Successful dieting with a tendency to binge

[Anonymous]

I have had a tendency to binge most of my life. They are not huge binges and almost always involve sugar. I need to lose weight and want to do so in a way that will keep me from sabotaging myself. I’m happy to lose weight slowly, I just want to see progress. What kind of plan can help this?

[Anonymous]

Protein with every meal. Bump up your fiber, too. Don’t fear fruit.

[Anonymous]

I do best on a regimen that I enjoy. I literally pick a breakfast that’s on plan and I like. I do the same with lunch and then the same with dinner. I do not snack at all. I have to keep it very simple when I’m trying to lose weight.

[Anonymous]

I strongly recommend seeing a registered dietician. Binging can be a symptom of a eating disorder, and while it sounds like it hasn't caused major issues for you, when you start to introduce dieting - it can really trigger or worsen those disordered tendencies. It isn't unusual for someone who occasionally binged yo start dieting and then move to bulimia or even worse binging and swinging between extreme restrictions and binging.

It sounds like you're really open to going slow so that is great, but I'd strongly recommend calorie tracking or anything highly controlling. Substitution and finding ways to make your food even more satisfying is the healthiest approach.

[Anonymous]

Eating disorder therapist here. Binging is usually a symptom of restriction. Become interested in your eating habits and look for patterns, cause/effect, etc. One of the most important things you can do is to regulate your eating (3 meals, 3 snacks a day at regular intervals). When I am treating a patient with binge eating disorder I used CBT-E, which is the gold standard for adult eating disorder treatment. Also consider reading Overcoming Binge Eating by Fairburn

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Protein with every meal. Bump up your fiber, too. Don’t fear fruit.

This worked for me. I used fruit for when I wanted sugar, like berries and whipped cream.

[Anonymous]

I was listening to a book recently (Sapiens) that was sort of revelatory. We used to be foragers, with a very diverse set of food. When we found a fig tree or something else that was highly caloric, we ate as much of it as we could because we didn't know when we would next see it again. That time wasn't that long ago in the history of our species, and our bodies have not evolved to NOT want to binge. The reason this helped me is that it's not our fault. But maybe understanding the reason for wanting to binge may help you binge less.

[Anonymous]

Semaglutide

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was listening to a book recently (Sapiens) that was sort of revelatory. We used to be foragers, with a very diverse set of food. When we found a fig tree or something else that was highly caloric, we ate as much of it as we could because we didn't know when we would next see it again. That time wasn't that long ago in the history of our species, and our bodies have not evolved to NOT want to binge. The reason this helped me is that it's not our fault. But maybe understanding the reason for wanting to binge may help you binge less.

Yes. Our brains are wired to want to eat a lot of sugary/high carb foods because of the reasons you said. Carbohydrates are the best and easiest form of calories for our brains and bodies to use. Carbohydrates also used to not be an abundant part of our diet due to scarcity. Now they are in huge quantities and always around, always accessible. Some people have the natural ability to only eat what their body needs, but when 70%+ of adults are overweight and kids too…clearly most don’t/can’t. The high sugar/high carb food is often the first pick and it is often ate in a larger quantity than necessary.

[Anonymous]

Perhaps you need to learn not to restrict, but to instead retrain your brain to crave what's balance and makes your body feel good, and to recognize your binge triggers as well as how to prevent them. I've binged in the most ridiculous ways over the years, and at 52 finally feel like I am able to track patterns that result in binge eating and find alternatives (e.g., actually acknowledging my emotions, doing yoga, or going for a walk *without* my phone so I can't stop and buy a snack while I'm out). I can remember binging even as a very young child, so it has been really long and hard process and far from perfect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eating disorder therapist here. Binging is usually a symptom of restriction. Become interested in your eating habits and look for patterns, cause/effect, etc. One of the most important things you can do is to regulate your eating (3 meals, 3 snacks a day at regular intervals). When I am treating a patient with binge eating disorder I used CBT-E, which is the gold standard for adult eating disorder treatment. Also consider reading Overcoming Binge Eating by Fairburn

NP. How does one find an eating disorder therapist? Especially one who does CBT-E? I've tried two therapists that had eating disorders listed as a specialty but the one focused on intuitive eating, which didn't really work for me (and was mostly just filling out worksheets) and the other was a bit too something (meek? hip?). Like a PP I am also in my 50s with a history of binging (but not bulimia or purging).

[Anonymous]

1-2 cheat days a week is what works best for me. I don't go absolutely crazy on those days, but it seems to be enough to satisfy my urge to binge. I know everyone says that you should not restrict and I really don't, I just save the really indulgent stuff for my cheat days. I love looking forward to Sunday morning donuts with my coffee. I also read that it's good for your metabolism to have cheat days, so there's that!

[Anonymous]

Binge eating disorder has 12 step groups I find helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Protein with every meal. Bump up your fiber, too. Don’t fear fruit.

This worked for me. I used fruit for when I wanted sugar, like berries and whipped cream.

Cottage cheese is a game changer - a little served with fruit or veggies (tomatoes/cucumber and a little lemon) is so filling - keeps me satisfied for hours because it has so much protein. If you like it (I wasn't the biggest fan, but it has really grown on me) you will see results.

[Anonymous]

Stop keeping sugary foods in the house