Sometimes i can't control my eating at all - help?

So my story is this:

A year ago from now i started putting on weight for various reasons.. I got fed up with my situation during the summer and decided to do something about it. I started eating more like a Paleo diet (its the cavemans diet, basically no grains but lots of nuts, fruit, veggies, dairy and meat) which really helped me get rid of my sugar addiction and now half a year later i feel a lot better both energetically and i've also lost some weight (i went from 73kg to 68kg, i'm 172cm tall). In the beginning when i stopped eating candy, ice cream and other sugary and carby stuff i'd every now and then fall off the wagon and end up bingeing.. The problem i'm having now is that i still have these crazy urges but very seldom, usually when i have PMS. The thing is i know that i shouldn't do it when i do it. In my mind i just think "i know exactly how bad i'm goin to feel after this and i don't even want to eat this i just feel like i should want to eat it" This must sound really messed up but i seriously don't even like candy anymore but when i get this crazy urge there is nothing that will stop me, nothing. Its horrible because i feel so out of control and it makes me feel so sick about myself that i eat something so unhealthy without even getting any satisfaction from it because i don't find the taste that enjoyable anymore. Also, if there isn't anything to binge on in the house i might take a bowl and melt some butter in it and microwave it and add oatmeal and sugar in it and just eat it. Its disgusting and even though in my mind i am telling myself not to do it i somehow cannot stop myself and after bingeing i just feel really empty and i dont know what to think.

I don't know if anyone can help me with this, i mostly just needed to get this out of my head and wanted to hear if there's anyone out there who's like me.

Oh, and I'm 18 and a half now.

there are SO many people out there that go through the same thing! you are not alone! congrats on the weight loss and having more energy! Like you said, it's seldom so I don't think you should beat yourself up so much over it. What's more important, the one days you binge or the 28 other days in between (or how many other days) Everyone deserves to go off the wagon once in a while because we are Human imo! it's the fact that you get back on! I sometimes have the same crazy, nothing to stop me, urges for sweets and oh ya, I endulge. AKA yesterday when a huge box of chocolates came in to work. Free chocolate, ya there's no way i can have just one. But today I'm back to eating right and went to the gym and going on with eating back to normal. I used to do the weird food combos too since i don't keep the stuff in the house either. melted butter, oatmeal, sugar and even cinnamon sounds good lmao. sugar, cream cheese, peanut butter, and graham cracker crumbs on a spoon at one point.

I started getting into the habit that gum is my friend. Since part of the sugar craving is a habit, I had to replace it with something new. It's starting to work to help get that weird fix. Remove yourself from the situation. When you have the urge, go out and walk and get as far away from it. Look at changing your eating to include different food. I've found that eating the same foods over and over leaves me wanting to binge more. So i add in new healthy things and it can work. 1 apple eaten with a handful of almonds.. omg new heaven.

so start thinking your normal, healthier then you were 6 months ago, and allowed to live :)

oh wow! it feels so good to hear that there's others like me (even though this is something i wish no one had to have), and even the weird food combo thing :D i thought i was the only one.. But yeah, i guess its not that bad to do it every now and then but mostly i just get really scared that i'm ruining everything i've worked for for such a long time when i get this urge to binge, you know? And when i get these binges its like i'm in some kind of trance i can think clearly and reason why i shouldn't do it but if i've even considered doing it there really is no stopping me - its like my mind is made up even though i wouldn't even like the taste of whatever i'm eating and in the midst of it i want to stop but i cant :S. It really sucks to have pms sometimes :D blah.

Yeah, i feel like this is a habit thats stuck with me even though i've gotten over my actual sugar addiction. I guess its really just psychological like i act the same way i did a year ago because thats what i used to do when i was under stress - which i'm under now too because of school. Hmm, could it be possible that when i'm under stress i binge only because i used to do it for 'stress relief' (obviously it didn't help in the end, kind of an instant gratification sorta thing)?

i am in the same boat as you also- bingeing is the one part of my life that I am having a hard time dealing with right now. I started dieting about 6 months ago and everything was going well, but i hit a plateau recently and my bingeing got worse (why i comforted my frustration with food, i don't know!). i started eating excessively at night and would somehow rationalize that these calories didn't count because no one saw me eating them. when i read your post, it was good to hear that I am not the only one that feels so guilty, but does it anyway! I am trying to learn how to control my eating, but my bingeing has always been a problem. I am an emotional eater, so it has always been easy for me to reach for food when I am stressed. What I am trying to do now is exactly what silverbutterfly was saying- when i get an urge to eat, i chew gum or drink green tea, go for a walk or think about why i want to eat so badly. there are still times where i am pretty sure i would commit murder to get to the peanut butter jar and hershey's syrup, but it's a slow process. It is taking a lot of time for me to realize that nothing can change overnight. 

i hope these suggestions help you- i'm happy i'm not alone, but i hope that you can kick the habit. just remember not to deny yourself completely because it'll push you to end up bingeing (at least it does for me)

Original Post by keepoffthelawn:

Yeah, i feel like this is a habit thats stuck with me even though i've gotten over my actual sugar addiction. I guess its really just psychological like i act the same way i did a year ago because thats what i used to do when i was under stress - which i'm under now too because of school. Hmm, could it be possible that when i'm under stress i binge only because i used to do it for 'stress relief' (obviously it didn't help in the end, kind of an instant gratification sorta thing)?

