Binging and Fixing the Mind, Body, Food Connection

"Ok I've gotta eat strict, have to eat clean. Nothing processed, no junk, nothing high fat high carb can touch my lips..... except maybe I'll have the one cookie. DANG IT. Well I've gone and screwed it all up. I'm just going to finish the whole box."

"80% Diet, 20% Gym? Ok I guess that's how it works! But mannn.... I just ate 10 oreos.. so my diet portion is messed up. Well I guess I messed up my day anyways, a workout isn't going to help anything, so I'm not gonna work out today."

How many times have you ever had these thoughts, or similar runs, running through your head?

Don't you wish you could just Eat when you're hungry and just STOP when you're full or satisfied? Why do we feel the need to just STUFF STUFF STUFF when we're not even hungry?

Must Read Blogposts For the New Year

It's officially 2014!
Brand new spanking year.
Today is the first day of a 365 page book, make an amazing and inspiring story.

New Mentality for the New Year

2014 is around the corner!

Tips on Stopping the Binge/Overeating

I've been reading the book "Intuitive Eating" (HIGHLY recommend this book if you've had problems dieting/yoyoing/want to learn more about listening to your body's biological hunger cues etc) and felt like sharing my favorite tips from the book AND my personal experience on how to control your eating, whether you overeat or BINGE, try out some of these tips to control your eating.

Tips on Stopping the Binge/Overeating

IIFYM Update and Transformation & Spinach Love

So I posted this a few days ago on Instagram, [remember if you want up to date posts, follow me on Instagram, twitter, or tumblr!] about how exactly I stopped my binging, and how I'm feeling now!

I'm so happy. I never thought I'd get to this point. If you followed me for a while, you KNOW how many setbacks and failures I had! (Never hid anything bout that, I was the setback QUEEN!) I thought I'd spend the rest of my life binging. Buying a pack of rice cakes, cottage cheese, peanut butter, and polishing it all off in 1 night. I thought I would never stop feeling disgusted about myself, only to continue binging from the days start to days end. I thought that I'd never be able to stop going to buffets and devouring all the food in sight, getting plates on plates, past the point of being stuffed. I never thought I'd be able to be NORMAL, eat normally, not always have food on my mind, thinking of what I could devour next. I was so angry at myself for letting it get so far, only to continue with the binges thinking "eh what's the point? I already messed up anyway!" NO.  I'm SOOO happy now, I've found a new mindset, I have a new relationship with food. Food doesn't control me. I no longer even have the URGE to binge! And haven't in SO LONG! It's an amazing amazing amazing feeling. I'm still eating majority healthy, but not freaking out about treats! A lot of you asked me how I got through. And here's EXACTLY what I did. Not saying it may work for you, but just sharing.

Vacation Victories: IIFYM/IE Update & My Goal for the Future

Hello fit fam!
If you didn't know, I've been on vacation for around 10 days in wonderful Florida!... Even if it did rain almost every day I was there. Below are some tasty foods I ate while on vacation and an update on how I ate. And how I actually LOST weight on vacation! Even though we shouldn't care about weight ;]

"My last cheat I SWEAR" Approach: How I Stopped Binging

How many times have you used THAT line huh?

From Layne Norton's Instagram

"Oh snap, I'm getting SERIOUS tomorrow... sooooo I might as well eat all the bad stuff I can now because I won't have any for a while..."

The next day comes around. You do fine for a few days... or one.... and then you mess up a tinyyy tiny bit... and that sets you off. You eat one cookie, which turns to 2, and then before you know it you've eaten the whole box!

"Ah crud.... messed up... OK starting fresh TOMORROW.... but since I already messed up, I should finish off that peanut butter too, and then tomorrow I'll start fresh..."

And repeat.

Sound familiar to you?

GNU Foods Review & Little IIFYM Success

GNU FOODS

Gnu Bars are a great healthy snack that pack 12 grams of fiber into one small bar! Each of our bars is made with delicious, all-natural ingredients that keep you feeling great inside and out.

