I think you're making a great breakthrough figuring out the key to staying on track with your healthy eating plans, but still having what you want, just in moderation(: that's key!!
For the longest time i had a hard time letting myself have that small treat and would feel extremely guilty about it, and then have a bunch more even though i knew it was a step in the complete wrong direction.
You need to think of all the changes your making to improve your life and how they'll effect you over time. Having a treat here or there as long as you don't go overboard won't hurt you in the long run, it will prevent you from going crazy over the things you want, and keep you from binging.
Keep up your good work you're doing amazing(:

Thanks for shareing this! Your so incredibly right!!

I thought I was the only one that when I blew my diet just thought that I should just eat like crazy the rest of the day because I totally blew my diet. My huge problems is that I think I can have a day and just cheat. Sometimes that cheat day is way to much. I really want to get to the place where I am in control all the time and I eat normal and just have maybe one cheat meal a week instead of several cheat meals on Sat/Sun.

I just finished reading "Intuitive Eating" it really resonated with me. They say diets don't work or why would it be a billion dollar industry? Besides binging on a diet and feeling like you blew it so why bother, they talk about the Last Supper Eating, how you gorge all week before going on a new diet. They said their clients got much more pleasure out of thinking of all the foods they were going to consume before the diet started than the actual diet itself! Wow, can I relate to that!

Thanks for all the comments, ideas, and kind words! It is really helpfull to hear those.

That book, Intuitive Eating, sounds great! I love the title. Maybe I should look for that one at the book store.

I have heard that about diets, too....a radio program I once heard on the diet industry pointed out that, yes, it is based on failure, not success. Because if people on these diet were successful, the industry would fail, because who would buy all the diet foods and programs over and over and over again?????

That brings up the question: if diets don't work, what does work to loose weight?? I guess the answer is permanent change in eating habits. A person can't go on a diet, loose weight, and then go back to their old ways of binging or eating bad, because, when they go back to those ways, the weight will come back.

Thanks for sharing, it makes a lt of sense when you say it like that. i wish I could understand how to eat correctly as well. I often think to myself "it should be be this hard". But wow... it is. :(

Thanks for sharing, it makes a lt of sense when you say it like that. i wish I could understand how to eat correctly as well. I often think to myself "it should be be this hard". But wow... it is. :(

Thanks!

Yeah, I know what you mean....seems like it should be easy. But it's not. Sometimes, I watch people around me who eat normally and I think WOW how do they do it.

But I am slowly learning to do it, I think.

That is really interesting about the dissasosiative state....thanks for telling me that. I think I should look that up. Maybe that would help me to understand.

Today, and yesterday, I was SO STRESSED. It was a couple days where EVERYTHING seemed wrong - long, difficult discussion with boyfriend, no sleep, and, on top of it, these jerks in the apartment above blasting their rap music for HOURS on end.

It's exactly the kind of situation that would usually drive me to bad habits. Yet, both days, it didn't. I think I've become stronger.

Both days, I had a small treat, and that was it. Now, my plan is to lay in a nice bubblebath - a healthier "treat" then binging.

I am relieved to know I am not the only one to think like this! If i go out to lunch and order fries instead of the salad I will think to myself well there goes my diet I guess i can eat whatever today. I end up eating chips, ice cream, candy, and everything bad for you not realizing that even though i slipped up once all those extra foods and calories still count. Let me know if you find a good solution to this!

I know EXACTLY what you mean! If I eat ONE little thing that I consider "bad" I think, well, I've already wrecked it, it doesn't matter what I do now. And then I eat everything in sight.

Today is one full week since I last binged. I've lost 2 pounds. Not a lot, but I'm happy!

So far, this is what has worked for me, in terms of a solution:

1. Look at why I'm binging. The thing is, food addiction is like any other addiction. We're doing is for a reason, like an alcoholic or any other addict. I realize now that I eat to relax, and I eat when I'm avoiding my feelings, and I eat when I'm scared, and I eat when I'm bored.

