binge once a week

hey guys. do you guys think it's okay to binge once a week? I'm on on a 1300-1400 calorie diet but I just binged on 2800 calories or so yesterday. do you think it's okay. of course i feel bad but i feel my body is dying.

From my point of view, I think that kind of calorie swing is a little extreme and shows that you haven't found consistency and balance in your meals that you can stick with.

But I suppose it all depends on exactly what you are eating and what time of day you are have the most calories. I tend to have one night each week that puts me about 500 calories above my usual goal, but it is usually on days when I eat more than three pieces of fruit during the day.

If I were you, I'd try to focus on what you are eating so much of and see if you can eat a little less of it. If it's pizza and fries, try replacing the fries with salad and eat 1/3 less pizza and let yourself get used to it.

I had the same question. And I decided it was ok with me. Here is what I did. Oh, what did you do that you considered binging? For me, that would be twelve 200 calorie donuts!!!
Here is what I have done instead, but I will apply it to your situation.
Instead of going over board once a week, multiply your daily allowance times 6 days, add the binge day, divide by 7 days and you get 1558 calories per day.
So, instead of binging, why not up your daily caloric intake, so you can still eat healthy, and include a snack on top?


1350X6=8100+2800=10900/7=1558
I can pretty much eat anything  I want, as long as I somehow allow for it. Please - life is too short to feel like you are denying youself food.

I binge once a week. But it's hard to forget how good that food taste a couple days later and you want more! If you can handle it and are doing the exercise, I say go for it! I have and am still losing weight every week.

I don't think the "binge" helps... it seems that you're denying yourself certain foods and then go way overboard.  I've found that I do go over by a bit (300-500 cals over) but not an all out binge - and that's for a "special" occasion, not every week.  And most of all it's not a balanced way to eat ... especially when the binge leaves you with a sick feeling the next day. 

I like nubiker's idea... up your calories a bit and see if that helps.  Remember this is a "lifestyle" change... do you want to "diet" all week, just to "binge" every weekend?  Or do you want to just eat normally all the time?  Find the balance for your food intake.

Best thing to do binge 7 days a week it's great.  I've lost 10lbs.

If you are craving foods and binging yet feeding yourself well and properly, your problem is psychological in nature and I would suggest some form of counseling. 

I think 333 means a maintenance day. All out binging is never healthy. I always found them super helpfull for me. They gave m a chance to eat the foods I wanted, while I was still able to stay in control and not go overbord.

The term binge should not be used to denote consuming a rational, maintenance, number of calories.  If eating maintenance calories counts as binging in one's mind then I would suggest counseling in that case as well. 

Eat to live. 

i know - it just *kills* me when someone says they binged on like 1,000 cals.  That's... well, it's an amateur binge, at best :)  Not that I think anybody should binge, I'm just sayin' call a binge a binge- and call a maintenance day a maintenance day.  To me, a binge *starts* with a box of Little Debbie and ends with going to a SECOND convenience store cause you don't like the way the guy in the first one looks at you anymore. 

funny, but NOT funny.

What I do is  I just don't count calories one day evey two week. I still try not to over do it. I don't like to binge it makes me feel like I just can't stop and I have no say over what goes into my boby. It is very hard for me to stay on track. If I told my self I could binge once a week I don't think I could stop. I still just need a day when I can eat what I want and not think think to much about the calories, but I still know I can't over do it. I think it helps me to stay with in in my goals.  Good luck :)
                                              Amy

Luxor, thanks for giving me the biggest laugh of my day!  Love it.

I dieted once many years ago (obviously didn't take  :-)  )  and I allowed myself one thing each Sunday that I'd really been craving.  Rather than have a day of eating crazy, I picked ONE thing - maybe a cheeseburger, a couple of slices of pizza, a piece of cake, whatever.  I lost 40 pounds on that diet and the one "cheat" didn't hurt me.  Of course, I was younger than and my metabolism was in better shape but I found that knowing that I could have that treat each week kept me on the straight and narrow until Sunday.  The trick is going back to good behavior afterwards.  I think it's more about knowing your own limits. Everyone's suggestions here are excellent - it's just a matter of knowing which one works best for you.

Saroful...I totally agree. If people are simply talking about going over their dieting allowance once in a while and into their caloric usage numbers (usually in the 2000s) then that's not actually a 'binge'- that's just over eating a bit. Some of us are serious bingers, as in we desperately gobble up whole cakes, loaves of bread with butter, and boxes of cookies, boxes of sugary cereal, bowls of cake batter,  and so on and that's a much bigger problem. If you just consumed 8000 calories at one sitting and can't control yourself and get hungry again in an hour, now that's bingeing, and it needs addressing.

As for going over a calorie allowance, once a week, I don't think that's a huge problem to stress out about, especially if you can stay on your basic plan, and  make it even out at the end of the week by walking a bit more, and shaving calories here and there. Having said that, of course consistency is always best...maybe assess the foods you are eating and how much. Some things just leave you wanting to eat...stuff like sugar, rice, potatoes and so on. Maybe you just need to be eating a bit more protein with your carbs and maybe just a bit more fat...I have found that these things have pretty much stopped my binges.

oh and thank the Lord we don't have Little Debbie cakes in South Africa. I used to buy boxes of the Zebra cakes and Swiss Rolls and eat them all at once. Couldn't get enough. Even now I feel a bit of a craving...!

You know, I just gotta say, having been in the hospital for an eating disorder (so I kinda know), binge eating being one of the things I was struggling with, Binging does not necessarily have to fall in the category of 'over maintnance calories.' Here's a list of symptoms for binge eating from the binge eating disorder official website:

• Frequent episodes of eating abnormally large amounts of food.
• Significantly impaired control over how what and how much is being eaten.
• Eating large amounts of food even when not physically hungry.
• Eating much more rapidly than is normal.
• Eating until uncomfortably full.
• Eating alone because of embarrassment at the quantity of food being consumed.
• Dissociative qualities to the binge episodes, e.g., feeling "numb" or "spaced out."
• Feelings of self-disgust, depression, or guilt during and after the binge episodes. There may be a higher lifetime prevalence of depression, substance-related disorders, or personality disorders.

So as you can see, binging isn't just consuming in the 3000's and above. It's more the *way* you're eating, i.e. guiltily sneaking 1300 calories worth of food (which at one time, WILL make you feel rather uncomfortable, especially if that is abnormal amount for you) at one time and feeling horribley guilty AND with a terrible stomachache.

My binge max is  over 9000 calories in one sitting.

i have very little pity for people who go over by less than 1000 kcals and hate themselves.

yes, my brother is on an eating plan where he eats 1400 cals for 6 days straight, on the 7th he eats whatever he wants. the reason being, it shocks your system and maks it work harder to burn off those calories. when you eat the same every day your body gets used to it and slows down because it knows how much you're going to bring in each and every day. however, when you have one binge day, you throw your system off and it has to now work that much harder to burn off the extra. i've seen it work he's lost 40 lbs in 4 months.

It works for me. I binge once a week until I've eaten everything I can and I'm still losing about 1-2 pounds a week. It's not necessarily healthy to stuff yourself to the gills, but just so you know, it can work.

i'm on the ab diet, and they allow one cheat meal a week.

that way you won't always be tempted to eat naughty things. it helps you stay focused and won't put you over your calorie limit by too much. just like 500 instead of 1000 or so.