Advice for a binge eater?

Hello, I am new here, or at least newly registered to post, though I've been following the blog and reading the articles and browsing the forums for some time, and I would love to ask some advice from the community here.

I hadn't heard about the whole Primal idea until a couple months ago, but I very much liked the concept from the beginning, as it seemed to fit more or less with the way I have always tended to eat, without knowing there was a name for it. Since learning to make my own food decisions in my early teens, I have always known my favourite foods were basically only meats and vegetables of all kinds, occasional fruits, with no taste or interest in grains or processed foods, and no regular dairy as it upsets my stomach. For the sake of providing more background, I also have generally always informally done IF-style eating, again just coming into it naturally before I knew what it was, with an average 5-7 hour window and the bulk at one large meal; and my exercise consists of regular strength training, some interval cardio several days a week, and walking for about an hour or so as part of my weekday commute.

My issue is with binge eating. I've had, I believe, classifiable binge eating disorder for about four years now. Though I eat healthfully as I described above 90% of the time, with honestly and truly no cravings for junk food in everyday situations, I binge on frozen yogurt, 3-4 half gallons of it at a time, at least once a week and occsionally more often. I never binge on anything other than frozen yogurt, and I have zero desire to eat frozen yogurt in normal quantities or outside of a binge. When there are periods of time, such as vacations or whatever, where I cannot have access to the opportunity, time, and proper food, I will not binge; but after that period is over, even if it's been a couple of months, as soon as the opportunity arises again, I find myself with the urge to binge again and slip back into the regular behavior.

I've tried [I]hundreds[/I] of ideologies and strategies over the years, but I have yet to kick the habit, addiction, whatever you want to call it. Gotten close, yes, gotten it more manageable, yes, but it's never just gone away completely.
I have a lot of respect for the people following the PB lifestyle, from what I've learned so far, so I'd really love to hear from someone any advice you would give me from a PB perspective. I've an open ear for criticism and an open mind to try anything. Thank you very much for any thoughts at all!

As you start eating healthfully and you are getting quality foods, I've found that my cravings do lessen. Cutting out the processed crap will retrain your taste buds so that things you used to binge on will taste strange or too chemically or too sweet. The cravings will still be there, but I've found them to be more manageable the longer I go primal. Also, trigger foods...just don't keep them in the house. You can't eat them if you can't easily access them, and by the time you run to the store to buy ice cream, you might find that your craving has diminished.

Yogurt is my weakness. For me, it's full-fat plain yogurt, bananas, and whatever nut butter I can get my hands on. Spread nut butter on banana, bite, eat spoonful of yogurt, repeat until my stomach literally can't take it anymore. I go through cycles where, for a week, I won't eat any yogurt, and by day 7 or 8, I'm craving it, I buy it, I binge on it.

I think maybe the answer is in not restricting myself until my craving is that intense. Maybe a bit of yogurt everyday instead of trying to cut it out entirely for 7 days and then eating almost a whole container on day 8. But of course, if I keep in it the house, it's gone in one day.

I'm interested in the replies you get... I wonder what it is about yogurt that triggers binging? Dairy is quite insulinogenic (sp?) so that probably has something to do with it... I'm not sure what to do about my relationship with yogurt, though. Every time I try to cut it entirely, I end up binging. And when I try to NOT restrict myself, to eat a little yogurt frequently instead of a lot of yogurt infrequently, I still end up binging... Yogurt wins every time!

[QUOTE=Damiana;1007427]As you start eating healthfully and you are getting quality foods, I've found that my cravings do lessen. Cutting out the processed crap will retrain your taste buds so that things you used to binge on will taste strange or too chemically or too sweet. The cravings will still be there, but I've found them to be more manageable the longer I go primal. Also, trigger foods...just don't keep them in the house. You can't eat them if you can't easily access them, and by the time you run to the store to buy ice cream, you might find that your craving has diminished.[/QUOTE]

Thank you for your response. The problem is, I have cut out all the processed crap EXCEPT that frozen yogurt, and my urge to binge on it never goes away. Earlier this year I went nearly six months without being having it, due to not having any alone time to binge, but yet I still thought about it all the time, and once I did get the opportunity, I went back to binge on it. It's not just the food itself I'm addicted to-- it's the whole binge "package," the way I binge and the feelings and the whole ritual of it. I don't even like the frozen yogurt that much, to be honest, I just feel compelled to eat it! I never ever keep it in the house either. I always go out to buy it. In fact, that's part of the binge for me. I'd never think to eat it if it were just sitting around....


