I am binging

Hi Everyone, I am writting here because of how desperate I'm feeling. Since I don't have my profile established yet, just a little reminder that I have lost 95 pounds since May, and have another 80 to go. But...I have stalled. Not that I am gaining weight, but I have stopped working my plan. I will follow my plan of diet and exercise only to binge one or two days a week. For the past 6 weeks this what I have been doing. It is so frustrating. I've probably lost the same 5 pounds 4 different times. I know we all ask the same question "Why can't I stop eating?" This is so nuts!!! I am a indepedent and responsible woman. Yet this binging brings me to my knees. I actually just got back from a resturaunt and now I am crying, but that still doesn't stop me from binging. I've tried walking, reading, needle point, calling friends, but sometimes that NEED is so great. Now it feels like the pressure is on. Everyone at work is so kind to me and constantly telling me how great I look. I love the comments, but I now feel like I don't deserve them. Especially when people ask me for advise on how to diet. If they only knew I was hanging on by my finger nails. So I am going to try to put a positive spin on this. Even though I did binge both on Friday and Sunday, I did continue with my exercising and could have eaten a lot more than I have in the past. After 8 months, I don't think it gets any easier. Sometimes it is so much easier just to give in. Thanks for listening. Ann 306/211/130 Non-op

Hi Ann, Sweetie, I think you have to regain your focus....... You have to be mindful of how far you have come and how hard you have work thus far. You don't want to lose all of that. I am a binge eater myself and we are human, therefore these binges will occur, we just have to get back on track the next day. We cannot allow them to throw us completely off our programs. Get back on your exercise regimin. Drink water !!!!!!!! Flush your system out !!!!!!!! You will be fine !!!!!!!!!! You can do this hun, you already have by losing 100 pounds !!!!!!!!! Congratulations Phyllis...............

Hi Phyllis, Thank you so much for your kind words! Today is much, much better. I'm refocused and ready to attack it again Ann

Hi Ann!! Don't know if it's any help, but I've lost a lot less than you (just about 50 pounds) and am stuck on the same plateau. (Somewhere between 209 and 211). Let's try to shake it!! Here's my current thinking. . .I am very, very sensitive to carbs. And slowly they have been sneaking back into my diet. And slowly, gradually, I have been less careful about eating only good carbs, filling up on veggies and salads, and drinking all my water. And whaddaya know? I'm STARVING hungry (after not being very hungry very much for months). And I'm not losing much weight. So I figure I had best go back to my first principles. . . What are your first principles? Where have you moved from them? What has changed that is bringing on the desire to binge? Can you try and do something to take better care of yourself. Can we try to help each other through this? I really would love to get below 200 pounds sometime before I'm eligible for Social Security (and I'm 46 now). . . and we are both so close. . . liz (currently queen of the wild plateau) 258/210/?

Hi Liz, You bring a great perspective to the whole binging issue. When I am in the middle of a binge, I seem to fog up and not think clearly. I have moved slowly away from my first principles. A few things I found myself doing: 1. Drinking more than one SF soda a day (I think this makes me crave sweets) 2. Eating protien bars (The zone bars taste just like candy to me, and cause me to want more and more of them) 3. Skipping breakfast occasionally because I am running late. 4. Thinking one bite won't hurt me. 5. It is the holidays, so just splurge a little and start again tomorrow attitude. So it is back to the basic. No more soda!! No more protein bars, and I will always eat breakfast again. I'm glad to hear you are going back to the basic too! It seems to work with people who had WLS, so maybe it will for us. I would love for you to be my plateau buddy, because I too have been around the 211 - 217 mark for about 60 days! I want to see 199, I want to be in Onelander. Our stories are so similiar, except I did get dx with Type 2 diabetes, I am so glad you took action before it was too late. Way to go! Also, I will be 45 in a few months Let's hook up every few days and commit to one another to get us thru this slump. My first action of the day, is to throw away the chocolate kiss that someone just gave me at work, what about you? Ann 306/211/130 Non-op

Hi, Some of the things that help me when I feel hungry: 1. If I'm really hungry, I will go ahead and eat my meal instead of snacking. It doesn't happen often, but I have had lunch at 10:30 or maybe supper at 3:30. After I eat my meal, I'm satisfied. 2. Dite Rite Cola - 0 calories, 0 sodium, 0 caffeine Sometimes just drinking a can of Dite Rite will fill me up. 3. Making sure that I stay on a plan that has nutritious foods in the right quantities. If you are not eating enough food, it can slow weight loss and cause binging. Lynette

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions and support Ann

Hey Ann-- sorry not to get back sooner. Good for you. Let's keep this going. I've been trying to drink my water, far fewer carbs, and get back to the gym. So far, so good. Stay in touch!! liz 258/207/?

Hi Liz, I see you are down 3 pounds, Yahoo!!! Way to go! I haven't lost any weight still stuck at 211 BUT, I am back on board with controlling my eating. So I am hoping this will be the week that I finally break thru Doesn't 199 sound wonderful, we are both so close. Ann 306/211/130

Hi Ann!!! The number I dream of is 198. It's just that 199 can turn into -00 so easily. . .want to put a little room between me and the big numbers. More distance, the better. I dream of 185--just "overweight," not "obese." I am a very strange loser. 2 or 3 pounds one day, and then nothing for a long time. Are you like this? I'm not, overall, a particularly fast loser. This may be because I'm closer to a "normal weight" than i once was (if you can call being 40 or 50 pounds away from normal "closer"). I am worried, now, that my diet habits don't lend themselves to maintenance. I tend to eat small portions of the foods I want, plus trying to eat lots of veggies and low fat protein, and staying away from those easily-digested complex carbs. . .sometimes I succeed. So how are you retraining yourself for maintenance eating? I think this is one of the most important questions to face during weight loss--that we have to keep the attitude and effort up to keep the weight off. I guess what I am doing is facing that I'm going to have to be on the medication I take indefinately ****il they come up with something better), and continue to eat as I have while dieting . However, I try not to think of this as dieting. I try to think of this as not eating so damn much. And you? liz P.S. You've done so fantastically well so far--why don't you post a profile? 258\206\196 (mini-goal)\?