Binges, what causes you to do it?

For me it's being over hungry.. I've been on 3 of 'em which were caused by extreme hunger.. That's waking up and not eating until 5  pm, yes I know it's bad but sometimes at work it gets SO busy I feel I shouldn't leave my coworkers with a counter full of customers or when the phone is ringing off the hook.. What about you?

Same here if I don?t eat for a while I feel so hungry I can?t use portion control, I eat everything in sight.

When huge trays of food are just sitting in front of me and/or if everyone else is pigging out. It's hard to say "No you shouldn't be doing this!" when everyone else is stuffing their faces!

When I get depressed or overly hungry I tend to eat junk food, but overeating is really for when I see everyone around me eating and eating.

Family gatherings are difficult because we put out a ton of food and most everyone munches all day. I have been getting better by staying away from the food unless I know it's a meal time. We also usually have lots of raw veggies out too so I make sure to eat a bunch of them first and then have a hamburger or whatever. Then I get full faster and don't want so much junk.

all of the above and feeling scared/anxious/insecure

Speaking of family gatherings, the last one I went to I ate steak, rice, chips, alot of veggies, 2 servings of fruit salad with dip, 2 servings of apple crisp and one serving had ice cream..lol.. I forgot about the WORST ONE EVER..aha

Evil trigger foods like pre-packaged cookies...even in single servings. Once I start with the refined sugar, it's all over for me.

For me it is either drinking, or flat out greed.  My goodness, i love food. 

Stress-self pity. Everytime I feel bad about something I just want to feed the problem to get it to go away. Food is the worst addiction :)

My last binge started with a "harmless" French Vanilla capp.  By the end of my shift I had consumed over 2000 calories and I ate another 1000 calories at home.  NO MORE sugar drinks for me.

Mine are 100% tied to emotions.  If I'm feeling good I can turn down any amount of food, no matter what it is.  But, if I'm by myself and in a mood, that's when I'm in trouble. 

Since I know that, I try to find things to occupy myself when I'm in that situation, or things I can do to get out of the house and away from the temptation. 

Knowing why you binge is a huge accomplishment - it's the only way to take steps to avoid it in the future.  So kudos to everyone that posted for identifying the 'problem'.  :)

I'm sort of the opposite... if I see everyone else pigging out, I try to feel better by comparison. 

But I pig out too when I'm very hungry, and even more so when I'm hungry AND very thirsty... it's ridiculous of me because I'll start eating a lot, thinking I should just drink some water, but I feel too lazy to do that so I'll just eat more hah... :-/  Er used to, I try not to do that anymore :)

I am an emotional eater so when I get depressed or extremely bored I want to turn to food.  However, this past week now that I have started this website and this new program I haven't binged.  This is an accomplishment in itself. 

I also have a problem with family gatherings and big social events that have a lot of food available.  I try to munch on the veggies and keep full that way and not overeat on the regular meal.  I also tend to avoid sweets because once I start on those then I just go downhill from there. 

I have noticed since I started this website I have been so busy reading posts and replying, journaling, and logging my food and activity that I haven't had time to be bored and start eating out of boredom so I guess that is a blessing in disquise in itself. 

I also have a problem over overeating when I am extremely hungry.  I try to eat at least 2 hours after waking even if it is a cereal bar or something small that I can eat on the go.  I have started keeping packages of carrots and assorted veggies in my work bag and refridge so I can just grab those and start eating those instead of turning to the vending machines.

When I'm bored, depressed or overly hungry.

same here with the family/social events especially since celebrations with my family tend to be very food-oriented.  also, now that football season and tailgating have cranked back up, i know it'll be hard to keep unhealthy eating under wraps since i'm usually drinking too...eekk..

one thing that's tough for me now is that i'm rehearsing for a show, so i'm usually not leaving the theatre til 11pm at night (when usually i would be winding down to go to bed).  so when i get home, i'm trying to wind down...and since it had been since 6 since i last ate, i come home just RAVENOUS!  so i have been really bad about snacking late at night.  granted, i try to limit it to healthy stuff, but still, i don't think it matters what it is you are putting in your mouth when it's close to midnight!

so i do know what my challenges are...it's just a matter of me i guess just having the willpower to reign it in...*sigh*

i have certain trigger foods - aka PASTA. if there's pasta around, i have to eat it. case in point, my boyfriend got a craving for those annie's shells and cheese things so i made a box for him and even though i told him not to let me eat any, i found myself eat COLD pasta from the leftover container in the fridge when he wasn't looking. there must be something seriously wrong with me!!

i also find it really hard to say no when other people are eating around me. if appetizers are ordered at dinner, i can't keep myself from eating some of it - usually we split everything by the number of people so i want to get my money's worth....eek, i should probably seek help!

Hunger and boredom. 

I've found that when I start to get hungry I need to eat right away.  If I don't, then I just getravenous and start eating and dont' feel full until I've consumed like 3000 calories, all junk.

I try to keep little ziploc bags of precleaned celery and grapes handy because once I start getting hungry and want to eat NOW I dont' have the time or patience to cook or prepare food and end up eating every bit of junk food in my pantry.

In the evenings, after everyone else is asleep and I'm up watching TV by myself, I'm often still full from dinner but just feel like eating for some reason.  I try to chew gum or just go to bed.

Stress, esp at exam time and as I have A LOT of exams...I got overweight. And when I get upset too.

Me cooking

I'm so a great cook that when I do cook, I binge on whatever it is :)

I've found that when I start to get hungry I need to eat right away.

I honestly believe 100% that this is what has gotten me so far in this.. I try SO hard to do that, when Im at home it's easy.. When Im at work it's harder b/c they have one of those dispensers and its so easy to just get something there.. We also have candy drawer that I have been so good at avoiding..lol

For me its when I'm tired.  I get feeling sorry for meself - for absolutely no reason, then I eat and feel even worse.  Stupid!