binge eating

hi i feel a bit embrassed by this as i am male 16 years old. About six months ago i statred reading articles aboout cutting saturated fats and trans fat. this made me start looking at labels in the house and asking for healthy choices. however on the computer i started counting calories and cant stop doing it i not aiming for any calorie range thought. i keep reading articles about healthe fruit nd veg what s bad whats good and now i cant stop binge eating. it only happens when i am by myself but i keep bingeing on fruit and veg. like the today. i had porridge for late beackfast around 11 am and half an hour later i eat 1 apple and tonfull of grapes 2 bananas and handfull of blueberries. how can i stop this it driving me crzay

You're not bingeing... you're just eating heartily and normally.  There's a big difference.   A 16 year-old male body still has about 5 years of growing left to do, plus the owner of that body is likely to be pretty active at the same time.  This all adds up to needing lots of energy and lots of nourishment.   If you're in a growth phase you can reasonably expect to be eating and snacking all day long to get it all in.  So don't be driven crazy.... understand that you're perfectly normal and you just have a healthy appetite.

Keep choosing foods like porridge and fruit.... and meat, and fish, and vegetables, and potatoes, and pasta.... plus a few bars of chocolate or plates of chips as occasional treats.... and that would be a healthy diet.  If you're pretty active then you'd also be in good shape physically.  Unless you've been told by a doctor that you need to cut calories, really don't do it. 

I agree that is probably not binging.  I just wanted to say that when I stopped associating as a binger (thinking ''I'm a binger, I need to stop binging'', etc.) it helped me just eat at normal meal times.  Though I think you need to eat a lot being a teenage boy (lucky ;) ), if you stop thinking of yourself as a binger I think it will be easier to focus on just being healthy and you will respect yourself a whole lot more, rather then feeling like there's something wrong with you that you need to fix. (:

like today i recored what i ate and it came to

i also forgot to mention that i am very active like today i did 20minute run 30minutes football and 20minute cycle ride. i will try to eat at normal times and forget the term "binge". i also forget to say that i am underweight at 6foot tall and weight 81/2 stone.

do you also think i should stop counting the calories and focus on healthy eating time and foods. as i generally never eat anything processed or chocolate, crisp and biscuit etc i dont like the taste- (i prefer taste of fruit) but wouldnt too much fruit cause me harm.

Seriously, I thought this was my son posting this. He's the same age and he eats like it's going out of style or like there's no tomorrow. But man oh man! I get so mad because I have started to bring more healthful food into the house and he eats it. I think that's normal for teenagers. I don't think he has an eating disorder. He just has to eat. He will usually eat 3 helpings at dinner. Then an hour later come back for the remainder of the meal then get what else he can find without havng to cook.

I would pay good money to have "binges" like that. Seriously, that's not bingeing. That's just normal and healthy.

When you hit the 10,000 calorie mark in one sitting, then we'll talk about bingeing. :P

But seriously, don't worry about it at all. If you're that active and that young, you're probably UNDER eating rather than over eating.

should i forget about counting calorie extra and just keep eating healther foods

If you are not in the overweight range and you exercise and are otherwise healthy I say keep studying and learning all you can about health and what to feed your body.  I don't know that I would watch calories in such an instance.  I say keep eating healthy and take care of yourself.  Do focus on calcium and protein because you still are growing and changing.  When you get older, you may find you need to modify calorie intake, but if you are okay (ie not losing inappropriately, or gaining too much) then I say enjoy for now and learn healthy ways of eating. 

Original Post by dave102:

do you also think i should stop counting the calories and focus on healthy eating time and foods. as i generally never eat anything processed or chocolate, crisp and biscuit etc i dont like the taste- (i prefer taste of fruit) but wouldnt too much fruit cause me harm.

 

http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/bodycomp/bmiz2.html  If you enter your stats (72" tall and 119lbs)  into this site aimed at teens you'll see that your BMI is extremely low and you're at least a stone underweight. Too much of anything won't cause you any harm in the circumstances.  Have you spoken to your parents about it?  Have you had any advice from a doctor?  Are you calorie-counting to gain weight?

You'll also see from the same site that someone your age/size who is very active needs 3520cals a day just to maintain their weight.  So if you're going to calorie count you need to be aiming for at least 4000 a day to help you gain weight and get stronger.   If you don't like crisps and chocolate you don't have to eat them.  However, you have to find plenty of alternative energy-dense (high-calorie) nutrition-dense foods to make up that 2000 cal shortfall you've got at the moment.  It's going to be incredibly difficult for your to overeat.

For example, the porridge breakfast you mentioned at the outset was a good choice.  You could have made it up with full-cream milk, added a big glass of orange juice to it and some chopped nuts on top to get more energy into your breakfast.  If you like fruit, maybe you should try some dried fruit... that's a great way to get extra energy in a healthy way.  Other energy-dense foods... oils, full-fat dairy products, avocados, bananas, nuts (peanut butter), red meats, pasta, bread... there are lots to choose from.  I can almost hear you now reading that list and saying 'Full-fat dairy & red meat GI-Jane? But what about the saturated fats?'.... they're very healthy for you as long as you're active and not overweight. 

Do talk to your parents.  I think you need some IRL support.  Good luck