binge foods in my house

I have a problem. I have an issue with binge eating, and I also live with my family. The problem is that my family likes to eat a lot of the foods that I binge on: peanut butter, chips, pretzels, cereal, peanuts, etc. Except they can eat them in moderation; I can't. Does anyone have any tips of how I can keep myself from these foods? It's so hard when they are in the house not to just eat them. Even though I know they'll make me feel depressed after eating them, I feel like I just can't stop. Any advice would greatly be appreciated. Thank you!

I know what you mean.  I take care of my disabled father who likes those nice unhealthy sweet and salty binge foods too.  Loves his chocolate bars especially when I deprive him of alcohol...  I find I do OK (or at least have a chance) is if I put those types of food in places that are hard for me to get to, but accessible to him.  I have a snack box for him, it's just an covered box that I can't see through and I have him keep it in his room where he can get to it or else I put it real high and behind stuff in my pantry.   Also when I binge I usually do it at night where no one can really see me, so therefore if he has the candy in his room at night, I know I won't go into his room and try to get any.   I also use a lot of self talk to myself, like you don't really want that candy bar or chips, because you'll just feel depressed and lethargic tomorrow.  It's kind of like using a self-hypnosis on yourself, but sometimes you have to repeat it over and over again like a mantra...  Keep those snacks out of sight and you'll have a better chance at forgetting about them.  It is still hard, but with practice and time, try it and see if it works.  Anything visual works good for me, such as pics of myself at my heaviest and pics of myself and my thinnest.  So I have those up on my shelf by my TV whick helps during those tempting food commercials.

Another trick I use when I get cravings for junk or snack foods, etc.  is I suck on a sugarfree fruit lozenge or anything like that,.  The sucking on the hard candy or lozenge gets the natural juices in your mouth more active which actually helps calm the cravings and occasional hunger.  Works for me anyway.

Another idea is to try to get your family off of some of those types of snacks and on other ones.  Ya know...it never hurts to try.

I still fall off the wagon once and awhile though.  But I have lost 135 lbs and counting.  It's taken me a few years to do it, but hey at least the scale is moving in the right direction.  And I work at a fast food restaurant also and have lost over 100 lbs since I've been working there.  I also do a lot of cooking and baking for my Dad, but give a lot of it away to friends and just keep a little enough around for me and  Dad.

Good luck....Sue

thank you so much for the advice. it really helps.

How understanding are your family? Do they know that you binge eat, and if so do they take it seriously? If you think they would understand then it's a good idea to let them know, maybe sit down and tell them or write a letter if it's hard.. 

If they are understanding and want to help you get over it, you could ask if they would be willing to keep their own snacks in different places. When I was in the same position you are in now, I asked my brother to put his snack bars in his room where I couldn't get to them. I also asked my mum to put the peanut butter, jam, nutella etc somewhere different - everyone else in the house knew where it was kept except for me, so they didn't have to stop eating it. I think it was just in another cupboard at the back behind loads of other stuff or something, so wasn't in a really inconvenient 'hiding place'.

This way also means that when you start to feel strong enough to introduce these foods back into your diet you can ask for the peanut butter (or whatever), make a sandwich, ask for it to be put away again... and it helps with re-learning how to enjoy things in moderation. 

Another option is to pre-portion peanut butter, cereal etc... into individual packets or bags so that if you DO slip up, you can be a little bit more aware - kind of a way of fighting against that 'trance' you go into where you'll just eat half a box of cereal without realizing... if it's all bagged up, you'll be more aware. Even if you ended up just eating one serving less, it'd be a victory.