1. What’s so special about the Fiber in Gnu Bars?

The 6 natural whole grains in Gnu Bars are rich in beneficial nutrients, minerals, antioxidants and phytonutrients as well as rich in Fiber. The whole grains in Gnu Bars contain all the parts of the entire grain kernel; they haven’t been milled or processed out like other so many other whole grain foods or supplements. Plus, unlike Fiber supplements, Gnu Bars taste great. They also provide you with nearly half of the Daily Value of Fiber your body needs to stay healthy!
Gnu Bars come in a convenient bar form so you can always have them with you. So when you think of Fiber, think of great-tasting, all natural Gnu! It works!

Here's a review of the flavors!

Junk Food Confessions & The Maintainable Lifestyle Rules

So I uploaded a new YouTube video HERE on my Junk Food Confessions, based off of Jenna Marbles video HERE!
Hope to make you all feel a little less guilty about your slip ups! <3
And at the end I kinda babble about the lifestyle and binging.

Soooo here's just a short little list of things I'm incorporating into MY own lifestyle to make it comfortable and maintainable!

• workout at least 4x a week
• have a treat when needed, but savor the taste and never have more than you need
• make sure your workout makes up for the treat
• broaden social activities to keep busy
• more family and friends time
• eat clean 80-90% of the time
• NO restricting [no no carbs, no fats, no protein, etc]
• no starvation
• eat when you're hungry, don't when you're not
• make sure to learn "head hunger" from "stomach hunger" - are you just bored or actually hungry?
• tips: drink water - then see if you're hungry
• get yourself busy with an activity
• if you're actually hungry, then eat!
• compliment yourself at least 1x/day and love yourself
• eat nutrient dense food over empty calories
• ex: if you're eating a treat, instead of a pure bar of sugar, eat something with whole nuts in it for some dietary fats and protein
• ENJOY THE LIFESTYLE

Confessions of a Hyperthyroid, SUCCESS, and Back On Track

As you all know, I was having a rough month.
I know it's nice to see others in the same position you are in so you don't feel so alone, so my setbacks are kinda good for you all!
But I feel I have wayyyy too many slip ups under my belt now... So sorry if I've ever let any of you down with how many times I've messed up!

So I got my results back from the blood test the other day and was told to up my hyperthyroid medication [tapazole, which is supposed to make my thyroid less hyper] to 3 pills a day.

Now here's the confession part....

Even when I was told to take 2 pills a day.... I did not.
I didn't take any pills.

Secretly... I wanted to stay hyper, and not go into hypo. I wanted to keep my firing metabolism. I didn't want to have the horror stories of those with Hypothyroidism who say it's impossible to lose weight.

Unfortunately, I didn't think of all the other negative side effects that comes with hyperthyroidism. Along with a speedy metabolism, comes increasing hunger and the feeling of never being satisfied with food.
I didn't realize this until I started up again with the 3 pill dosage a few days ago.

When I took the recommended dose in the morning,  

I felt like a brand new person!

I DIDN'T FEEL HUNGRY ALL THE TIME
I DIDN'T FEEL STARVING THROUGHOUT THE DAY
And most importantly
I DIDN'T FEEL LIKE BINGING AT ALL

I was so angry at myself....
All this time I was trying to FIGHT my body, keep it out of whack and not in a normal state by keeping it in the hyper stage. Why?! Just to help me along to get my fit body!?!
Turns out I was doing more harm than good! I feel like THIS is part of the reason why I started binging.... when the hyper symptoms came back.. all these overwhelming hunger pangs and never feeling satisfied with food feelings flooded and overwhelmed me...

Now that I'm back on the recommended dosage, I actually feel NORMAL.
I can't believe I wasted so many months fighting it, when I should have just done it all along: Listened to the doctors, took my medication, and maybe if I had done that I wouldn't be in this position I am now! Ah beating myself in the head as I type this... but no mistakes without lessons learned, and boy did I learn the hard way.

Anyway, that's my confession! I was secretly trying to rev up my body to get the body I wanted, and ended up doing the exact opposite. I made my body go too crazy, hungry all the time, and didn't treat it like I should have, BUT NOW I KNOW BETTER. So if any of you hyperthyroids are out there trying to do what I did.. DON'T!

