Tips to stop binge eating and focus on a healthy diet?

[Anonymous]

I’m thinking about how much I want to lose weight all the time like all the time. I need to lose about 15kg to feel as I want to and look good but somehow can’t stop eating. I have tried diets and I lose focus after like 2 days max, I go back to my usual habits, the cheap food and snacks and the binge eating. I know the science , I know the mentality and the mindset but can’t seem to lock in. I’ve always struggled with this and there was one time where I finally lost 12 kg but then slowly gained it back in the course of like 2-3years. Now I want to lose them again but can’t lock in. I’m really struggling.

[Sonorous]

Don't stop. Just get better at doing both. For instance, I "fast" during the day often times or eat little things that aid in blunting cortisol & filling my liver glycogen enough so that it doesn't have to tap into muscle glycogen, fat, muscle, or other tissues for fuel. For instance I might eat a banana or a potato or frequent low fat low calorie snacks to keep my blood sugar stable. Then at night I'll just carb backload most of my calories. Helps me maintain a low insulin state around the times where I want to look my best (during the active part of the day), & if I time my fats to not spill over too far into the next day, I can be just as insulin sensitive as I want to be while having my body easily rely on bodyfat for fuel & also circulating carbs from my carb backload. And it feels like I'm eating a ton of food per day since I'm limiting my eating window & making sure to eat higher volume foods during it.

Now my way of eating isn't for everyone. But you can still do something similar. Like limit calories until around the time where you're your hungriest. Then simply make sure to eat within your calorie limit or just do what I do. A few days ago I ate 1,000cals above my maintenance tdee. But I didn't gain fat because I care more about the 3day averages & also the overlap of carbs & fat via the randle cycle. I can eat mega calories one day & offset it very easily another day. The body can handle large calorie changes especially when one acts in a reactive way. What I don't do is eat in multiple surpluses back to back. I use the surplus & fasting to average everything out to around my maintenance intake or a lower safe intake. For instance, today I ate 1400cals & yesterday I ate 1700cals. I feel normal. Tomorrow I can eat upwards of 2500cals & be still 300cals below my maintenance intake in terms of my average. Now I will say that averaging everything to closer numbers is better but if you're a binger, I say it's best to just become okay with fasting for the duration that it would take for your body to breakdown the food or use up the reserves from the extra calories & then simply eat the difference in calories that would equal a healthier number closer to maintenance intake.

[Asker]

Yeah it’s good you have found a way that works for you. Personally I think calculating all this would make me more obsessed with food. What I’ve tried for 2 days and got me a bit OUT if the binging circle I was the last week is , I try to eat ONLY when I feel actual hunger like in my stomach and try to really examine before eating what I feel like eating so that to satisfy bothtaste and hunger. Calorie wise this way I’m getting into a deficit either way cause maybe like before I use to eat like min 2500kcal/day and now automatically this way I’m around to 15000-2000 which is a good start. And try to really understand that I’m NOT RESTRICTING foods. I choose at the now what I’m craving most and tomorrow or like any other day of my life I can have the other thing I was craving (cause most times I crave like three different things all at once)

[Sonorous]

Oh okay. Well then I'll give some more practical & generally applicable tips in this case.

- Removing trigger foods from your diet. This usually involves removing low volume, higher calorie, hyper palatable foods from the diet.

- Increasing daily food volume averages. I notice when I do this & especially when I eat higher volume low calories foods first at my usual hungriest point of the day, I'm able to successfully signal to my stomach that I'm full since the body relies on pressure signals & other stomach fullness cues first.

- Lowering fat intake during the day & staying under a certain amount per day. This helps not only for easily reducing averaged calorie amount but also aiding in quicker absorption of food due to fats not slowing everything down 2x speed & results in better glucose uptake as well which aids in blood sugar, insulin sensitivity, & can aid in satiety depending on carb intake ofc.

