Binge Eating

I’ve been wanting to cover this topic for awhile since it’s pretty relevant to me and my experience through this crazy health journey. When I was a strict clean eater I would be realllllly good Monday-Thursday and then once then weekend hit BAM binging! Or I would be realllly good during the day, even on the weekend, and then night hit and BAM binging! So if you don’t know what binging is...or if you don’t have an inner fat kid, like me, binging can be many different things. It can be eating when you’re not hungry, or eating large portions until your stomach hurts, or eating little amounts of EVERYTHING. I’ve experienced all types of binging, but I’m mostly the type of binger that will eat everything in sight in little amounts until my stomach hurts :/ It was a cycle that I was caught in and couldn’t escape. And I couldn’t figure out why on earth I was always bloated, had digestive issues and wasn’t losing any weight..gee I wonder!

Well skip to a few months later and IIFYM comes into my life, sweeps me off my feet and saves me. I’ve been following IIFYM for about two months now and I am SO happy at my results so far. Not only do I feel better about myself but I get to eat the foods I love, which means no more binging! Before I was restricted to veggies, fruits, lean meats, nuts and whole grains. Which means no pop tarts, ice cream, pizza, pasta, and candy. But once those things got in front of my face I had no control over myself. I went crazy and would literally eat until my stomach hurt. 

Now that I’m allowed little treats during the day I don’t get insane cravings like before, and I don’t feel like pulling my hair out. I wasn’t happy eating like a rabbit, some people may be, but not me. I love sugar and everything “dirty” which lead me to weight gain in the first place. IIFYM has taught me that life is meant to be enjoyed while still eating to my goals and eating to live a healthy life. I eat a pop tart every. single. day. But I also eat a lot of fruit, veggies (the ones I like) and lean meats in order to meet my fitness goals. And I never feel deprived, unhappy, or have negative thoughts about my body.

So have a binged since joining IIFYM? Not really. The closest that I have gotten to binging is going out to eat and then having some froyo afterwards, even though I wasn’t hungry. I always jokingly tell my boyfriend that you don’t have to be hungry to eat, which is true in my case. Like I’ve said in past posts going to my moms is a true testiment to my self control. She has everything I love. When I was a clean eater I either stayed clear of the pantry or  dived head first taking out handfuls of cereal while a donut sits in the other hand (true story). Now when I go over there I don’t feel deprived not eating everything in sight like before, If I want a donut I will have one, but not 3, or if I want a bowl of cereal I will eat it, but I won’t have a half a package of oreos afterwards. It’s all about moderation while still enjoying yourself.

Are there days when I don’t meet my macros? Absolutely. For example this past Friday Nick wanted to go to Olive Garden and without even checking MyFitnessPal to see if I "could" I said Yeah! I love Olive Garden and don’t go too often. Did I go crazy and eat 6 breadsticks? Did I eat my whole plate and then dip into Nicks? If this was 6 months ago then I would have said yes, but I didn’t. I had 2 breadsticks, lots of salad, and a super yummy zuchinni lasagna plate (drooling about it now). Did I feel guilt? NOPE. I enjoyed that shit..in moderation. haha. Also we went up to Prescott on Sunday and spent time with Nicks family. We went to the pumpkin patch where we bought a small bag of kettle corn (still sitting in the pantry) and ate 2 scoops of homemade pumpkin ice cream. mmmm. I also enjoyed a big cheeseburger back at the house. But I didn’t grab bags of candy for the ride home. Or drink a giant soda. Pick and choose is what I always say. 

Anways what I really want to say with this post is if you find yourself deprived, unhappy, havng uncontrollable binges or drolling over something that you “can’t” have then you need to CHANGE what you’re doing. Life is short. Do what you love. Which means eating what you love. Don’t live a life eating carrot sticks and sipping on water because you want your body to look a certain way. I eat pop tarts, pizza, salad and chicken and I’ve never been more happy. And it’s okay to go a little crazy sometimes. Just wait until I get to the state fair this year. I’m going to get my hands on some defried oreos, indian fried bread, funnel cake, pickels....