Understanding what triggars the eating allows me to find other ways to deal with things - if I'm bored, I can read, I can call my BF, etc. The other day, when I was SUPER stressed, I had a bubble bath and a 1 glass of wine to relax, instead of eating tons of candy and junk.

2. Don't expect to be perfect!!!! The problem comes when we say, "Oh my diet is wrecked because I had some chips". It's not ruined - not unless you expect perfection. I have been paying attention to how people without food addictions eat, and I notice that they do not expect perfection. When they have too much cake, they stop, and go back to their normal diet. They don't eat everything in sight. I have been trying to copy what they do, and, so far, it's working.

3. Trust yourself! Everyone from the diet industry to our own food-addicted brains implies that we can't trust ourselves. We have to follow a diet plan, or avoid all sugar, or whatever. I honestly don't think that people with food addictions trust ourselves. So I have been trusting myself. All this week, I have had small treats - I had 1 chocolate bar today, as a treat, and then stopped. I had 1 glass of wine the other day, and then stopped.

I can't fully explain it, but I think trust is really important. I used to say to myself, "ok, starting today, NO sugar, ever." But why?? A little isn't going to hurt. Yeah, it's not the the best thing to eat, but, in moderation, it's okay. I think, maybe, the real reason behind the "no sugar" rule is that I don't trust myself to only have 1 treat. And, well, I just can't see how I'm ever going to eat normally if I don't trust myself.

4. Recognize your accomplishments! I got this idea from someone on this site, who made a bracelet, and put a bead on it for every day they did not binge. I couldn't do that, because I'm stuck at home with a broken foot, and don't have any beads, so I'm putting a marble in a jar for every day I don't binge. Then I can see my progress!

5. Stop and breathe. I got this one from somebody on this site, too. They said that when you binge you're in a dissassociative state. Which makes sense to me, because I often feel like I binge just "happens". It doesn't feel like I choose it. This person said to stop and breathe before you do. I think this really works. If you stop, and breathe, you have time to think - "Oh, do I really want to do this??!"

Thanks, some great advice gonnamakeit. I do believe we will all make it, since we are on here and want to change. I am keeping a food journal and someone else puts a star if they chose healthy eating for the day, and two stars if they didn't binge. I like the marble in a jar, then you can see how well you've done.

Luicylui - that's a good point. We are here, and we do want to change. And, I've read that the first step in changing is admitting the problem. After all, a person can't change things if they won't even adimit that those things are happening!

I could not deal with those types of feelings anymore - after years of the back and forth, I was exhausted. somewhere along the line I just decided it wasn't worth the anguish, doubt, and worry that I tied to certain foods. I had to identify those trigger foods and eliminate them from my diet entirely. Also eliminated white flour, sugar (as much as possible) and high fructose corn syrup. over time, I stopped craving those foods, started craving the whole foods and clean eating I replaced old behaviors with and now have peace of mind.

everyone is different, some people can eat trigger foods or choose to do so, some of us can't do it. I can't do it - whenever I am tempted I stop and think, do I really want to feel that crappy tomorrow? Do I want to carry guilt around for the next couple of days? Do I want to set myself up for a 3 day binge? b/c when I eat my trigger foods the gates of hell open wide. I say no, try to figure out why I want to do this all of a sudden, find something else to do and move on.

our disease is a chronic condition. our lives can change one moment at a time. I hope all of you find a way that works for you so you have more moments of peace than anxiety and regret. This disease loves to steal our lives from us.

I have been stuck in the very same cycle for years!!! steadily gaining more and more weight!!! After yet another failed diet - I offically gave up dieting after 15/16/ years. I have been following Paul MacKenna will make you thin and I have managed to stick to this for 6 weeks. I have chosen to cut out all processed foods stop weighing myself all the time and focus on exercising. I feel thinner and I weighed myself out of curiosity and I have lost 10 over 6ish weeks - not a massive loss but better than gaining.