Hey there, fellow binge eaters! I have been a binge eater for my entire life. I was always the kid at pool parties to grab the 5th hot dog. I used to stash cheese in my toy box and now as a 20 year old "adult", I still succumb to the late-night loaf of bread, entire box of oreos and two bowls of cocoa pops.
However, the last 20 days I was traveling to Indonesia with my now ex-boyfriend. (yes, we did break up on the trip. Yes, I am now subscribed r_breakups and yes, the heartache has definitely induced a carb-coma or two. But whatever, that's not why I'm here)
My ex is a skinny, fit guy and I am a chubby fit girl. I'm quite in to fitness, but could never lose that extra last 8-10kgs because of my extreme binging. Over the last 20 days I followed his eating schedule and ate the same foods as he did. I was always taken aback by how this fit guy can scoff down pasta, bread and sweet snacks without turning in to a total chonker. Here is what I've learned.
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Breakfast is actually not my enemy. I used to think that eating early in the day would "slow me down" or cause more hunger. What I found was quite the opposite. If I ate a healthy breakfast (for me it would've been either a smoothie bowl or eggs on toast) I would be less anxious around food for the rest of the day and not fixate on what I'll have for lunch or dinner.
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When we'd eat something unhealthy, such as McDonald's or sweet snacks, the next meal would be something light and healthy. E.g, we stopped at McD's the one afternoon around 12. I had a McD's wrap and medium fries and that night around 7pm I had a chicken salad with sweet potato fries. This was all I had to eat the entire day and I felt too full for any additional snacking. Usually, if I'd start eating junk food, it would be followed by a Neverending binge of MORE junk food. Chips, candy, coke etc.
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Pay attention to what you're eating. My ex would never eat something if he didn't know exactly what he's putting in to his mouth. He's an unintentional "intuitive eater". When he'd receive his meal, he'd look at it for a while, analyze what's on his plate and then start eating it SLOWLY. Oh my God, I definitely realized that I eat way too quickly and never really pay any attention to what I'd put in my mouth. When I started thinking about my food while eating it, I realized that I become full much quicker.
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Take a break and hydrate. While you're eating your meal, it's important to drink water too. Put your knife and fork down, drink a glass of water and ask yourself how you're feeling about this meal. Am I full? Does it taste good? Do I need more?
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When drinking alcohol, go for less sugar. I've learned to love vodka and soda with lemon slices. He'd drink brandy and diet coke. I've also noticed that he steers clear from heavy carby or fatty dinners when drinking alcohol. E.g, he'd have a colorful burger (no fries) on a night of heavy drinking and I'd have a salad or wrap.
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Allow yourself the good stuff. I've noticed that my biggest weakness is carbs. I'd convince myself to go keto for a few days, but I'd start dreaming about bread! Guess what happens then? I binge on an entire loaf, hate myself and get stuck in the binging trap. Over this holiday I ate bread almost every day and I still lost weight. I'd have around 2 slices each morning and not feel the need to have any more for the rest of the day. This made me realize that everything in moderation is better than "nothing at all".
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Proper portion sizing. One thing we noticed is that the portion sizes in Indonesia are significantly smaller than the typical portion sizes in our country. He ordered pasta quite often and it would be the size of about two medium fists, while in our country a restaurant portion size of pasta could easily be 3-4! He also admitted that he realized now that he doesn't need nearly as much food as he thought he did and that he feels fully satisfied from smaller portion sizes. And so do I.
Anyway, I hope these tips could be helpful to anyone out there struggling with BED too. I'm back in my own country now and I'm going to try my best to implement this mindset around food.
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/e9ilj1/here_is_what_i_learned_about_eating_while/
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