Stable Weight for TWO Years?

 Goodness! I haven't posted for two years! Wow! So, what's my status?

When I review my historical posts, it is clear that I have been focussed on dieting instead of the real problem: binge eating. However, over that last two years, I believe I have started focussing on controling the binging--and I think it's working. At least my weight has been steady for two years, a miracle. A reeeeeeeeal miracle!

How was this miracle achieved?

Dieting had nothing to do with it. All diets work if you stick to them. And don't binge eat. But I DO still binge. Maybe it's because I finally can say, like in AA--"Hi, my name is Camille, and I am a binge eater."

Anyway, I've learned alot about how and why I binge.

The How

I think I'm very lazy. If I'm hungry, I go for the quickest and sweetest solution. If there's a chicken in  the freezer and fresh asparagus in the fridge and bread in the box, I'll have buttered toast for dinner. Unfortunately, if there are cookies, I'll have cookies for dinner. This is just the way it is, period. If there are no sweet things, I'll just go for quickest.

Two things should now be obvious. Be sure there are no sweet things around. Be sure there are healthy quick things around. The only reason that I have any success now is that I live alone and can control my environment.When I lived with my brother, it was a nightmare because he constantly brought home sweets and was always happy to share. And nowadays, when I visit my daughter, it's also a disaster because they keep different food in the house. I also don't like to eat at restaurants often because there's too much temptation and too much food.

The why

That's quite a bit trickier. The lazy thing is key, but if I'm feeling good and have energy, I WILL actually cook. So how to maintain energy and feel good? OMG! If that isn't a conundrum. It has been my experiencce that energy is dependent on eating healthy food and getting plenty of exercise. And it's really difficult to control feeling good especially if you view it as the result of not feeling bad. We don't have much control over feeling bad when we get in an accident, get fired, get yelled at, lose our keys, run out of gas, get our feelings hurt, pull a muscle or a trillion other things. Some of us are more resilient than others.

Therefore, success for me depends on three pillars of behavior:

• get exercise
• stock quick and healthy food
• recognize and acknowledge what I will binge on and never buy it

YOU may prefer Overeaters Anonymous which offers pod casts and meetings similar to AA or psychotherapy to work on the feeling good thing or asking your doctor for a drug. There's even a "clinically validated" app! This site says it specializes in binge eating, but it is a listing of dietitions.

Or try my pillars. 

The first pillar--exercise--can be challenging. I spend most of my descretionary income on a trainer at the gym because I simply won't go otherwise. I find that the more exercise I get, the better I feel.

The second pillar--having healthy, quick food around--is way easier to achieve. I love my freezer. Frozen meals. I make soup alot and store and freeze one-serving containers of it.  

I also freeze ingredients which makes meal prep a snap. I buy mushrooms, slice them, lay them out on a cookie sheet, freeze for 30 minutes, dump into a freezer bag. I repeat this process with celery. I can buy already packaged frozen onions and carrots. 

I keep apples and cheese and buy deli sliced turkey so I can always have a sandwich. I keep frozen fruit and as much fresh fruit as is in season. I always have milk and cereal (5 minute oatmeal and out-of-the-box shredded wheat).

The last pillar is the most important and takes some time to achieve. I recognize and acknowledge what I will binge on any sweet--cookies, cake, pastries, jam, candy, honey, etc.and certain other bingeable foods such as peanut butter, raisins, nuts, an crackers.  "Hi, my name is Mary, or Bill, or Carol, or Tiffany, and I am a binge eater."

I made a New Year's resolution that I would allow myself a serving of any dessert, any time, but would no longer buy quarts, pints, or half-gallons of ice cream, dozens or boxes full of cookies, jars full of candy. Every once in awhile I go get a double scoop ice cream cone. And I regularly enjoy baking goodies, but I SHARE!  One slice for me, one slice for my trainer, one for my neighbor, and the rest for  the staff of my aparment building. And if I should need 2 tablespoons of honey or raisins or peanut butter, I borrow it from my neighbor.

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It worked really well for nine months, but this month I fell when Stewarts had a sale when my favorite flavor had just been voted the best in the world!!!

So I bought two half gallons and ate them both in two days, fulfilling several binge eater criteria:

• eat alone
• eat til you're sick
• eat too much, too fast

I don't think I felt guilty (another criteria), but I certainly regretted it. A cone is sooo much more pleasant with the licking and the last bite of cone filled ice cream. Oh well.

The next day I spent $10 in the little store buying two candy bars (and I nevvvvver have candy bars), a cheese danish, and an apple turnover (don't LIKE apple turnovers) and ate them all for brunch. Then, thank God, I snapped out of it and made some pea soup. 

It'll happen. Forgive yourself and move on. Spend some time analyzing what happened and why