I know why i binge. Now what?

i eat A LOT when i start worrying about my future or worrying about college. 

i've binged everyday since late July and put on 50 lbs. 

i understand the emotional part for my eating habits, now what do i do?

Well done for identifying your trigger - there may be other reasons you do not understand too, it can be a complicated process and serious of events that can lead to a binge, so be open to discovering new things about yourself!

The are a lot of coping strategies but the main thing is you need to REMOVE yourself from the situation; step AWAY from the binge food, lock yourself in a room, get outside, get out of the house, do whatever it takes to just get out of the situation.

The longer you have binged for, the more likely it is that you will still have cravings to binge, despite knowing why you do it; if your body is used to binging on large amounts of food, it will keep craving it once you try to stop binging.

You must ignore any craving or impulse to binge, and learn to recognize real hunger.

If your getting a good amount of carbohydrate/fat/protein every day and your eating enough then this will REALLY help with binging - if you do not eat properly then your body could be lacking something, and this makes you feel like binging MUCH MORE, because your body is genuinely crying out for something.

this is totally not great advice but it worked for me. i binged from stress and boredom nothing very serious.. i also have an 'all or nothing attitude'. even when i came under my calorie limit on here i'd just say '**** it' and mentally choose to go and binge! so i made a book and wrote day 1.. day 2 etc on each page with the dates (so i couldnt skip my bad days) and forced myself to write down how much i ate each day (not just logging on here). for some reason, knowing that i had to write it down when i went to bed made me want to binge less and be proud of recording the number. when i want to i can look at my book and become motivated by my successes or vent on the page if i want to.

What I used to do was wear a ribbon the exact size of my current waist around my wrist like a bracelet. Having a physical object permanently there to remind you what the effects of binging are helped me a lot.

Good luck!

I'd say tackle the problem at the root....    If you're worried or stressed find other ways to alleviate the way you feel.  Relaxation techniques, for example.  Exercise can be good.   If you're worrying about your future how about making some plans so that you feel more in control rather than at the mercy of events.  If college is stressing you, in what way?  Could you get more assistance from tutors?  Talk it through with friends?  Could you change course to one that you feel more comfortable with?  If you're very anxious or feel you may be depressed (more common than you might think) you should also consider talking to your doctor as there may be medication that could help you.

If you work on the cause and then also follow the other advice about removing foods you're likely to binge on from your environment and making healthier choices you might see more success than if you focus solely on the food aspect.

What helps me is keeping a written journal and use it when you feel the need to binge. Try to find out why you worry about what you worry about. THere is a reason behind this reason. Is there too much stress on your from school or from yourself or from your parents. Use the journal as an outlet for what is going through your mind. When I'm done writing I often feel much better and feel a lot less need to eat.

Hope it helps.

Jo

You know what?

Planning for university is also one of my binge starters. I've noticed that everytime I go researching on the universities' websites, I end up eating like crazy.

for me, once i start binging i say screw it, i already ruined the day and i keep going, stop looking at calories and fat and everything. i find that if i take a second, maybe after i've already eaten a little toom uch, icome on here and log everythinand once i see that cal intake of over 3000 ow whatever, i stop cold in my tracks and it makes me feel so guilty i cant lookat food.

but sicne i upped my intake to 1800-2000 from 1400-1500 a day, i have not felt the urge at all. i feel well fed and fulfilled. i think it can just be a metter of finding the intakie that makes your body feel good. im pretty active so thatwasnt enough for me,and if you used to eat alot all the time, bring it down slowly. you might want to stick around 2200 for a week and then go down little by little

when the thought of eating comes to your head. take 10 deep breaths (inhale for 4 counts and exhale for 4 counts x 10)

this will calm you down. Then you can try writing your thoughts down in a diary. write about your worries and how you want to binge and how bad it makes you feel. Write down and believe that your stronger than that. You're BETTER than that. Your body does not control you, you control your body.

if that doesnt work, go about your day with a rubber band around your wrist, before you reach for food, snap the rubber band. This lets you punish yourself for doing something bad before you do it and it will discourage you.

these methods really work for me. When i snap a rubber band, it makes me realize that im not really hungry, and im just reaching for food because im bored or stressed, and it makes me feel stupid and lets me get back to whats important in life.