How do I stop binge eating when stressed?

Morglin

I tend to do the same at times............but, I've sort of solved the problem by not buying any junk whatsoever.

The only snacks available now are fruit - which is much better than crisps and biscuits etc.,

Lin

kaya

your diet is probably the reason your stressed, lots of caffine, processed sugars, refined flours and junk i bet? alcohol as well?, our bodies arent designed to deal with and process the crap that is in our diet nowerdays, you feel stressed and tired, your body needs a quick sugar fix as you blood sugar sugar levels are low, instead of eating fruit etc. we reach for stimulants of some kind, nicotine, caffine, alcohol....the list is neverending, its a subconcious reaction to a stressor, one big vicious circle, you need to make yourself aware of what your eating, which is made harder by the fact that your brain is swimming around in a pool of stimulated and sugar induced happiness, Firstly give up/avoid or cut down processed and refined foods, you dont need to eat less just replace them with wholefoods, fruit and veg, giving up the stimulants will mean that you have to get your blood sugars from natural long lasting foods which will stop the dips in blood sugar levels and reduce the brains dependance on stimulants, cigarettes/alcohol and tobacco have a huge impact on your bodies ability to absorb nutrients etc in your food, for this reason alone you should avoid them, never smoke a cigarette within 1 hour of eating and alcohol is one of the biggest anti-nutrients known to man, clearly proper nutrition is important to life and has a huge effect on your mood and ability to cope with things in life, dont punish yourself with a rediculous diet regime, replace the crap with good stuff, be sensible and most of all be kind to yourself, if you view loosing weight as a positive thing it will be a lot easier than trying to stick to an imposed regime, put smaller portions on the plate, only ever eat until your 3/4 full, stuffing yourself untill you can fit no more in overloads the bodies digestive system and reduces its ability to process food,
all of the above is sensible thinking rather than an imposed regime, its not medical advice just common sense, im studying nutrition/psychology at the moment and astonished by the information that costs nothing but gets ignored, so many people punish thereself with diets its no wonder half of them dont work my mum came round the other day complaining that since doing the above she needs to go replace her clothes as they keep falling down!
im 38 with spondylosis of the spine, 3 collapsed discs and asthma since i was 7 years old, took ventolin every day of my life and have a mass of painkillers prescribed by my gp at my disposal, ive been following my advice above for 2 months now, i have taken Zero painkillers and used no ventolin for the first time in 30 years!, and im not a health freak either, i still smoke cannabis as a muscle relaxnt on a daily basis and have a seretide inhaler i use twice a day but hell, im practically pharmaceutical free!

If your not a very good cook learning is the best way to controll your diet, i can cook anything ive ever eaten in a resteraunt/takeaway now, but its a lot healthier and all virtually fat free, and i get serious brownie points from the Mrs when i cook her favourite meals well:D , good luck with your weight , think of it as an adventure into healthy food and eating rather than a journey of starvation and depravation

Fritha_2

To echo Belfast girl, I also 'feel you pain' I do exactly the same thing, and ufnrotunately eating is one my less destructive methods of dealing with stress! I'm getting better tho! I'm a chocolate fiend and was given a tip of keeping chocolate in the freezer so it's there when I need it but I have to wait. The does help although in an emergency I've nearly broken my tooth on a twix! I also only keep the mini version in the house (and the freezer) and get one out at a time, enough for a fix but not enough to do damage! The thing is, and I figure you're like me, an apple just doesn't cut it when I'm stressed, it has to be something bad for me, my theory is I feel like I'm punishing or generally harming myself.

Essentially you need to relearn your automatic reponses and I really recommend getting help for that, pop along and see you doctor, tell him it's not just basic over eating it's when you're stressed, it's common! Try to findother things to do when you're stressed before reaching for the junk. Yelling, running sround the house, stamping your feet, bung the TV on and concentrate on it really hard, go to the shops and look at bath stuff, have a bath. Try promising yourself that you'll try a few other things first and if they don't work then you'll have some crisps.

