Overcoming Your Binge-Eating
This entry is looong overdue (don't read if you don't want detailed food descriptions)
I used to have a MAJOR binge-eating problem... up until a year ago I would go on huge binge-sprees about 4 days a week - each time I swore it would be my last and that I would start my diet the next day. Each binge was supposedly my last goodbye to junk food forever
And yet it never was the last time... that's how I got to a whopping 170 lbs
My binges were embarassingly huge, and I always had to do it in secret. I would sneak out to my car late at night and drive to Wendy's or CVS and buy tons of food. I'd come home and eat it, keeping the TV volume on low or even muting it so I could hear if someone was approaching. Often times I'd eat alone in my room. I'd buy fast food on the way home from school and stuff myself, then have dinner a couple hours later, then go out and buy an ice cream sundae after
Ironically, this was while I was trying to lose weight... I'd diet for a day or two, then give up and binge on food, vowing it would be my last and that the next day I'd change my ways forever
My binges were modest at first, ranging from a couple extra scoops of ice cream to an average-sized fast food meal... about 15 months ago my binges were at their very worst: after school I'd drive to Wendy's and order my usual: 2 jr bacon cheeseburgers, large fries, and chicken nuggets. Right after I'd drive to Starbucks (which is conveniently across the street)and order a large frappacino and a pastry. Then I'd drive home and enjoy the food at home when no one was there.
Other times I'd drive to CVS and buy a bag of truffles or a value-size bag of hershey chocolates, and large bag of doritos or a container of pringles, and I'd usually top that off with a package of oreos or more candy (*note- this was looong before I ever started purging... that's right- I'd eat this food and it would STAY in my system)
On saturdays my parents gave me money to buy chinese for myself and my sister... I'd always order a large sweet and sour chicken and an order of crab wontons... next door was a bakery, so usually I'd get something there too
But the worst... the VERY worst, is when I started buying myself whole pies and cakes (once I even bought myself a whole cheesecake - $25!), or buying a box of doughnuts... Usually I couldn't finish the entire pie or cake, but I'd easily finish off the box of doughnuts in a couple hours, and the cheesecake only took about a day (parents were outta town that weekend)
I'm sorry for all the description, but it's important that people see how bad my problem was and that I'm not exagerrating when I say it was a MAJOR problem
How did I stop? Well, I remember in May 2005 I made a vow to get serious about losing weight and controlling my binge-eating... my motivation was that I wanted to look good for my senior year. I was also a bit scared - ever since 8th grade I've been assuring myself I'll lose the weight by high school and everything will be fine. And yet, here I was, in my final year of high school, and I was obese. I finally realized that I wasn't guaranteed to just lose the weight "one day", and it scared the hell outta me. I was living in a fantasy world, and it had to stop. I couldn't allow myself to go off to college looking the way I did
I think the key was I hit rock bottom.
I finally wanted to lose weight so bad that I was willing to do whatever it took - you have to want it more than anything. It must become your priority... that's how I've come to lose 57 lbs so far (currently I'm 113 lbs)
BABY STEPS! Don't expect perfect eating habits to appear overnight, because it won't happen. Start slow- if you're bingeing like I used to, instead of severely cutting back your calories try just eating 3 normal sized meals and 1 or 2 small snacks a day for awhile... you CANNOT starve yourself until you get control of your bingeing (otherwise starving will lead to bingeing)
I didn't start severely restricting until my binges had pretty much ceased... these days I can usually come off a fast and eat modestly (most importantly, on the rare occasion when I do binge, it's now on healthy food, and rarely more than 500 cals)
Next, get yourself accustomed to eating healthy food... no more crap! That way, if you do binge in the future, you'll be way more likely to do so on healthy stuff, and save thousands of calories
MOST IMPORTANTLY- do NOT allow yourself a "final goodbye" binge and vow to start tomorrow- START TODAY!
Remember- you'll never lose weight until you control your bingeing, so focus on that first, THEN weight loss
I can't stress enough how extremely unhealthy bingeing is for your body - so if you suffer from this problem please make it a priority to get it under control- you'll feel (and look) so much better, and then nothing will stop you from reaching your goal weight!
Remember, to stop your bingeing:
DO NOT STARVE
DO NOT EAT JUNK FOOD/TRIGGER FOODS
DO NOT PUT OFF RECOVERY
I've been there, and I recovered - AND SO CAN YOU! You don't have to live with this!