Learn from my mistakes. Listen to the docs, and get to a normal level! <3

Now I'm excited to get my levels down to a NORMAL person's levels, eat like a normal person, live a fit and healthy lifestyle, and not let myself fall back again!

And sooooo I've kinda had the past 3 weeks to relax, rest, and really think about this lifestyle journey of mine. And I wanted to share with you all what I've come up with.

First off, I may end up quitting my part time job in my Mexi- Italian restaurant... Just to not shove temptation in my face every weekend and set myself up for failure. I'm going to try and find another job that's not revolved around food! This way I can focus on the end of the semester and school work.. but then again I dooo need the money for healthy groceries... ah college budget... this is just a "maybe thought" as of now....

Next, the "clean eating" aspect. I've kinda changed my whole view on how I'll be eating now.
One of the reasons for my binging in the first place, besides making myself super hungry from letting my thyroid go super hyper, was because of restriction.

After a while of eating crap the past few weeks, I found myself not even wanting that much bad food anymore! I was able to say "no" to a burrito, froyo, cereal, and other food vices of mine, which was a HUGE step for me!

Granted I'm not "cured" or "recovered" and I can't guarantee I won't binge again in the future, but this baby step was like a giant step for me, and I'm happy about that.

So because of this revelation, I have made some changes to how I'm going to eat:

• I will NOT always be eating clean all the time. 
• I won't freak out about extra carbs or fats etc. 
• I'm just going to eat "most of the time [80-90%]" healthy and if I find myself needing a small treat, then I'll have it! I'll have an extra scoop of peanut butter, I'll have a little piece of chocolate, I'll have an Oreo or a piece of not so clean bread or some hot chocolate! 
• I'll no longer say "I can't have...". 
• I CAN have it, and maybe telling myself I CAN have it, will make me be able to say, "Nah, I don't really want it". Does that make any sense? If it's not seen as off limits to me, then maybe I won't crave it so much!

 

And guess what?! I had this bad boy up here! It was a burger stuffed with a hotdog in the middle, CRAZY right?! And a side of sweet potato fries! Also had a fried oreo afterwards OH MY LAWDDDD. So good.

And in the past this is how it normally would have went:

Eat bad junk meal

Go home

Raid Cupboard

Eat 10 peanut butter banana sandwiches

+ protein bars

+ nature valley bars

+ anything else I could find in my kitchen at that time

Then go to bed feeling guilty as ever

But guess what happened today?

Eat bad junk meal

Went for a walk

Worked on my ebook

Ate a little sampling of one of my new recipes

Walked the dog

Baked tilapia

Finished ebook!

Walked the dog again [he pooped in the house URGH]

Working on this blog post

YES. That's right. NO BINGING. BABY STEPS! 

SUCCESS!

Oh my gosh and I can NOT tell you how proud I am of myself! 

To be able to have a cheat meal, and then NOT go home and binge.... 

I could literally cry tears of joy.... You don't know how many times in the past I would have done the usual routine above.... Go home and binge on everything in site.. 

I can't remember a time I DIDN'T do that! But now I can, and that night is TONIGHT! And I hope for MANY MANY MANY more nights like these! Where I can go out, and eat a not so healthy food, and come back and get back on track!

And man, does it feel GOOOOOOD.

Next thing I'm working on are: Goals. Making clear goals for myself is what I need for motivation.
If you're lacking motivation, that really means you don't have anything you're STRIVING for! Go BEYOND aesthetics like "I wanna look good" but go more for the inner goals, "I want to be stronger, I want my mind to be stronger, I want to start being healthy now so in the future it won't be so hard..." Etc. Find your own goals and reasons to keep to this fit healthy lifestyle!

Or even do the OPPOSITE, think of what'll happen if you DON'T DO ANYTHING.
Like the quote I posted the other day on Instagram:

What'll happen if you DON'T change! Think of the negative views! "I have no control, I don't feel confident, I need to buy new clothes..." Etc etc.... Sad but sometimes the negative reasons push us to act as well!

