I have a history of emotional eating, and binge eating. Of course right before surger(no pre surgery diet) i was going crazy due to stress and stuff. Well suprisingly i was able to stick with the liquids so far, but now that im getting into mushies which i guess is more like a food, im starting again! i cant help myself!!! i thought the restriction would help me be able not to binge, but it hasnt. Are there coping mechanisims i can use to help me get rid of this habit? if i dont im sure ill screw up my band soon! Also if ther are any former binge eaters/emotional eaters i would love to hear from you, and how you got over it, or trying to! Im so bummed- i started gaining again.....:think

Did you meet with a psychologist as part of your pre-op work? What techniques did she/he advise, and are they not working, or...?

I had to see a psychologist and develop other strategies for stress-related binge eating. These included joining a gym and planning 'hand busy' activities for my danger times, keeping a journal, dealing with problems when they come up and expressing my feelings to key people in my life (such as my boss and colleagues) so I do not feel quiet resentment. All these things combined took a bit of work and time.

I have been through an intense period of buying food and chewing it and spitting it out because I could not let go of this behaviour. However, 4 months post-banding, I do it maybe once a week or even less and I don't go out shopping especially for it.

I have confidence that I will work through this and I hope you will too. The fact that there is some will there not to hurt yourself and to make the post shows you have the potential in you to deal with this.

Some people improve with binge-eating straight away and others have to work on it. I know one thing, your stomach can't take it at this stage so you absolutely can't do it. You must find another way or you could damage yourself, biologically even.

PS I joined a gym not to lose weight or get fit but to have something planned for when I get home which did not include shopping/conducting a binge/spit session in front of the TV.

A nice side-effect is that the gym has helped me deal with the day's stress. When I get back from the gym, I do not want to buy food and pig out.

Here is a link to give you some ideas

Alternatives to Bingeing/Purging

When I PMS I am known to have a jar of Chocolate frosting (frozen) for breakfast. Works wonders to keep eating slow (it's frozen for goodness sakes) and it tastes ohhhh sooo good. But I limit it to once monthly.

My new best friend is sugarless popsicles!!! They are only 15 calories and when I'm feeling like I want to binge eat I eat a couple of those. THey take a while to eat and it requires alot of mouth action which seems to satisfy me.

Oral/hand gratification.... a lovely combination!

Thanks guys for the great ideas!

I have also gotten to the point where this liquid phase (almost) over is VERY DIFFICULT. I have been extremely disciplined until the past day or so. I didn't do much, but I did take a pinch from my husband's plate. By the time I chewed it and chewed it to make it as liquified as possible, I was satisfied. I'm really trying to cope with these cravings. I'm sure we're not the first to cheat, but I was VERY careful with making sure it was ONLY a pinch - literally.

I didn't have any cravings until I beat a fever I had on Friday, followed by diarrhea. I found out I was actually dehydrated. Now, that my fever (102) is gone, I'm starving.

I am a recovering binge eater. I have to tell you I also had doubts that the band would keep me from it. However, I had my 4th fill on Wednesday and finally I have RESTRICTION! It is amazing! I couldn't binge if I wanted too, not even on junk food, I may actually be a little too tight but I've lost 4lbs this week.

Wow! thats awsome.... way to go!

Once the band is in place and you have restriction it is thankfully much harder to binge. One of my recent binges (and they are thankfully rare) included a small french fry and 1 chicken strip. I couldn't eat anything more than that

hang in there- what works best for me (I used to be a binger 4-5 x a week and now maybe 1x try every month) is to get out of the house when the urge hits. I go for a walk. By the time I come back, that urge is pretty much gone and some calories have been burnt to boot

I had the same problem as you. I suffered from a variety of eating disorders and binge/compulsive eating has always been an old standby. During my mushies phase was when I started to eat more. At first, I just let it happen...then I gained 3 lbs during the mushies week and realized that I had to get some control.

I have been reading a good book about the emotional reasons we eat called, Life is Hard, food is Easy by Linda Spangle and it's helped bc now I think about why I want to eat and what I'm feeling (mostly stress).

I just got my first fill on Thursday and I can tell you that things are a lot different now. I can't binge eat...even if I try (and I did try). I had eggs this morning and I started eating really fast to try to get the eggs and ham in before I started to feel full. After just 1 scrambled egg I couldn't physically eat anymore bc of the pain in my stomach.

I think when you have restriction you won't be able to eat enough to "binge" (on solid foods, at least).

I am struggling with this too. I don't know if I'd call myself a binge eater but definitely an emotional overeater. I have been in therapy for this for 1 1/2 years and my therapist supported me in getting the band. I am hoping for more restriction with my first fill but I do have a fair amount of restriction now. For instance, for dinner I ate about 2/3 of a bean and cheese burrito and about 10 chips w/ queso and was stuffed and still am 5 hours later though I have had a lot of Water since dinner. Normally, I would have eaten all that and more however I was full well before I stopped eating. It was not painful, I just felt stuffed which is the feeling I'm used to and I know we are not supposed to do that with the band. I hope I can get control of this soon and not stretch my pouch.

Do you all eat to the point of just not feeling hungry any more or do you eat to the point of feeling full or even stuffed?