 This was me too. And it is SO hard to break, but once you do it, it's empowering. When I was stressed, i wanted that feeling you get when eating sugar/sweets, but in reality it only lasts a few minutes and your back to where you were before. Have you tried music? When you get that urge put on your favourite song. Music can have the same effect as the comfort food. So can exercise for the adreneline rush of cardio (which can help u get away from the food too) For some people, taking 30 minutes before going for a food ur craving will work to help pass it. Try taking 30 minutes and have tea, water, flavoured water. Lemon water to me helps. Sometimes when u think ur craving food it's ur body saying ur thirsty.

Oh Yeah, I binge too! Even though I have so many reasons not to, and I know I will regret it after, I always do. Sometimes I like it when time goes by really fast and I end up skipping a lot of snacking during the day. I get the binge cravings mostly at night, when I'm tired and I feel like it would be fun to eat a bunch of ice cream, kettle korn and watch a movie. It is fun for me. I definitely have a sweet tooth. When I buy candy, no matter how much there is I usually eat it all in one sitting. so I try to avoid it all together. But yes I too give in once a week, and binge. It usually wrecks my diet but at least I keep trying anyways. At least I'm staying the same weight right now. But I should work on cutting the binging down more.

About the keeping bad stuff out of the house and then finding soemthing to binge on anyways... I used to do that with lots of oil, popcorn kernels, and sugar...that makes a huge bowl of kettle korn for me. When I log in the calories, it does not seem worth it. Now I'm living in a separate building from the kitchen, so that gets rid of the temptation to make that stuff late at night.

I think the problem is that we all need something, whether it be comfort, safety, happiness, to have some fun, or we want to be rewarded. Whatever it is we turn to food because to most of us who have a little money, it is easy to get food and eat it. So eating is the easiest way to solve our problems. And we end up eating foods that are easy to eat. So even if we are not that hungry, its always easier to eat a piece of chocolate than an apple. Because chocolate, or junk food is salty, fatty, or sweet, it is so easy for the taste buds to accept and we swallow.

The only solution is to avoid interaction with junk food. No buying it, no taking it when its free, no keeping it at home for easy access. We just need to stop taking the easy way out, and just cramming food down our throats. For most of us it would be hard to eat more then 1-2 pieces of fruit, or a bowl of oatmeal. So if we can get rid of fatty, salty, sweet foods that are easy to eat a ton of, that would really keep us from overeating at all.

So if we can get rid of fatty, salty, sweet foods that are easy to eat a ton of, that would really keep us from overeating at all.

I totally disagree with this.

I have problems with binge eating. The best way around it I have found is:

• Never say no to a food unless you have a valid reason - like an allergy, intolerance, or belief related reasoning (vegetarian; kosher; halal). Deprevation and labelling foods good and bad is often what then sees someone grabbing it up and overeating because they have said "no" so long. Drop the black and white attitude; there are no bad foods, only bad diets.
• Moderate your intake of all foods and keep your day balanced.
• Make sure you eat enough during the day. I cannot stress this one enough, as not eating enough during the day has always been a big trigger of mine even if I am eating a lot by other people's standards!
• If you feel the want to binge count to ten, and then HALT: ask yourself, are you Hungry, Anxious, Lonely, or Tired? H.A.L.T. before taking that first bite
• Make sure you are not missing or lacking in a vital food group. Like carbohydrates. Equally, make sure you are not missing or lacking in a vital mineral or vitamin.
• Make sure you are eating enough calories in general. You are under 21 and CC's tools are inaccurate and you should use this calculator instead: http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/bodycomp/bmiz2.html as you are still growing. Yes, even in the later years - there's more going on inside of you that you simply can't see. 

I think your problem here is that you mention you stopped eating grains. Your body is now likely craving the carbohydrate you denied yourself! I would start following what is above, as well as giving this a read: After The Binge - By Annette Colby, PhD, RD, LD

same here ! you are not alone. i have the same issue, binging, knowing how bad i will feel after n still not being able to stop, i am an emotional eater big time.

i can only second what other people have said/suggested. I have read some books by Geneen Roth and found some of her advice very helpful. I also use the journal on CC to write down things i find work for me, to remind myself. We are all different and have to figure out what works for each of us. Things like not cutting out any foods and finding the joy in eating are very important for me. It;s complex.

you have done well and i m sure you will make a great start on tackling your issues. dont stop trying! every day is a new day :-)

ditto.. :\

thanks everyone! My binges are 99% pms related so i think i just need to work on 'accepting' it and trying to binge on something a bit healthier instead..