Mini Food Binges

[runningcrazy]

I have problems with mini binges (not a real binge like 1000's of calories at a time, but to the point where i feel sick and bloated and even sometimes burp up food)

I see people at school and everywhere i go eating cookies, junk, etc that i cant eat and it sticks in my mind. im a healthy eater (im also a dairy free vegetarian) but sometimes i snap when alone and i eat every thing like i'll eat in one sitting: dairy free chocolate bites, gluten-free bread with a bunch of natural peanut butter, 5 fruit leathers, a bowl of cereal, etc. Its a horrible feeling afterwards and i feel out of control. I know why i do this: 1) Im trying to eat healthier and healthier each day 2)I feel deprived because the only time i have access to these unhealthy foods is when im at home and i only do these binges when alone. Its embarrasing and i feel ashamed of myself so i tell myself i'll stick strictly to a healthy diet as in NO junk but then i binge more later because i deprived myself even more. I feel so bad because its gotten to the point where some days i'll sneak food into the bathroom with me and eat while preparing to shower. This is something i'd like to overcome and in the last few months its gotten a lot better than it used to be (it used to be a daily thing, whereas now its once every week or so) i never do anything like purge it back or anything like that. i just feel sick afterwards.

[realmaverick]

I'm doing something similar. But unfortunately not eating as healthily as you are and I'm eating crap all day long. It's depressing me as I know it will cause weight gain.

I think it's all about balance. Luckily you're generally eating healthily. So include a couple of treats each day, to remove the deprived feeling. That will help stop the weekly crash.

I wish I enjoyed the healthy foods more, I'm not sure quite what to do. Starve perhaps.

[tictax707]

I am so sorry to hear that you are having these difficulties. I can totally related to feeling so restricted. I feel doubly "restricted" because some gluten free/dairy free things that I can eat but are unhealthy will make me feel like crap. Since I also like participating in long distance endurance races, I can't afford to feel like crap, even for a day. Yet, sometimes I will still eat too much unhealthy crap. (sigh). I suppose there are two approaches: one, since the only time you really have access to the crappy food is at home, then don't even buy it, so you won't have it in the house. Secondly, maybe the "rebellion" is because you are restricting yourself too much. Maybe if you allowed yourself some "bad stuff" then it might lose it's attractiveness? A while back I read a book by Geneen Roth called "the search for true nourishment." Although it is geared towards people who are overweight, I feel like she touches on some of the real issues we face with food. I found myself able to relate because of my struggles with restriction and trying to figure out how to balance my emotional battles with celiac disease, and the added dairy intolerance, AND my lovely colitis issues. I think I am still sorting it all out, but I wanted to pass it along in case you wanted to check it out as another resource, because the binges are so clearly an emotional response to your restrictions, both self imposed ("trying to eat healthier each day") and from celiac. I also think it's really gutsy for you to post about this, and I commend you for that. I will be watching with interest the other responses... Feel free to post additional thoughts, as at least I would be interested to read them.

[gf-soph]

I know exactly where you are coming from. It takes me back to an analogy I came across years ago, that self control is like a muscle. There is only so much strength there at one time. The good thing is that the more you use it the stronger it will get, but if you are having to use up almost all your self control at one time it won

[gf-soph]

grrr, browser glitched and double posted, I don't know how to delete. Sorry!

[runningcrazy]

Thank you all guys! I have a hard time thinking about keeping things in 'moderation' but i need to balance between 2 extremes. All of these posts have helped a lot! And thats funny, im also a long distance runner.