Trigger foods - how would you approach it

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Forum -> Health & Wellness -> Healthy Lifestyle/ Weight Loss/ Exercise

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amother

OP ↓

Tue, Jul 16 2024, 11:42 am

I have a BED- binge eating disorder. I've been battling it for many years and it has prevented me from losing weight and keeping it off. My normal eating is healthy, but my bingeing just undoes everything.
I have tried all the diets and programs in the world, no need to suggest any.
I have spent a lot of time recently working out my triggers. Trigger times, trigger circumstances, and trigger foods. A trigger food for me is one that usually starts a binge. It doesn't necessarily mean I binge on that food but it creates the domino affect of eating. Not always do these foods do that but if I binge it always starts with one of these foods.
Here's the catch. I can cut them out but everytime I cut them out, I ended up craving them like crazy and eventually bingeing on them. They became these elusive, unattainable, dream like foods for me and I became more and more obsessed with them. Willpower only lasted so long before I just gave in and was back at square one.
I'm wondering if anyone has advice about what to do with this information that I now know - what foods can trigger binges- that won't result in future bingeing.
In my personal experience, cutting out foods make me want them MORE not LESS. I know for many people that is not the case but that's how my brain/body works.
I just want to get out of this binge/restrict cycle that has been taking over my life.

(I tried IE for a year and I was still bingeing)

amother

Nectarine

Tue, Jul 16 2024, 1:21 pm

Could you portion it out? Eg if it’s chocolate, don’t never have chocolate, but have 4 squares in a bag and the rest in the freezer, and gift yourself the four squares, with the challenge to really enjoy and savour them, and then stop.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Jul 16 2024, 1:26 pm

amother Narcissus wrote:

The issue is that these foods often trigger a binge, not necessarily that I overeat that food.

amother

Kiwi

Tue, Jul 16 2024, 5:12 pm

I need to keep trigger foods out of my house like big bags of chips or similar. Just thinking about them in my cabinet makes me dream of a binge. It doesn’t solve my binge eating problems but it’s a step. I have other goodies around that I can binge on cuz I have kids and there is always the grocery a car ride away. But if I’m in a good place with my eating then keeping certain danger foods out does help.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Jul 16 2024, 5:36 pm

amother Kiwi wrote:

Unfortunately my trigger foods are normal foods that I need to keep in my house because I have a family.
I really can't figure this peice out. Cut them out and I'm dreaming and craving with increasing intensity. Keep eating them and I'm triggering a binge response.

amother

Lemonchiffon

Tue, Jul 16 2024, 5:40 pm

What foods are they?

amother

Seashell ↓

Tue, Jul 16 2024, 5:42 pm

prepare you bag of goodies in the morning and have one each hour?
if you eat an extra, you need to put back one from the bag

amother

SandyBrown

Tue, Jul 16 2024, 5:44 pm

Can you not eat those exact foods but eat ones that are similar enough and fill that palette need?

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Jul 16 2024, 6:25 pm

amother Seashell wrote:

prepare you bag of goodies in the morning and have one each hour?
if you eat an extra, you need to put back one from the bag

Can you explain what you mean?

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Jul 16 2024, 6:28 pm

My trigger foods or as one of the many programs I've tried called it - my gateway foods:

- cereal
- crackers or rice/corn cakes
- any form of bread or matza

amother

Moccasin

Tue, Jul 16 2024, 6:34 pm

I'm also working on something like this but the suggestions I see include

-- eating mindfully.
-- recognize your own hunger cues

One I don't see a lot that I'm trying is that when I want to eat for the sake of eating, I try to do something else instead. My nails, or my makeup or origami. Drink water.

amother

Lightgreen ↓

Tue, Jul 16 2024, 6:36 pm

I’ve never struggled with binge eating BH, but what I do when I want to lose weight by cutting out certain foods (especially simple carbs that are easy to overeat like the ones you mention), I just put it into my subconscious that I can’t have these foods. I don’t think about it a lot, I just try to take it in matter of fact, the same way my husband who has a peanut allergy doesn’t even think about eating peanuts. Or how cheese is off limits when you’re fleishig.

If I think “I’ll try to not eat these foods”, it doesn’t work. It has to be totally verboten.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Jul 16 2024, 6:48 pm

amother Lightgreen wrote:

The I can't eat these foods make them even more enticing and my brain becomes fixated on them and I crave them more.
I wish with all my heart and soul that I was one of those people who just cut out carbs and they stopped craving. That would be the simple solution.
The cravings I get are so intense that eventually I just give in, maybe not day 1 or week 1 but at some point it's exhausting to keep fighting with myself and I cave literally to shut the stupid cravings up. At that point though I've been craving for so long and fighting it that I just eat the house down and let myself just eat whatever the heck I want because I don't want to deal with another food urge and craving again.
Yes it's a real disorder. It's hell and everyone telling me to just be more careful or cut out your carbs and you'll be fine has no idea what it's like to live this way.

amother

↑ Lightgreen

Tue, Jul 16 2024, 7:18 pm

amother OP wrote:

Wow, that sounds crazy hard.I have a few family members who struggle with binge eating, they all banded or sleeved eventually.

amother

↑ Seashell

Tue, Jul 16 2024, 8:00 pm

how about making it difficult to eat? like wear a mask and make a small hole in it for the food to go through?
just thinking, not sure if this can be a solution

amother

Bergamot

Tue, Jul 16 2024, 8:15 pm

Have you tried snacks that are similar but different? Like things that are salty/give you that crunch but not cereal/crackers?
What about plantain chips? Salted nuts? Is there anything in those that helps the cravings?

essie14

Tue, Jul 16 2024, 9:27 pm

Alyssa goldwater on Instagram has Binge Eating Disorder and she's very open about it. Maybe worth it to check out her page and reach out to her.

amother

Clear

Wed, Jul 17 2024, 11:24 am

How about you only eat them at a time when you won't be able to eat for at least the next hour. For example, you eat a portioned amount of bread and crackers right before going out...

If you eat bread, then can,t eat for another hour because you are on a commute, at work, in an meeting, in a class, etc, would the urge to binge still be there an hour later?

amother

↑ OP ↓

Wed, Jul 17 2024, 2:13 pm

amother Clear wrote:

This is an excellent idea. I'll have to work out the practicals but this makes sense. The other idea I had was to only eat these things outside of my home where there is no binge issue. Cereal and milk wouldn't work for my idea but it can work for yours.

I once made a rule that I could only have sugar/flour outside my home because I eat very well in public. It was a good idea in theory but I missed my own baked goods and challah (I am a very good cook and baker unfortunately).

amother

Apple

Thu, Jul 18 2024, 1:57 am

What has helped me the most was educate myself on the way these foods are impacting you and causing you to crave these foods. I can’t explain it very well but when your gut microbiom are fed food they crave those foods cause that’s what they start using as fuel.
I cut out all processed foods specifically sugar and it really helped.
Other things that help me are reading up on what this does to your body etc.
I can’t really believe it but some of my binge triggers eg chips and packaged stuff actually don’t tempt me at all anymore.

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