BINGEING support group

Hi everyone.

I'm a very healthy eater from day to day. VERY healthy. And I'm quite proud of my diet and my will power. I eat whole grains, lean meats, fruits and vegetables and low fat dairy products. I also eat portions of nuts and drink lots of water.

But I have a problem. I'm in university, and tend to go out to the bars on the weekends every now and then. Now, I can deal with a night of drinking, because I can control how much I drink and I dont drink really hefty sugary drinks. My problem is my loss of will power to junk food when I drink. I eat so much... SO MUCH chocolate when I'm drunk! So much that sometimes I feel ill the next day, but of course, I get back on track and dont drop my calories the next day because I know it's unhealthy recoil.

After this rant, I propose creating this group to support and track / log how many days myself and any others interested in joining can go binge free. I still dont mind having small portions of chocolate throughout the day because they might be just 5g portions. I just want to be able to motivate myself to stay on track and not destroy my healthy diet every weekend.

So, I'm going to start out. Since I went all out last night, today is...

Days without bingeing: 1 (I know the whole day hasnt gone by, but I know I'll control it today haha)

Thanks! 

new to calorie count, read this forum, loved the discussions.

days w/o binging- 7 (longest in a VERY LONG TIME).

Today was sooo hard. I literally kept going to the kitchen, opening a box of cookies, and putting one halfway to my mouth; did that about a million times. It was weird, it was like I wanted to binge. But I didn't.

emrldfantasy- Welcome! We're on the same # of days if I'm correct; this was day 8 for me. Good luck to you! :)

woohoo made it to day 8.

tothestarsxx- you should be soooo proud of not giving in. lets stay strong together!

hello friends!

tothestarsxx- i salute you, hahaha. great job

i've updated my journal with what's been going on. Basically, i need more help that i have at home right now, even with my mom home from work all day. So at 2p.m. today I'm going to Linden Oaks Hospital for an Ed assesment to see if I can get into outpatient therapy every day until school starts.

I've also stopped talking to my best friend, whose leaving for college in a month, becuase i can't be there for her as much as she needs. Sorry, but I need to get healthy before i can be a perfect friend.

Day Three.

Based on Risabelle's suggestions, I have begun to read Jean Antonello's book, "Breaking out of food Jail". It basically says that we have food problems and weight issues because we are constantly dieting and undereating. The body responds to this by thinking we are in a famine, and therefore, tries to get any fat it can, by slowing down its metabolism and having you crave fatty, sweet foods. This is why we lose control and overeat after restricting ourselves for so long. The only way to get off the "feast or famine cycle" is to eat normal food whenever you are hungry, and your body will regulate itself.. after a while. She says this is how "naturally thin" people stay thin. Your metabolism will eventually speed up and you won't crave sweet/fat foods. i am enjoying it and finding it interesting so far and today i will begin the "Naturally Thin" diet of eating whenenver i'm hungry, with what she calls "real foods" (bagels are even on there!). I am afraid of the initial weight gain but know in the end, i will be better off out of the 'cycle'....

Risabelle, i was wondering if you've followed her plan and how you've been coming along?

jenny, i've never heard of this book but it sounds great!

ladies,

Please check my journal. I'm leaving in about 6 hours for inpatient care at Edwards Hospital, and i'm terrified. But seriously, i can't do this bingeing thing anymore. or the starving thing. been there, done that, i'm over it. Bring on the 24-hour care and sh***y hospital food.

love you all, i'll be back soon!

ilovechai - good luck!!! I hope it works out for you!!!
emrldfantasy - welcome :) I haven't made it to day 7 since I joined this group...so you have one up on me :)

Today is day 2 again for me...I did fine friday, but saturday I ended up drinkin a lil too much...I wouldn't say it was a crazy bad binge, and almost didn't count it as one...but when I rethank everythink that I ate, and then tacked on the drinks...it should be counted as a binge. Other than that, the weekend went well. I have been frustrated recently that despite how often I work out...usually 4 days a week, last week bumped it up to 5...the scale just hasn't been budging!!!...but on friday when I went to the gym, I got my bodyfat tested...which I haven't done since may...and i've dropped 5% bodyfat!!! yaaaay!

so I can't complain too much. Having dinner with a friend tonight...but I WILL be on day 3 tomorrow!

Jenny8484--hi, it's Risabelle.  Yes, I've been following Jean Antonello's diet (which she calls the anti-diet) since February of this year.  It has been going great.  I've noticed my thoughts are more normal (not as depressed as when dieting) I'm not freezing anymore, and I actually feel like having sex more (probably more than you needed to know) but just overall BETTER.  You better believe I was afraid of the initial weight gain too, but somehow all of Jean's principles just make too much sense to ignore.  Somehow I have faith that it'll all work and if I keep applying the NT principles, my weight will normalize to a thin weight.  I thought I'd balloon up to 200 pounds, but I didn't.  I'm currently in a size 10/12 (12 cause a little baggier makes me feel thinner in this size) and I am waiting out the plateau period.  It's difficult, don't get me wrong, because a few times I've thought about returning to dieting because I'd love to be back in my size 2's and 4's.  But I have too much time invested in this, and I feel this is right.  I've done too many diets and now I know what they do to me and I can't take the bingeing anymore.  I want natural thinness and be able to eat like naturally thin people do.  I want to be there once and for all and never have to think about dieting, fitting into clothes, bingeing, and all that other stuff that I've decided I don't have time for anymore.  Good Luck to you!