[QUOTE=2ndChance;1007490]Yogurt is my weakness. For me, it's full-fat plain yogurt, bananas, and whatever nut butter I can get my hands on. Spread nut butter on banana, bite, eat spoonful of yogurt, repeat until my stomach literally can't take it anymore. I go through cycles where, for a week, I won't eat any yogurt, and by day 7 or 8, I'm craving it, I buy it, I binge on it.

I think maybe the answer is in not restricting myself until my craving is that intense. Maybe a bit of yogurt everyday instead of trying to cut it out entirely for 7 days and then eating almost a whole container on day 8. But of course, if I keep in it the house, it's gone in one day.

I'm interested in the replies you get... I wonder what it is about yogurt that triggers binging? Dairy is quite insulinogenic (sp?) so that probably has something to do with it... I'm not sure what to do about my relationship with yogurt, though. Every time I try to cut it entirely, I end up binging. And when I try to NOT restrict myself, to eat a little yogurt frequently instead of a lot of yogurt infrequently, I still end up binging... Yogurt wins every time![/QUOTE]

Hi, thanks for replying!
The thing is, I really don't want to have just a little bit of it. I only want a gallon of it, lol. Truly. If I can't have the ice cream in a half-gallon bucket, I don't want to eat it. I don't want a spoonful, don't want a pint, only want to binge on it until I can't eat any more. That's what I crave, more than the ice cream itself.

[QUOTE=mottainai;1007519]Thank you for your response. The problem is, I have cut out all the processed crap EXCEPT that frozen yogurt, and my urge to binge on it never goes away. Earlier this year I went nearly six months without being having it, due to not having any alone time to binge, but yet I still thought about it all the time, and once I did get the opportunity, I went back to binge on it. It's not just the food itself I'm addicted to-- it's the whole binge "package," the way I binge and the feelings and the whole ritual of it. I don't even like the frozen yogurt that much, to be honest, I just feel compelled to eat it! I never ever keep it in the house either. I always go out to buy it. In fact, that's part of the binge for me. I'd never think to eat it if it were just sitting around....




Hi, thanks for replying!
The thing is, I really don't want to have just a little bit of it. I only want a gallon of it, lol. Truly. If I can't have the ice cream in a half-gallon bucket, I don't want to eat it. I don't want a spoonful, don't want a pint, only want to binge on it until I can't eat any more. That's what I crave, more than the ice cream itself.[/QUOTE]

Try hypnosis. Seriously.

[QUOTE=Louisa655;1007534]Try hypnosis. Seriously.[/QUOTE]

I'll take it, if you're serious! Any resources you could provide me on that? Like, should I look into seeing a professional, or is it something I can do myself?

I would look at tapping EFT.

If you look on youtube, Brad Yates is the best I've found.

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq4S8DhK_r8&feature=related]Love Your Body (weight-loss?) - Tapping with Brad Yates - YouTube[/url]
Check out all his videos' and see if any apply to you.

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKxbVAVlL8o&feature=related]EFT for 'Emotional Over Eating' - YouTube[/url]

Is another one, I just found it.

Good luck with it

[QUOTE=ez2cy;1007583]I would look at tapping EFT.

If you look on youtube, Brad Yates is the best I've found.

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq4S8DhK_r8&feature=related]Love Your Body (weight-loss?) - Tapping with Brad Yates - YouTube[/url]
Check out all his videos' and see if any apply to you.

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKxbVAVlL8o&feature=related]EFT for 'Emotional Over Eating' - YouTube[/url]

Is another one, I just found it.

Good luck with it[/QUOTE]

Thank you for the suggestion!

By the way, I don't know if it makes a difference, but I'm female, 23 years old, 5'6", about 115-120 pounds.

Protein, protein, and more protein. It will stop the appetite dead in its tracks.

[QUOTE][/QUOTE][QUOTE=Chaohinon;1007786]Protein, protein, and more protein. It will stop the appetite dead in its tracks.[/QUOTE]

Well, I do eat quite a lot of protein already, but the urge still comes. Should I like try eating protein right before I set out to binge, or something like that? Or just add an extra couple servings of protein every day?