Also if you don't have a binge the diet isn't shot to hell, trust me! Take your healthy eating (diets are rubbish just try to eat healthily!) approximately one minute at a time, if you do eat some chocolate then that's fair enough, it's done it's over, you'll carry on eating fruitand veg for the rest of the day!

Sorry that was an essay but I'm dealing with almost exactly the same myself at the moment so it's my pet subject!

Justie

ah Mrs Teb go easy on yourself hon you've put 4lbs on but you've still lost 16!! That's 4 times as much for the maths deficient

I understand the binge urge and I know you want to get that under control but one thing is not to beat yourself up if you fall off the wagon and don't throw the rest of the diet out the window just because you had a binge. In the grand scheme you're still heading in the right direction.

You reach for the carbs and sugar cos your body is in a stress response and you know from past experience that if you give it quick release simple carbs (with a comforting dose of fat) and some sugar then it'll momentarily boost your body enough to then be able to cope for that moment. The sugar rush really is a rush! Replacing the crisps and chocolate with healthy snacks won't work cos you won't get the rush and so you'll still feel stressed/moody/angry etc.

What may help is to keep a food diary - don't cheat as you're only cheating yourself and all that rollocks...
write down what you eat and most importantly how you feel while you're eating it. If nothing else this will help you see the patterns of what triggers your urge to binge and it may set it in context that 90% of your eating is positive and only 10% negative. It will also help you if you go back to a GP to talk about your eating as you'll have a record of it.

If you can do some exercise then that will help your overall health and well being and will give you a rush in a different way - although obviously you're not going to do it at midnight instead of a binge. There are various ways you can exercise at home and you need minimal equipment but it will help you feel better and more in control.

For emergency relief have you tried Rescue Remedy? I swear by this stuff but I'm yet to know for sure if it's the blend of flower extracts or if it's the quick shot of alcohol But if it works for you then it may buffer the moments of stress that usually have you reaching for the snacks.

It's good that you want to take control of it! PM me if you want more info on exercise etc.

EthelBloggs

There is a group called overeaters anonymous, similar to AA but different in that they help with all kinds of eating disorders.. have a look and see if it's of any use to you I do sympathise, been there, done that, bought the t-shirt and still wear it sometimes

http://www.oagb.org.uk/

Sus1e

Hi

I would give slimming world a try as they have loads of Free foods and actively encourage you to eat as much of them as you like.

I understand that you don't want to go into a public forum and can appreciate that. The good news about slimming world is that you can do it online......

This isn't the cure, but at least you will be bingeing on the things which are ok for you weight wise.

I think you probably need to speak to a professional about methods to manage stress. If your GP isn't helping you, ask to be referred to a specialist or see another GP in your practice. It maybe that your specific GP doesn't understand the affect Stress has on you.

I completely understand as when i am stressed, the first thing I want to do is reach for the chocolate.

Hope this helps you somehow.

katiepoppycat

mrs teb there isa really good support thread in i wanna buy it or do it for weight loss- it's the sticky at the top of the first page. I too am a dreadful binge eater and not only when i'm stressed but just because i like it. A solution for me has been to sign up to slimming world online - didn't fancy gettng weighed in public. With SW you have red days and green days that have different free foods that you can really go to town on. Okay it's not chocolate, but it works for me - red days is unlimited meat so i can gorge cooked meats, green days is carbs - potatoes, fat free super noodles, savoury rice, baked beans tinned spaghetti etc. I feel a lot more in control knowing that i can lose it and pig out without the self loathing that follows. I hope you find your way!

benood

I've found muesli to be an excellent appetite supressant over the last couple of years, I just started eating it one day - just to see what my OH and Mother have always raved on about - and I was hooked - I wasn't particularly overweight but it sorted out my digestion, snacking and I felt loads better generally and lost weight too. Apart from that always chose water instead of other calorific drinks.

Best of luck