Binging in the evening

Omega28

Does anyone suffer with this? I've been doing it for a few years and gained too much weight.

Any advice?

Patsy167

It's very common OP, there's some good advice in this thread:

https://www.reddit.com/r/EDAnonymous/comments/d0cy7v/how_do_i_stop_myself_from_binging_at_night/

radiotrickster

The Reddit thread linked above had some good advice about the jelly cups.

I found instead of trying to stop it completely, it was better to swap junk for other food. I would cut up melon into cubes during the day or make sure there were grapes in the fridge. That way I could keep myself occupied eating them and because there was so much (eg loads of grapes in a punnet), it wasn’t a short-lived satisfaction I got from them as I felt like I was eating for ages. Popcorn or yoghurt can do the same if you don’t want fruit.

Omega28

Thanks, I'm glad I'm not the only one. It is embarrassing that I have no control or will power. I am now at least 10kgs over my normal body weight and to need to stop this in the evening.

I eat a lot of fruit during the day, banana, berries, apple, orange but I'll give it a go with grapes /melon in the evening. Popcorn is also a really good idea. The thing is I eat really well during the day then in the evening after dinner I just eat, eat, eat without thinking and it's always on the high processed junk foods.

I find when I'm eating the chocolate, biscuits etc in the evening I'm not even enjoying it, I'm just shoveling it in without any consideration to the consequences of eating that much junk food.

hurleronditch

fruit and popcorn are definitely good ways to convert your snacking into something less, just be careful on the calories in fruit. 25 grapes would be gone in a flash and they have over a hundred calories, as much as substitution can work changing your behaviours to try reduce your urge to chain eat on the couch in the evenings can be more successful. I know for me I have similar challenges, but the best way for me to avoid it is to push my main evening meal as lates as possible in the evening to avoid getting hungry again if 10-11pm is 3-4 hours after your main meal. Additionally if I am tracking calories on MFP, I will often work to keep enough calories for that small treat on the couch with Netflix and a cuppa. My personal favourite is/was a curly wurly!! At 97 calories they’re an achievable goal to keep enough calories for during the day and it feels a more normal “reward” than horsing melon cubes or carrot sticks telling myself sure isn’t this great

silverharp

plenty of protein during the day, if you base meals around one tin of Tuna (lunch) and one chicken breast (dinner) , double it, for me Ive not found eating later is good, 12 and 5pm are my main meal times, then if i go to the gym I have a bowl of yogurt and frozen fruit after. Outside of that dark cholocate 90%.

radiotrickster

I struggled quite badly with binge eating for a couple of years, where I completely lost control and couldn’t stop myself once a binge started. It got so bad that I was mortified at how much I ate and replaced all the food so nobody knew how much I’d eaten.

My GP recommended I go to Overeaters Anonymous. I ended up going to one-to-one therapy instead as I had social anxiety so a group wouldn’t work for me, and the binges were mainly caused by anxiety and loneliness.

Basically when I sat still or tried to relax in the evenings, any anxieties/worries I had would come up and eating was a distraction technique and a coping mechanism.

Would any of that sound relevant to you, OP? Would you find you’re eating to keep yourself occupied or are you dealing with any mental health issues at the moment? You don’t have to answer here but it’s worth thinking about.

Also, have you tried having a snack like biscuits during the day so you’re not waiting until the evening for the moment you get to have a treat?

I know a friend of mine would eat well during the day but they would want chocolate and kept depriving themselves, so when they eventually decided to have some or couldn’t hold off any longer, they felt that loss of control and ate more chocolate in one sitting than if they had just had some throughout the day/week.

Also @hurleronditch , thanks for mentioning about the calories in grapes. It’s something I never actually considered!

Omega28

@radiotrickster

Thanks for sharing your story. So sorry to hear this. How are you getting on now? Are you struggling or have you seen improvement?

I can totally relate to your story. Yes, I struggle quite badly with my mental health and I'm currently on medication to help with it. I don't want to say too much on a public forum though. Like yourself, I binge in the evening to distract from the anxiety and my worrying thoughts. My eating is totally out of control in the evening. I just inhale it. I am totally aware of the calories and mindless amounts of food I'm eating but I just can't stop it when I'm in that zone.

I've spoken to my psychiatrist before many times about this and she said to show compassion on myself about it but I don't see it that way as I am over weight by at least 10kg. She said the binging is related to anxiety/boredom/restricting calories during the day.