Falling off the wagon and gaining...

I've been eating so badly this past week (I've binged 3 nights in a row, and had a massive one last Sunday), and I feel like I've gained so much weight. I haven't worked out at all either, so I'm REALLY gaining. Every day I tell myself "It's a brand new day, I can do better!", and then at night, somebody gives me a box of cookies or something and then it's all downhill from there...

I'm so unhappy and depressed and I feel fat. I want to stop. How do you guys get back on the wagon after a massive upset?

It's really hard to stay afloat when you start a binging cycle because you start convincing yourself "Okay, I've binged twice this week already, one more day can't hurt" then you find yourself promising to be "good" tomorrow only to find yourself in the same trap the next day.  I've definitely been there.  I used to have a huge problem with binging but now I've managed to keep it at one or two days a week and sometimes I'll go a couple weeks being binge free.  But the problem is still there but we can't give up.  What I've done is changed my vocabulary and now I don't say I binge, but rather that I overeat.  And when I'm trying to gorge everything in sight I try to go through these things:

• Drink water, even if all you can think about is the food you are scarfing down, keep drinking water.  It will help the food settle, and help the food fill you up better and faster which should help you slow down
• Try to stop, think about what you're doing.  If you really want something "bad" don't get a substitute for it.  Get the real thing.  Buy one serving.  Try to savor it.  Many times when I binge it's because I've been restricting a certain food group and my body is getting it's revenge.  So check and see if you're missing any key nutrients like healthy fats and proteins.  
• Don't keep any known binge foods in the house.  For instance if your food of choice is ice cream, don't buy it.  Instead if you're craving it go out and buy a single serving at the grocery store or ice cream place.  Actually going out and buying it can help you re-think what you're doing and decide whether you really want it (because you're hungry) or if you just want it because you're bored/tired/cranky
• I also try and check my emotions.  Am I eating because I'm sad? mad? think I'm on top of the world? lonely? rebelling against something or someone? bored?  After you figure out what's bothering you, try and find some other activity that doesn't involve food.  For instance, going on walks, window shopping, reading, crafts, calling a friend, cleaning out you're closet, etc.  Mainly try and find something you can take that emotion and work it out by doing something besides eating, because let's face it....eating large amounts of food does NOT make us feel better in the long run. 
• Next take it day by day.  Don't take your days for granted.  Temptation to overeat can sneak up on you even on your good days.  Try to live healthy.  Make sure you're getting all the necessary calories, nutrients, water, and exercise that you're body needs.  And never, never think that you're alone in this.  We all struggle with something and have our bad days but let's try and make our bad days stay just plain ol' bad days and not full out disasters after we take a trip (or two or three) to the fridge/pantry/freezer.

Keep your head up hun.  You can do this. 

I am feeling the EXACT same thing.   The weather turned WAY cold for this time of year and I always get depressed in the winter.  I started a new job 4 weeks ago and I'm just starting to get the hang of things, enough so that it's starting to get stressful.  My coping mechanism has always been food.  I've been eating very healthy for the most part, just WAY too much for the last 3 weeks or so.  And I was training for a 10 mile race all summer and  the race was 2 weeks ago.  I haven't run since. 

 I've been at this since March, I've lost 44 pounds and in the middle of all this success I'm feeling myself pulled back into old and bad but comfortable habits.  I'm feeling like a blob and I don't know how to jump-start myself back into it.

When I overeat and feel really bad about it, I wait until I calm down a bit then log all the calories. It's tempting not to, since you already feel guilty, but it helps me put it in perspective. I often find it wasn't as bad as I made it out to be. Then figure out how much you will really gain from it (like if you went over matienence by 1200 cals for 3 days that is actually only like 1 pound!)

Once it's in perspective you can start fresh. One more day/meal/cookie will make a difference, it may be 1/3 a pound but every day you have to choose to gain or lose. You are not a lost cause! 3 days is not that bad, in a month you will hardly remember it, but if you keep doing it you will remember October as the time you fell of the wagon.

Good luck!

Hun, DO NOT WORRY ABOUT GAINING! You are recovering from an ED, this binging is good!

I apply the "one day at a time" rule to my diet. If I go over my calories one day, or don't feel up to exercising, then I try not to judge myself harshly about it and just go ahead and start over the next day. I cannot change what I did yesterday and I can't promise myself that tomorrow I will change my ways. All I can do is focus on this day, this hour, this moment, this trip to the fridge.

It's the only way I can keep myself sane in this thing.