I need some serious help to stop my binges!!!

I'm a 15 year old girl who weighs about 127 and is 5'3. (But I probably weigh more than that now .)

I eat very healthy during the week and restrict my calories. (I'm looking to lose 10-20 pounds...... not sure how much I want to lose yet.) However, it seems like every Friday night when I'm out with my friends, I BINGE!!!

Take last night, for example. I ate 1,000 calories during the day because I knew that there would be junk at this Halloween party I was going to, and that I was going to eat some. Well, low and behold, I ate SO MUCH CHOCOLATE that I felt like I was going to get sick! I counted up my calories and added up all my deficits for this week and I've gone at least 1,200 calories over.

I'm so tired of doing this. I always feel gross, sick, and unhealthy after I eat like that, but yet I ALWAYS do it.

Last week, I binged and overate the same amount, yet still ended up losing weight. I don't know why that is....... maybe if I'm lucky, that will happen again?

I just don't know what to do. After my binges, I just go back to eating and exercising normally, but should I eat less or fast?

I just want to end the overeating!

Well, you're in smack in the middle of the healthy weight range, and you're 15. Perhaps you're at your natural set-point, and that's why your body is resisting the weight loss. People's bodies do change during puberty - it's unrealistic to expect that your body at 15, 16, and beyond will be the same size or shape  it was as a preteen or at 13-14. 

Even if you do lose a little, 107 is almost certainly an unhealthy weight. That's a BMI of 19, which is unhealthy for almost everyone - very few people are naturally that thin.

I understand that yesterday you deliberately underate during the day to "save" calories for the party. Unfortunately, doing this is setting yourself up for a binge, because undereating during the day makes you very hungry at night.  Numerous studies have shown that a bigger breakfast, along with a good lunch and afternoon snack, actually end up reducing the overall number of calories people eat during the day.  Consider this a learning experience - next time you have a party, eat normally during the day. Of course it's fine to avoid desserts/treats if you have a party in the evening - Halloween is not the day to have a croissant for breakfast instead of your normal oatmeal/scrambled eggs/whatever, but it's also not the day to cut back on your normal intake, either.  Remember that it's TOTALLY FINE to go over by a couple hundred calories once in a while - that will not make you gain weight, especially if you're in a slight deficiet most days.

I have the same problem. I think you should stop counting so much. You're really young and you are not at all overweight, so getting into such an obsessive habit isn't going to be gooe for you.

 I started losing weight when I was about your age, I was 5'2 116 lbs at 14 thought I weighed too much, lost to about 103 in a few years, and by the time I was in my senior year of high school I gained ended up back at 116 again. I've been struggling since to get back to about 110 b/c thats manageable for me since I do enjoy exercising alot, but if I could go back, I would have just left myself alone. Now I have a bingeing problem, have finally just fixed my metabolism after years of binging/starving or overexercising, and think about food/my weight/body entirely too much.

So stop now. Make sure you get in regular exercise, eat fruits, veggies, all the good stuff most of the time, and let yourself have treats every now and then too! Try to get used to your body signals, stop when you're full or a little before, and eat when you're hungry. I'm honestly trying to not really count as much b/c I go over the top and restrict like you which just leads to binging. Also enjoy the fact that you're young and your metabolism is still fast. Eating extra chocolate every now and then is no big deal (as you saw, you even lost weight-I find this sometimes too as long as I do well MOST of the time).

127 is not overweight.

and if it makes you feel better, studies actually show that guys like girls with curves rather than super fit & skinny.

but what i would do is bring a pack of gum, preferably fruit if your trying to stay away from the chocolate, and water.  if you just have even one chocolate, itll make you say "oh just one more."  but you can have some! im just saying that you are NOT overweight, but if you do want to not have so much junk on your friday nights, thats okay.  slimming down 20lbs is not.

Original Post by ash1014:

I eat very healthy during the week and restrict my calories. (I'm looking to lose 10-20 pounds...... not sure how much I want to lose yet.) However, it seems like every Friday night when I'm out with my friends, I BINGE!!!

You'd be amazed how many people make the same mistake and ask the same question..... They ask for help with the 'bingeing problem' when, in reality, what they need help with is to stop the restricting...   The weekends are just your body's way of topping up the nourishment you're not giving it during the week in an effort to lose weight that you don't need to lose.  That's not bingeing... it's basic self-preservation kicking in.

Eat a 'maintenance amount' for your size, age and level of activity (see link) http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/bodycomp/bmiz2.html   You're not overweight, you don't need to lose any and you'll feel a lot happier and less likely to overeat at the weekends if you're well-nourished the rest of the time.

The  BIGGEST MISTAKE people make, is to CHOOSE a weight that they want to be - and to CHOOSE how many lbs they would like to lose…..

You cannot control your body - and trying to do so almost ALWAYS leads to binge eating or over eating…..

Because  people tend to rebel against any form of “ orders” that they give their body,  

When people tell themselves they HAVE to eat a certain way, or that they CANNOT have a certain food until they lose 10 lbs -  than they will resent having to follow their own orders and binge due to frustration and spite.


Also, telling yourself what you want to weigh, and having specific numbers that you want to lose also causes most people to rebel -  when you think about it, it is not being very nice to your body, when you simply TELL it what you WANT it to way - based purely on looks.

A DIFFERENT and far more effective way to look at weight loss in YOUR case is:   think “ I am already a healthy weight,  and my body has a natural weight where it is healthiest at, I can trust my body because my body KNOWS what its ideal weight is, therefore I need to only focus on eating healthily and improving my exercise, and my body will naturally reach its perfect weight”


Your current weight may already be your bodies healthiest point - where your body naturally is healthiest. Or, you could lose weight if you changed the way you exercise a little, or, alternatively, you could gain a little weight as you mature.   Either way, you will be happiest if you let your BODY dictate what it wants to weigh.

So, if you treat your body as best as you possibly can, then you will reach a weigh that is bet or you - and you do not even have to bother with lbs or numbers - your body does all that work for you! It decides your best weight!