Binge Eating Disorder-just need a moan!

[EdinburghLass]

I'm so fed up. Lost 22lbs before Christmas and have now put almost all of it back on 😞 I have 105lbs to lose to be at a healthy weight. I've had enough of binge eating, feeling fat, feeling sweaty and hot, feeling tired and sore and exhausted. I know I need to stick with the Fitbit but I always end up binge eating. I have no energy for anything. In need of some inspiration from other fitbitters.

[JohnRi]

I have a fitbit friend that also suffers from binge eating.  For her she gets sad, and food makes her feel better.  I'm trying to help her, but it's one day at a time.

Last year at 48, I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, my weight was 281, my heaviest.  And my doctor told me flat out, if I didn't change my way of life, I would be dead in 10 years.  I got put on blood pressure, and cholesterol meds...  And I started walking again...  I had a nuclear heart stress test, and a echocartigraph on my heart.  The echo showed that I had mild/stage 1 damage to my heart.  I pass the stress test, and I started walking walking October 1st.  I got my fitbit surge November 8th...  By January I had lost 22 lbs, my cholesterol was now normal/low.  My blood pressure was now normal, and I'm one of my meds...

Today I have now lost 35 lbs, and continue going.  I pushed myself to 6 miles for the first time today.  

When I started I had to 93 lbs just to get to the top of the "normal" range for my height, and sex...

But exercise was only part of the difference.  I have permantly changed my diet.  I'm eating much healthier.  And that's why I'm not going to gain it back.

Fad diets, they make work for a while, but in the long run they will fail.  What you need to do is first start with portion control.  Cut back on what you eat now.  For me double cheeseburgers became singles.  My foot long sub, became a six inch sub.  Little changes...

Then I started replacing portions of my meals with healthier choices.  For example I used to eat a whole pot of macaroni and cheese.  Now when I cook the pot, I'll eat half, and the other half is vegetiables.  

Slowly change your diet.  Little by little.  And after 2 or 3 months, you find that the food you used to love, you just don't care for it anymore.  I'm about to give up cheeseburgers altogether.  Something I can't believe.

Diet soda do all kinds of bad stuff too you.  They are better than regular sodas, but you are better off just drinking water.

Don't drink alcohol.  It empty calories.  Dehydrates.  Can heart your heart and liver.  And messes with your sugar level in your blood for hours...

I bet your blood pressure is high.  Get a tester and find out.  If it is, go see the doctor about getting on meds.

For me I was EXHAUSTED all the time.  Once my blood pressure was under control, I suddenly had energy.

Then I started walking.  Slowing little by little.  1/2 the first day... 1 mile...  1.25  miles.. 1.5 ...  2.0 miles ...  eventually 3 miles...  Then 3 weeks ago I hit I hit 4 miles...  Then 5 miles...  Today I hit 6 miles...

My friend like I sad she gets sad and eats.  Sees what her weight is...  gets sad..  EATS....  Eats until she can't eat no more...  She's struggling.

I suggested she look for support groups for depression, and binge eating. I also suggest that when she gets sad, instead of eating, go for a walk.  Try to break the habit of turning to food...

She's stuggling eat day...

I've got 63 more pounds to lose.  But I'm determined to do it.  But start slow, do little changes, make those changes permanent.  Stick with it.  Get active.  It took you years to gain the weight, it's going to take months or years to lose it.  Don't get discouraged if your weight doesn't change at first.  Or if you hit a point the weight doesn't drop after 2 months.  Keep at it.  Don't give up.  

I just had to get new pants, after going down two sizes!  My shirt size has gone done 1 size too.

I've got a long way to go, but I'm going to get there...  
  

[EdinburghLass]

thanks, yes I’m in a similar situation. All my close relatives have type 2 diabetes so i’m at high risk. I’m also on steroids and antidepressants which make me hungry all the time. I know I need to do something fast. My body has had enough. It’s telling me that it’s tired of carrying all this extra weight. My BMI is 36. Thanks for your message, sometimes you just need to hear from someone else whose been in a similar situation. x

[Shortsbysummer]

Do you track what and when you eat? You might find patterns of behaviour that you can gradually change. For me skipping the gym sets me up to overeat, as does not getting enough sleep, not planning meals in advance, and problems around cooking dinner (staying too late at work not giving myself enough time to cook dinner for my family before having to get them out the door to their extra-curricular activities). I also stocked my freezer with 100-150 calorie treats like fruit juice popsicles. I've lost 35-lbs since April '15 but I have 65-lbs to go. work stress from sept-dec saw me gain 14-lbs back. I had a great week last week because I was sick and could not eat but made up for it this week by eating everything. I plan to write up a list of my 5 goals, 5 reasons I want my goals, 5 obstacles, 5 obstacle-beaters and read it twice a day. Small steps in the right direction...an inch on the bow is a mile on the horizon.

