Binge eating, anything healthy instead?

I was wondering how people on this forum cope with stress. For some reason unbeknown to me, I tend to use food to help me try and keep my stress levels down. It's definitely not a habit I learned when I was young. Food was never used by either of my parents as a coping mechanism, nor was caffeine or smoking.

I don’t smoke, but I have begun to almost rely on coffee to keep my energy levels up. It also acts as a comforter. Another rather terrible habit I’ve started indulging in is binging on food: Chocolate, sweets, even raw sugar. These just seem to calm me down. I know that it’s unhealthy, but it’s hard to stop once one gets started. I exercise for at least 45 min daily, which helps a lot, but at night (when it’s at its worst) I just start craving everything and anything sweet. I eat properly, so it’s not a matter of my body needing more food.

Does anyone here have any good tips on what I could snack on just to get rid of that nervous energy (for want of a better way of describing it)? Something that’s healthy, but good for one at the same time? Something simple and easy to make if need be. Preferably not carrots- one can only eat so many of those.  Thanks in advance for the advice!!

Kara

For me, I've found that cucumber slices are really great to munch on--you get a satisfying crunch and you have to eat a TON before you really add up on calories.

I have the same issue with wanting to eat myself crazy at night.  I solve it by always being on the lookout for foods that I can eat alot of for relatively few calories.  Here are some of my nighttime solutions -

I pop popcorn on the stove with 1 teaspoon canola oil (40 cal) and 1/4 cup popcorn.  You end up with about 5 cups of popcorn that I flick with water lightly, then flavor with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  YUM.  I also sometimes buy Vic's kettle corn, which you can eat 1.5 cups of for ~120 calories.  Also there are these tasty meringue cookies that are pretty sugary and you can eat 10 of them for 100 calories and they're pretty bulky.  If you put them all in a bowl it makes you feel like you're pigging out for only ~100 calories and they have protein, too.  I love Red Hot Blues tortilla chips (15 chips) from Garden of Eatin and salsa for around 150 calories.

The big thing I do though is I never ever eat these things out of the bag.  The second I do that, I start to eat too much.  I always put the amount I'm going to eat in a cup or bowl and take it to the living room.  It keeps me from "actually" pigging out and putting things in bowls makes the servings look huge.

1. Try soy crisps: you can eat 21 for 120 calories, and they are pretty big (takes me 2 bites to eat each) and filing. Popcorn is also a good idea. Or puffed corn/rice/wheat. It's about 60 calories/cup, so you can kind of binge on them. Or rice cakes-- good crispy ones though. I hate the Quaker ones that taste like styrofoam to me.

2. Or snack on raw veggies like suggested. Fruit is also good-- especially since you said you crave something sweet. Try frozen berries. It's hard to eat too many at once when they're frozen, and even if you do, it's only 200 or so calories for the entire bag. Or you can make your own frozen fruit cubes (blend bananas and strawberries or whatever you like and freeze them in ice cube trays). 

I would try to avoid refined sugar and chocolate, because I believe it triggers more and more cravings that take a lot of calories in order to satisfy (at least for me anyway). When I don't have them, I don't crave them, but once I have them, it's so hard to stop. If I have one bite of ice cream, it's like I can't help but eat the entire pint.

I know you said not carrots, but I think you basically either have to have 1. things that are puffed up with air or 2. fruits or veggies if you want to eat out of stress/binge somewhat without worrying about gaining weight. Now, if you didn't care about weight and health, that's a different story, but I get the feeling that you do care.

Celery with peanut butter

I love to get two different types of apples and cut them in slices. Then I am getting two flavors and tons of bites and it's not bad for me.  If I really want to be bad... I'll eat them with some caramel dip.   The Jazz apples are my absolute favorite.. they are always crisp and full of flavor!  

Homemade Popcorn is my biggest snack.  I use a little olive oil and then just use sea salt on it.  My hubby has to add the "I can't believe it's not butter spray"  on his though.  

Pea pods and cherry tomatoes.   Together you get the sweet and the crunchy snacks.

Frigo's light string cheese

Blend fresh fruit and yogurt with a couple table spoons of milk or soy milk in the blender.   You can use it to make your own cream sicles!  They are wonderful!!!  You can leave out the milk if you want them to be solid... but the milk gives them the light creamy texture.

Use your favorite tortilla's and cut them up in triangle form.  Spray lightly with the butter spray and add your favorite flavors.  Sea salt again is my fav. but garlic salt is great too!   Then chop up tomatoes, cilantro, jalapenos, onion and garlic.  Homemade salsa and chips!!  And you control ALL ingredients.    

forgot to say... you bake the tortilla's in the oven  :)

fruit...I know it's a hard transition to fruit from sugary stuff like chocolate but once you get in the groove of not craving and wanting refined and baking sugars your body will crave the natural sugar in fruit.

maybe you have some sort of... low blood sugar problem?

Well, I ordered a large stuffed crust pizza from Pizza Hut last night but to prevent me from binging on it, I took big gulps of a soft drink (diet) which filled me up and only made me eat about 3 slices before I was full.

The air bubbles in the soft drink saved my night. Sounds silly but it works if you take big gulps from it.

I keep what I call my "freebie" snacks.  Baby carrots, celery sticks, grapes, cherries, strawberries, apples, pears, etc.  Depending on what I want, sweet or crunchy, I'll go snack on that stuff.  They're not totally devoid of calories but compared to what I used to snack on - potato chips and Twizzlers....

As for stress, I find some activity to throw myself into.  It usually involves me making some major change to my house or yard.  When my Dad was in ICU, we got a new flower bed.  I also vent a lot of angst on pulling weeds.  I just imagine that what or who ever is bugging me and I snatch that little bugger right out of the ground.

sugar free jello

frozen grapes

rice cracker things

low cal cereals such as puffed wheat, or puffed rice.. you can have a bowl full and pick at them

you can try diet soda when youre really craving something sweet although they arent exactly good for you, but maybe a good idea if you're just concerned about cals stacking up. 

good luck :)