Hello Lap Band community,

I have always been a binge eater. I remember as a child having to sell candy bars for school fundraisers. I would steal money from my parents change jar to buy candy bars for myself and then hide them in my room, and binge on them. In high school I could go through a bag of cheetos or doritos in a day or two - back then I was very athletic so it didn't show. In college, I started putting on weight. And after college, I really started putting on weight.

I can be excellent at self-control until about 8:30pm. I will measure, track, and choose only the healthiest foods. Then after dinner I get the head hunger. And, binge. Now that I have the band, my binges are usually more petite then they used to be. But, I still get this crazy mental urge that I must have sugar/chips/whatever right now and find it very difficult to dissuade myself. It feels like a compulsion and makes me feel very out of control and dissapointed in myself.

When I am living alone, I simply don't bring the bad stuff into the house. I can't binge on sugary foods if there aren't any in the cabinet. But, right now I live with family and they are always bringing in Cookies, cakes, icecream, candies, etc. I ask them to please keep the sugary foods in a private place and not in the common areas of the house. But, of course, that only happens on occassion. And, I really really wish I had the self-control to know it is in the kitchen at night and not eat it! Some nights I do okay and other nights I fail. I lose weight at times where I have more self-control and gain when my control falters and I binge eat daily for months on end.

Is there anyone out there who has conquered binge eating? For the general community, how do you handle head hunger?

-Hilary

So glad you posted this. I am the same way. Eat healthy all day and have a good dinner the, BAM 8:00pm and the head hunger starts. I live in a house full of skinny people who can eat any and everything so there is always some kind of junk in the house. I feel so guilty after I eat this stuff! The only good thing is that since my lap band surgery, I can no longer eat as much as I used to be able to eat. Now if i can just concur this evil head hunger completely!

The only way to conquer your head hunger is to set up some kind of mental system where you ask yourself before you put food in your mouth, "am I really hungry" and then you can act on that information. Do you decide to put the food down or shove it in your mouth?

I'm not saying you will always make the right decision, I know I don't always make the right decision, but after 1 year I'm finally training myself to think before I eat.

tmf

I have also been a binge eater, and also have trouble with getting the munchies in the evening. Right now, I'm trying to work out how many calories I need and when/what to eat so that I'm not actually hungry in the evening. It's easier to avoid overeating if I don't need to eat anything at that time.

I still say if you are hungry and it is not meal time drink. If you are still hungry eat a smart snack. I will not walk around hungry or feeling deprived. I have found if I don't have a snack when I need one I get a headache. I was waking up with headache so at night I try to have dannon Greek yogurt. It is 80 calories and I think 12 Protein. Only if I am hungry.

Thank you for this post as I am the same. I've got some great ideas by reading this thread. I'm going to try saving some calories for a snack. Usually I have a snack between my lunch n dinner so that I'm not hungry or to get extra calories in.but I am going to try to only have my snack when I'm hungry. Thanks again for posting this!

I went to see my physicians assistant at my surgeon's office. He said he thinks my nightime binging is caused by my untreated sleep apnea. He recommends me to wear my cpap, get up at the same time every day, and eat a meal with 20 grams of protein within an hour of waking. He said that after 3-4 weeks that should stop the night time eating.

Oh good! I hope that will help you. Intersting that they connect it to your apnea.

I'm glad I saw this thread =) I'm actually diagnosed with Binge Eating Disorder and there are a lot of tools my therapist and nutritionist are working on with me to conquer those head hunger cravings. One of the things I did that really helped me so far has been to put a sign on my pantry and fridge. It has a stop sign on it and asks 3 questions: 1. Is it meal time? 2. Am I *really* hungry? and 3. Is this helping me achieve my goals? If I can answer yes to any one of those then I can go ahead and have something. But it makes me stop and think every time before opening that up and eating something.

The other one I've found really helpful is doing something else for ten minutes. Feeling that craving? Take a walk, read a book, watch a TV show for ten minutes. If it's still there then have a snack. But often times I find that that intial "OMG I HAVE TO EAT NOW AHHHH" feeling subsides after a little bit.

I'm glad I saw this thread =) I'm actually diagnosed with Binge Eating Disorder and there are a lot of tools my therapist and nutritionist are working on with me to conquer those head hunger cravings. One of the things I did that really helped me so far has been to put a sign on my pantry and fridge. It has a stop sign on it and asks 3 questions: 1. Is it meal time? 2. Am I *really* hungry? and 3. Is this helping me achieve my goals? If I can answer yes to any one of those then I can go ahead and have something. But it makes me stop and think every time before opening that up and eating something.

The other one I've found really helpful is doing something else for ten minutes. Feeling that craving? Take a walk' date=' read a book, watch a TV show for ten minutes. If it's still there then have a snack. But often times I find that that intial "OMG I HAVE TO EAT NOW AHHHH" feeling subsides after a little bit.[/quote']

Thank u for this post! Some good tips for all of who need them.