[EdinburghLass]

Hi, yes I log everything when I'm doing well and then I go off track and abandon logging because I know I've eaten too many cals. I can make the step target every day fine. I just need to deal with my emotional eating. I think that is what's holding me back. I also have a very busy job so if I'm home late and tired I tend to go for something carby/sugary which then sets me up to start binging 😞

Sent from Louisa's iPhone

[emili]

it sounds to me like you have two things you are dealing with - trigger eating and tired eating. the second is much easier to deal with than the first. you will only eat what you have in the cupboard. keep things at the ready that are good for you when you walk in the door. And it doesn't have to be a head of broccoli. make yourself a parfait before you leave for work, or a preportioned baggy of nuts, pretzels and granola. things you can munch on in a hurry while you are washing up, calming down and fixing dinner.

the trigger eating, well that you have to figure out. that is all emotional, mental eating. if you know your trigger, you can deal it with it in a non food way. try writing down every emotion and reason you feel during the day and put a check mark next to the ones that have you wishing for a donut. do it in a text to yourself so you don't feel like you are putting on a show. when you are calm and have a yummy cup of something in front of you, take a look and evaluate. It may take a week or two, but a pattern will emerge. Good luck to you and please moan any time you like- its healthy!

[Move.It.Move.It]

I have lost and gained weight quite a few times and I have come to the conculsion that a "diet' is not the answer for me. After forty years of dieting I have ended up riducously overweight.  Dieiting led to binging and over eating.

I have a lot of weight to lose now and I am trying a different approach. I want this to be the last time that I lose weight. I am concentrating on satisfying myself, listening to my body and wholesome,healthy eating. I have lost 4.5kg or 10lbs since Christmas and it has been a very enjoyable process.

[snowie]

I suffer from Binge Eating Disorder. Dieting brings it on big time. I followed a odd approach promoted by the book Overcoming overeating by Jane Hirschmann & Carol Munter. No dieting, no weighing, eat all your favourite foods - lose the obsession and get on with your life. There is lots of other self help books and I suggest you read one of them and fix the binge eating - it's a miserable way to live, and life is too short to live it in misery. Keep walking, exercise improves your health no matter what size you are, so walk for your health not to lose weight.  

[EdinburghLass]

Thanks for all your replies. It makes it so much easier to know I'm not alone. Im about to go on a "Beyond Chocolate" workshop in a few weeks. They specialise in binge eating and teach you to listen to your body so that you can eat when you're hungry and stop when you're full. Sounds simple but this is where I have the biggest problem. I love fitbit because you can eat whatever you want and if you go over the calorie allowance you can then move more to make it balance out. It doesn't feel so much like a diet. Ive been trying to incorporate some of my binge foods into my daily diet by normalising it and making it not "forbidden" That's what I'm trying to do. I've been two days without a binge...doesn't sound like much but the way the last few weeks have been it's a huge achievement!

[RUBYSMAMA]

Be true to yourself. Log your actual calories and if you are over do whatever it takes to make up some of those.I dance and slip and hop while doing laundry dishes etc. GOOD LUCK

[A_Lurker]

I started over 400 lbs.  I got down to about 270, ended up in the hospital (not paying attention, dieted myself to an illness), and never quite got back on track.  Time passed, another illness, and I slid back towards that top weight.  I stopped the process and am going back down again.  I've learned enough about me, and how I lose weight, that I really think this will be the last time.

Anyway, I never really considered myself a binge eater, but there were times I would sit down and eat way more than a rational person would consider normal.

Planning helps, putting things together for the next day.  I completely understand the coming home and not waiting to cook something. 

Precook meals and portion them out (I freeze meat sauce and/or chili).  I keep homemade meatballs made with turkey and beef in the freezer.  Again, this can make a fast meal in a pinch.  I bought myself a spiralizer that I can make zucchini pasta with, however, sometimes I still make pasta with meatballs.

I sometimes just kick back and relax when I come home.  I'll read, or now that the weather is better, go for a swim.  I eat later, which means I don't have those late night munchies.

ETA:  Keeping my protein levels higher and my carb levels lower helps with cravings.  Nothing like empty carbs (think sugar) to make you crave more.  Watch diet foods as well.  Often they will be low fat, but really high in sugar.

Find things you truly enjoy and include them each day.  I'm really into a homemade couscous salad at the moment.  I can mix up the base (couscous, red onion, celery, green pepper, greek salad dressing) and keep it for up to a week.  I then add cucumber, tomato, feta cheese and chicken to it.  I usually take it with me for lunch, but it's also a good dinner option with only a few minutes of chopping and mixing.

[Move.It.Move.It]

Someone just put me onto the Low Carb High Fat approach. I am hoping it is the answer to my "lose weight gain" more pattern. I had been doing it a little by eating more protein but I was also eating lots of bread, pasta, noodles and rice.  

I certainly enjoyed my food more this week and hunger was a different feeling, not so frenzied. I did go a bit nuts on the cheese though 🙂

This week I have to incorporate more vegetables and I am going to look for a zucchini spiraliser in the shops. I have discover cauliflower rice and it is amazing, so easy to make and it goes great with curries.

I have found a great website called Diet Doctor http://www.dietdoctor.com

It has a great recipe section and some interesting articles and videos on LCHF and its benefits.

[josephz2va]

Mine's mostly focusing control of staying away from any place not on my menu. Like I'm deprived of energy, I get up and go to Dunkin Donuts for a sugary pick up which is bad for me. I left all my cards at home, so I can't buy anything now. But I do have all my essentials at work. Egg Beaters, Whey, Chicken/Turkey/Fish, Oatmeal, and Green Beans which are the only foods on my dietitian's menu.