~Laura
I used to have a MAJOR binge-eating problem... up until a year ago I would go on huge binge-sprees about 4 days a week - each time I swore it would be my last and that I would start my diet the next day. Each binge was supposedly my last goodbye to junk food forever
And yet it never was the last time... that's how I got to a whopping 170 lbs
My binges were embarassingly huge, and I always had to do it in secret. I would sneak out to my car late at night and drive to Wendy's or CVS and buy tons of food. I'd come home and eat it, keeping the TV volume on low or even muting it so I could hear if someone was approaching. Often times I'd eat alone in my room. I'd buy fast food on the way home from school and stuff myself, then have dinner a couple hours later, then go out and buy an ice cream sundae after
Ironically, this was while I was trying to lose weight... I'd diet for a day or two, then give up and binge on food, vowing it would be my last and that the next day I'd change my ways forever
My binges were modest at first, ranging from a couple extra scoops of ice cream to an average-sized fast food meal... about 15 months ago my binges were at their very worst: after school I'd drive to Wendy's and order my usual: 2 jr bacon cheeseburgers, large fries, and chicken nuggets. Right after I'd drive to Starbucks (which is conveniently across the street)and order a large frappacino and a pastry. Then I'd drive home and enjoy the food at home when no one was there.
Other times I'd drive to CVS and buy a bag of truffles or a value-size bag of hershey chocolates, and large bag of doritos or a container of pringles, and I'd usually top that off with a package of oreos or more candy (*note- this was looong before I ever started purging... that's right- I'd eat this food and it would STAY in my system)
On saturdays my parents gave me money to buy chinese for myself and my sister... I'd always order a large sweet and sour chicken and an order of crab wontons... next door was a bakery, so usually I'd get something there too
But the worst... the VERY worst, is when I started buying myself whole pies and cakes (once I even bought myself a whole cheesecake - $25!), or buying a box of doughnuts... Usually I couldn't finish the entire pie or cake, but I'd easily finish off the box of doughnuts in a couple hours, and the cheesecake only took about a day (parents were outta town that weekend)
I'm sorry for all the description, but it's important that people see how bad my problem was and that I'm not exagerrating when I say it was a MAJOR problem
How did I stop? Well, I remember in May 2005 I made a vow to get serious about losing weight and controlling my binge-eating... my motivation was that I wanted to look good for my senior year. I was also a bit scared - ever since 8th grade I've been assuring myself I'll lose the weight by high school and everything will be fine. And yet, here I was, in my final year of high school, and I was obese. I finally realized that I wasn't guaranteed to just lose the weight "one day", and it scared the hell outta me. I was living in a fantasy world, and it had to stop. I couldn't allow myself to go off to college looking the way I did
I think the key was I hit rock bottom.
I finally wanted to lose weight so bad that I was willing to do whatever it took - you have to want it more than anything. It must become your priority... that's how I've come to lose 57 lbs so far (currently I'm 113 lbs)
BABY STEPS! Don't expect perfect eating habits to appear overnight, because it won't happen. Start slow- if you're bingeing like I used to, instead of severely cutting back your calories try just eating 3 normal sized meals and 1 or 2 small snacks a day for awhile... you CANNOT starve yourself until you get control of your bingeing (otherwise starving will lead to bingeing)
I didn't start severely restricting until my binges had pretty much ceased... these days I can usually come off a fast and eat modestly (most importantly, on the rare occasion when I do binge, it's now on healthy food, and rarely more than 500 cals)
Next, get yourself accustomed to eating healthy food... no more crap! That way, if you do binge in the future, you'll be way more likely to do so on healthy stuff, and save thousands of calories
MOST IMPORTANTLY- do NOT allow yourself a "final goodbye" binge and vow to start tomorrow- START TODAY!
Remember- you'll never lose weight until you control your bingeing, so focus on that first, THEN weight loss
I can't stress enough how extremely unhealthy bingeing is for your body - so if you suffer from this problem please make it a priority to get it under control- you'll feel (and look) so much better, and then nothing will stop you from reaching your goal weight!
Remember, to stop your bingeing:
DO NOT STARVE
DO NOT EAT JUNK FOOD/TRIGGER FOODS
DO NOT PUT OFF RECOVERY
I've been there, and I recovered - AND SO CAN YOU! You don't have to live with this!
~Laura