Is binge eating just a habit?

gettheweightoff · Post by **gettheweightoff** » Thu Feb 03, 2011 6:37 pm

Each time I eat a meal, I feel satisfied but for some reason I feel like going crazy afterwards, cookies, cake etc. but I have been stopping myself because I keep thinking about my S days in just 2 days from now.

I'm wondering now if my binge eating isn't just habit of wanting dessert after I eat and then feeling guilt about what I've done so I binge.

Either way I'm really hoping that I am building good habits with my no-s days to get this compulsion out of my system.

Going to have some tea to get rid of these cravings.

And the funny thing is that sometimes I don't even crave something until I see it somewhere and then the craving happens. Throwing out my husband's leftover bits of homemade cookies (from his mother) before I consume it.

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Thu Feb 03, 2011 6:53 pm

I don't know why it is, but I crave something sweet after dinner. Not lunch -- just dinner Well, usually not lunch. Fruit doesn't do it -- in fact, it usually makes the cravings stronger. The funny thing is, we've never been a family to routinely have dessert, so I can't say it's habit.

I can't say I want to go crazy, I just want something sweet. I generally don't do something, like have tea, to minimize the cravings. I just let them be cravings.

We've been having some terrible weather here. There's about 2" of ice on everything. Yesterday my daughter was going out and texted me to see if I needed anything. I didn't, however I was sorely tempted to say "chocolate...just get me anything chocolate! And a Coke." I resisted.

Too solid flesh · Post by **Too solid flesh** » Thu Feb 03, 2011 9:18 pm

wosnes wrote:Fruit doesn't do it -- in fact, it usually makes the cravings stronger.

Interesting how our experiences can vary. I have fruit during or after most meals, and for me it helps.

Congrats to both for resisting the cravings - it can be so hard.

Nicest of the Damned · Post by **Nicest of the Damned** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 3:40 pm

The word "just" doesn't really have a place in a discussion of habit. Habit is a powerful thing.

Look at people who want to quit smoking for an illustration of this. There are two things that keep people who want to quit (about 70% of all smokers, according to some surveys) from doing so. There's the physical addiction to nicotine, and the habits associated with smoking. If habit weren't much of a problem, quitting smoking would be a simple matter of replacing the nicotine with something like nicotine patches or gum, then tapering off the dose until you're not using it any more. The patches would have a success rate of 100%, or close to it. Real-world studies have found that they have a success rate somewhere below 10%.

motorin · Post by **motorin** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 4:08 pm

The No S diet helps replace the habit of binge eating with the habit of eating three meals a day. You are learning new rules. I have to confess to binge eating on S days, occasionally. However, I used to binge eat several times a week, up to 5 times! This is a major improvement. As I progress in my No S diet, I find that the urge to binge on S days is diminishing. It is slow progress, but progress nonetheless.

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 4:32 pm

I don't think binge eating is a habit. I think it's a reaction to deprivation. It's the opposite of being denied or deprived of something or even the fear of being deprived.

Blithe Morning · Post by **Blithe Morning** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 6:13 pm

There's habit and then there's habituation. I think binge eating (or any extreme eating behavior) can be so ingrained in your emotional/physical response to certain stimuli that it feels way stronger than habit.

We had to put down our dog a few weeks ago. It was habit to walk into the kitchen and look at his water dish to see if it needed filling. Without even thinking I looked at that spot for a week.

I was habituated to eat in response to certain kinds of conflict. It's still my first impulse when those conflicts occur. I suppose I'm looking for the serotonin release or something.

But I'm not a psychiatrist or a psychologist. This observation is based mainly on my personal observations.

kccc · Post by **kccc** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 9:49 pm

Blithe Morning wrote:We had to put down our dog a few weeks ago. It was habit to walk into the kitchen and look at his water dish to see if it needed filling. Without even thinking I looked at that spot for a week.

Blithe, just wanted to say I'm sorry. Losing a pet can be tough.

Blithe Morning · Post by **Blithe Morning** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 10:29 pm

Thanks, KCCC. It was a rough few days. Miss that shaggy old fellow.