Risabelle- Good luck to you as well! I too want to be free of binging and preoccupation with food. Today was my "day 1" of the NT anti-diet, and I brought more food w/ me to work. I felt like i ate so much already, but hopefully this is a good thing! As long as I maintain a normal weight then thats all that matters to me, but I do admit I would also like to go back into my 4's as well.. which is probably never going to happen. I guess my body is not made to be as small as i was when i was undereating, (then binging on the weekends). Well i will see how it goes, thanks again for the suggestion!!

Thanks to risabelle, I also read through NT. JA is so down to earth it's a really valuable theory. I don't agree yet w/how she dismisses emotional eating but I am integrating NT w/Shrink Yourself and feeling totally supported. It will be so interesting to see where all of this leads! I also feel like it can't hurt to give it some time...especially because now I seem to be only eating when hungry. That's a surprisingly cool feeling...an in-control feeling. I was not a yoyo dieter but gained weight beginning in my late 20s when my son was a toddler. I felt it was healthier to hang onto the weight until I knew how to take it off permanently. I think this may be it...how exciting! 

Thanks again, risabelle! JA IS wonderful! 

Day 1.

It's ok, though, I know what I did wrong. Plus, I made it 9 days. Not a record, but longer than last time.

You can read my journal if you like, I wrote more there.

Good luck to everyone!

hey josie (can i call you that? sometimes i feel a bit silly posting everyones usernames all the time haha!) 9 days is completely totally awesome. i read your journal and i really feel like you keep getting stronger and stronger- i hope you can see that :) well done! 

i am on day 0 again today but i'm staying positive. i'm buying some of my favourite healthy foods and making meal plans for the next few days so that i can stay focused and get started again. i always find the first 3 days the hardest but once i get through them i hope i'll be ok :) 

good luck to all. hope you're doing well johgar :)

xx fay

Thanks for the support fay :) Meal plans are a great idea! I usually just don't have time to sit down and do that :/ I did however make a huge salad yesterday, portioned out baby carrots and celery for snacks and steamed some broccoli...trying just to have a ton of healthy food around that makes me really full. Being positive is a plus...I'm actually feeling really positive about this week too :)
On day 3 today. A little frustrated because I've been eating well and my scale keeps going up! arghhh...sticking too it though, see where I'll be at the end of the week. I know you're not supposed to weigh yourself every day, but I just can't help it.

johgar, I am going to 'pull a risabelle' here and tell you that Jean Antonello would say that based on your comments: I've been eating well and my scale keeps going up! you are probably right on track for being Naturally Thin. so, don't panic! Continue to eat well...healthy foods...when your body tells you that you are hungry (don't listen to your head!) and until your body feels full and YES! you may go up for a while until you and your body start working together (trusting one another!) and then you will lose.

how was that, risabelle?

I'm telling you, I had my doubts but so much of what JA says is commonsensical that it is easy to apply...if it feels this good/this natural...how can it be wrong? That's why I always had a problem dieting...restricting your diet is terrible work...not fun.

Good luck to all. 

also, drink plenty of water (I usually do this before I eat, too, just to be sure it's really hunger!) and get rid of the scale...it's kind of restrictive.

Risabelle & sharonclaire: I have a question w/ regards to the Naturally Thin plan. I am beginning to feel so discouraged as my weight goes up. I measured my waist yesterday and went up nearly 2 inches in the past few weeks! Is there a point where you start to level out? I am not going on my scale or using my tape measure anymore, but I just FEEL unhealthy. Maybe its just my head. I know realistically i can't continue the undereating/bingeing cycle so i will continue to stick with it for a while but i guess i just needed to vent and get some advice from you ladies. Thanks!

Jenny: according to NT, your weight will go up to the weight it was before your last 'famine'...where you were when you last began to lose.

But, if this is the 'bright' side...it would go up to that anyway once you turn off the famine cycle and start feasting...or, according to her, once you stop dieting. 95% of dieters experience this.

Don't be discouraged, jenny! Her approach to eating has so much commonsense to it! Really, if you eat only when you are hungry, that's a lot fewer calories that the binge-starve cycle. Just based on that difference alone, one would have to lose. It remains to be seen whether or not my body is ready to lose...I am so new to all of this. BUT, just eating this way...trusting my body, thereby trusting myself has given me new freedom. I DO feel more energetic and confident. Sometimes I want to bust out and eat wildly...it's been habit for so long...but, now I can step back from that behavior and just ask myself 'do I really feel hungry?'

of course the answer during these times is always no.

vent as much as you need to, jenny. This is all experimental for me. I still pick up SY when I need to, too. I love the way JA can make food into a total survival thing and I can really respond to her theory but I believe heavily in psychology, so LIKE to look for deeper meaning. As long as I am no longer engaging in self-destructive behavior, it really doesn't matter which theory I pull from.

Keep at it, jenny...I KNOW you are doing the right thing.

One other thing, jenny: learn to LOVE your body as it goes through it's 'last feast' to borrow JA's terms. Enjoy yourself where you are now...put aside the 'unhealthy' feeling you feel (that can lead to panic) and learn to have faith in your own decision-making. It's a whole new world when you trust yourself.

It's THE very coolest process!

Thank you, fay! You're totally right; the first 3 days are the hardest, probably because of the increased metabolism. But I'm on my 2nd day and going strong! How about you?

Just a comment to add to the discussions about the Naturally Thin diet. My sister is a twig and when I asked her how she stays so skinny, she says, "I eat whatever I want whenever I'm hungry." So, yeah, whoever wrote that book is definitely on to something! I myself haven't gone full-fledged NT, but I try not to restrict any certain foods if my body's craving it.

Thank you sharonclaire, for your words of encouragement. Its so nice to hear from people going through the process, it inspires me when i feel like going back to dieting.. i tried joining the NT  boards as well but for some reason it wont let me log in! oh well..

thanks again for your positive words!