would be healthy foods, or at least foods without such a high sugar and saturated fat content. I'm afraid that this will eventually have serious health consequences, since I eat around 300% of the recommended daily amount of saturated fat, and I don't even know how much sugar I'm eating.

I really don't know how I don't gain weight :\ I burn around 500 calories a day with exercise, so eating 2500 a day and maintaining might be reasonable if I have a very high metabolism. Then again, I'm a girl, so it is rather strange.

I might have that hyper... I forget what it was called. Hyperthyroid? Or was it something else?

Maybe it would be good to search for a more relevant site... But do any of you have tips on how to control urges for the sweet/salty/sweet food cycle? It's so strong sometimes that I can't help running to the store and racking up fifty dollars worth of candy, ice cream and chips, then going home and bingeing on it all. It feels like I don't even have any control over my body when I do this, as if I'm going on autopilot.
 
You need to see a doctor

Hi

I think you need to see your Doctor and explain the situation and have some blood test done. If they don't agree go and see another one until you find someone who cares.

You may have an over actitive thyroid or another ailment so please go and seek help weather you are over weight or skinny this is still a health issue.

Surf the web and do your own research.

Best of luck

Sam:)
 
I'm pretty sure Overeaters Anonymous specialises in this sort of thing. Maybe you could check out a group in your area.

I think one way to avoid the sugary binge is to fill yourself up with healthy foods. You say your only eating 500-600 "healthy" calories. Does this mean you only get 500-600 calories throughout the day and binge at night? 'Cause I would probably binge if I only had 500 calories up until dinner time. Try planning your meals and snacks so that you are eating nutrient dense, filling foods for three meals and two or three snacks a day. Make sure you are eating veggies, fruits, lean protein, whole grains and healthy fats. If you are "full" and maintain an even blood sugar all day long, you will probably be a lot less likely to binge. Hope that helps.
 
Talk to your doctor about this, but you may very well be hypoglycemic, which is basically abnormal low blood sugar. Exercise can make it even worse if you're not careful. When your blood sugar bottoms out, you do exactly what you are talking about.

I actually did it Saturday. I camped on Friday night, and it was freezing cold. Got up, ate 2 packets of oatmeal, an apple, and a sausage patty. Went riding for a few hours and I ate a couple of Clif Bars during the ride. The ride was harder than I expected actually, my blood sugar bottomed out. Immediately afterwards, I started eating. As soon as I got back to the car, I ate a bunch of dried cranberries. I thought that would make me ok but it didn't. Wasn't 20 minutes later and I was dying for a soft drink, so I got an orange soda. Made it to town and went to a Mexican restaurant where I ate two entire bottles of salsa, about half a bag of chips, and four enchiladas. That still didn't do the trick, so I drank an entire medium sized pineapple blizzard from Dairy Queen. This is very unusual for me.

So basically, if this is your problem, try to pay attention to your blood sugar levels. Try to keep them at a constant level. When you exercise, make sure there's enough carbohydrates in your system to handle the workload. Never spike your blood sugar, so unless you are "low", stay away from highly refined carbohydrates such as white bread, and soft drinks. Your body may be producing too much insulin, so when you get a spike, you may be getting WAYYY too much insulin, therefore resulting in low blood sugar and extreme cravings for sweets and other bad stuff.

The way to tell if you are "low" is that you have these extreme cravings, yet you're not necessarily hungry, but you know it's not psychological, you can't ignore it, it's not a temporary thing. You'll be dreaming about what all you can eat when you can get your hands on something, and these feelings will be extremely strong because your brain is trying to get into survival mode, and yes, you can die from it if it's bad enough. You may be shaky or a little light headed. Your heart rate may be up a little. When it gets real bad you may be uncoordinated. Basically the worse it gets, the grouchier you will get. You may feel kind of sleepy. There's lots of symptoms along these lines, so I recommend doing some reading about it.

IF this is what is going on, probably the single most piece of advice I can give you is to eat/drink something at the very beginning of when you feel "low". The longer you try to ignore it, the lower your blood sugar will get, and the more you will binge on sweets. Often you can have a small amount of food right when you start feeling it, and that will stop it from getting worse. Personally I take at least one Clif Bar most everywhere I go if I'm away from town traveling, hunting, biking, or anything that I won't have immediate access to food. 5 grams fiber, 10 grams of slow-release soy protein, and about 40 grams of carbs, all packaged up nicely, it can't melt, and it's organic. I love those things, they help me alot.
 
I don't have any helpful advice, I apologize. I just wanted to give you a big hug. *HUG* You're in my prayers sweetie! ...but I definitely agree with everyone who says see a different doctor and have tests run and talk to him/her explicitly about what you're going through. You've taken the first step, which is the biggest and hardest...admitting that you need help. I wish you all the best.
 
"And once I mess up it feels like I ruined the whole day, so I just binge more... " i know exactly how you feel :(
 
Wow, thanks for the response, guys ^^

I try to eat throughout the day, I'm not anorexic, but the binges usually start around midday and last into the evening, hence I only get around 500-600 healthy calories in the morning. Usually the binges in the midday are small, maybe a high-calorie ice cream bar, but like corndoggy said, that makes my cravings for sweet food much, much worse.

I never really thought about being hypoglycemic, since no one in my family ever has been, but it makes a lot of sense now. The cravings I get for food don't seem like simple cravings, really, it's as if they go completely beyond that. As if I have no choice in the matter, and it's really frustrating >_< I'll think about the food until I'll give in and binge on it, and it's starting to occupy all facets of my life.

What's strange is, the binges started when I began exercising. I remember being 14, size 0 back then, getting home from volleyball practice and tearing into a whole package of drumstick ice cream cones. Obviously, the whole super-model size thing didn't last for very long, lol. I'm only a 5 now, but it still feels like I'm wearing a fat suit >_< I'm not trying to say that anything above a 2 is fat, but having been that size my entire life, it feels as if I'm not me anymore.

Someone recently commented that I no longer look like a concentration camp victim, which I know was supposed to be a compliment, but I went home later and just couldn't stop crying. Probably not because of the whole size thing, but because huge binges every day have turned me into something I'm not, and that people notice it and put it into a positive light is just really confusing :\

I did some research, and I do have constantly shaking hands so that might be a sign of something. It has always been called nothing more than a benign tremor, but maybe it's actually something else.

I suppose it's good to hear that I'm not alone in the bingeing thing, but then again, it's very bad. I don't want anyone to have to go through the same things I do :\ I know it's especially hard for overweight people, because people who are lucky enough to have a healthy attitude towards food act as if it's all the binge-eater's fault. Like they could just stop eating and lose weight, which is ridiculous because if it was really that easy, then no one would be anywhere above their healthiest weights.

Hugs to Ohappydaye, too :) Good job on succeeding in your weight loss goals!
 
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