- Keeping blood sugar stable. It's pretty easy to do really. Keep carbs below 50grams per meal unless you're insulin sensitive & want to refill glycogen or if you either have recently depleted more than 50g carbs or if you plan on doing some type of glycogen dependent activity after eating the carbs. That and making sure that protein in a meal equals around a 3rd to a 4th of total carb intake will basically guarantee a blunted blood sugar spike. For sugars, pre-load with protein 10-15minutes before eating them & also eat the sugars along with the protein. With non-sugary carb sources or low to mid gi carb sources, simply pre-loading with protein 10-15mins before will be sufficient enough. Bonus points if specifically soluble fiber is eaten before carbs as they provide a barrier that slows down glucose from leaving the stomach & promotes more stable blood sugar.

[Sonorous]

- Time restricted eating. I always find it very useful to limit my acess to food during certain times. This makes it so that I have to eat very intentionally & overeating becomes harder when I put this limit on myself.

- Keeping food in inconvenient places or buying inconvenient foods. Like if you bought something like rice, beans, meats, & only made the certain amount for the day & didn't have anything left to eat afterward. To eat more, you'd have to cook more & cooking takes time & effort which would heavily deter overeating since convenience mostly drives incentives to eat more.

- Putting a limit on total calories per day. This is easy to do but it requires that you track what you eat. I recommend this above all else. Tracking what we eat will guarantee that overeating will be impossible. The body is a machine, intakes can be calculated & applicable & the body will not surpass the laws of thermodynamics. The only way I'm able to maintain lean weights of 10-11% bodyfat for example is by tracking what I eat & making sure that I don't exceed calories past the rates that I burn them. If I eat blind, I'll just end up either significantly overeating or undereating. Can't always rely on the bodies cues especially since hormones can easily be compromised with some people more than others.

[Anonymous]

I understand how you feel. I do the same. I had to change out what I eat. I would eat about 8-10 times a day. I switched it up to more protein, not so much carbs. Protein helps build muscle, which helps burn fat. So maybe try things more protein based, but make sure you drink a lot of water. Also limit your salts. Salt can cause water retention which can make you feel floated, heavier as well when you weight yourself. I love coca-cola, so I’ve been drinking the zero drink drink sticks of various flavors in moderation. It would help too if you increased your fiber intake. Not sure how much vegetables you eat but that can help you stay regular as well. A lot of people eat massive carbs, so your gut tends to be full of you know what. I think I read on average people can have 5-20 lbs of stool in their colon. The other thing is eating less calories. This doesn’t mean you have to cut out everything completely, it’s moderation. But also picking the less of two evils helps. Meaning let’s say you have a piece of candy, one has 200 calories while the other has 350 because it’s got all this other added stuff in it for the same size bar. Pick the less of the two calorie wise. Also make sure you stop eating a few hours before bedtime, don’t lie down right after a meal. If you have to eat something like I do late at night get some beef jerky or some peanuts. But too you need to exercise.

[CupcakeTheDestroyer]

Binge eating and other eating disorders usually originate from a place of self-hatred, start looking into why and seeing if you can change the narrative

[Asker]

I don’t know if I hate myself , I would say not really , but I am a very tough judge of myself and it all comes from the way I was raised. My parents were nice and not abusive but my mother also always criticised her looks (but was also confident on how beautiful she is) and she was a tough judge. Even to this day I tend to send her things ( I live abroad) and catch myself waiting to get her approval or excitement and if she doesn’t get excited I feel like it’s not enough. To be honest nothing I will ever do will be enough for me. But also my mother tells me all the time how proud she is of me and for example now she tells me I’m totally fine weight wise and I’m like really pretty and stuff. So I REALLY DONT know where all this mixed feelings and worthlessness comes from

[CupcakeTheDestroyer]

Sounds like something to discuss with a therapist

[Staximus]

Have only healthy snacks and food at home. It's all about self control and counting calories.

[Asker]

I know but I feel like I have no self control. Like I can control myself on all other aspects of my life but food is the only thing I have to let it out and that’s why k binge

[Staximus]

Well you just have to do it. Nobody can do it for you.

[jahaims]

Pavlovian yourself

[Asker]

How would i come to do it?