And next thing I thought about were WORKOUTS. I have to remember to DO my workouts, lift heavy, train dirty, do cardio, and GET FIT! BUTTTT if I miss workouts, it's not the end of the world. A lifestyle journey should be enjoyable for life, not a chore! I'm not going to do things I absolutely despise! If I am just going to be doing things I hate, why would I even WANT to get up and do them? NO, my workouts will be fun, enjoyable, and make me HYPED to get to the gym!

WELLPPPPPP this blog post was kinda everywhere... sorry for my spasticness :P BUT overall I've learned to trust doctors :P, keep up with my medicine, I've gotten a new perspective on this healthy lifestyle, I've had a SUCCESSFUL day, and I'll have many more to come.

Peace out #fitfam <3 <3

Why I'm Not Competing...

That's right #fitfam

I've made the decision to not compete.....

If you didn't read about my concerns about competing, go HERE to read it.


So along with the many other reasons I had with competing, one of them was to get control of my binge eating problem.... I thought:

maybe if I could get through this prep, then I can get through anything! I can stop binging, stop eating past the point of full/uncomfortable, get control of my eating habits and get back to the healthy lifestyle I had in the beginning! 

But unfortunately it seems to have not really helped and actually has backfired... I find myself wanting to binge more than ever, and sometimes I'm not even able to control it and do end up binging..

I think I went into this competition too fast.

Lots of people PREPARE for competitions.
They've been with the healthy lifestyle for a while already, with their food and eating habits controlled, and at a good healthy lean weight, and they also prepare mentally for all of it, and I was not at any of these points.

When I decided to do this competition, I was at a point in my life that was still rocky, with my whole healthy lifestyle journey. I had been on and off the wagon, battling my binging problems, not completely in the right mindset about what I would be getting myself into. I just thought "Hey, this seems like a good thing that'll challenge me... push me past my limits" but I went in too far over my head.

I should have waited till I was already consistent and comfortable in the clean eating healthy journey, not gone in at a point where I was still dealing with those issues. I should have recovered completely from B.E.D before going into this journey, but it just triggered it all over again.

Like I said in my past post, the past few weeks have been rocky, I got back home with my family for break, and I just let loose. Today I talked with my sister about me contemplating doing this competition and brought up how I was scared about my binging coming back up, and she told me she noticed and also worried about that too, saying she saw some of my old ways emerging again, back when I binged a lot last year. She also said I am a LOT moodier/less happy than I used to be when I wasn't preparing for this competition... back when I was just doing a fit and happy lifestyle.

And I agree with her. 

I felt less happy, on edge all the time, not enjoying the lifestyle, the foods, anything. My grades were also dropping, I snapped at my roommates and my family, no good no good.

These past few days with just clean healthy eating have brought me back to really enjoy the lifestyle. I've missed it. Clean ol' fun eating foods! Healthy lifestyle eating. I don't feel as unfocused, tired, moody, I feel happier, more "Josie". And it's only been a few days!

So in all, that's basically why I'm not competing this summer.

Now I know I've probably let a lot of people down, my coach, my suit sponsor, and all of you ig-ers.

And trust me, I reallly really really wanted to compete.... but in all honesty, I KNOW post comp I would have gone crazy, if I didn't already go crazy before comp... I'd be binging hardcore nonstop and that would NOT be good.... So many horror stories from competitors who can NOT control their eating after comp because they've restricted so long.... and I would just... go insane.....

Please don't see this as me GIVING UP. I am not giving up, I am listening to my body, and not putting it through something I KNOW I'll regret down the road and that will become unhealthy for me....

I'm looking out for me, my health, my sanity right now.
Down the road I hope to get full control of my eating and lifestyle, and THEN, maybe some day in the future, next year, 2 years from now, 10 years from now, I'd love to compete. Just now isn't the right time. And I'm sorry for any of you I've disappointed... but I had to do this for me.

Thanks for understanding fit fam.

So for now I hope to just inspire you all as a regular college student, trying to live the healthy life, one clean eat and workout at a time.

Josie

Truth and #confessiontime...

Soooo now that I have different forms of social media, ill explain what I'll be using each for!

Blog: itsvmfitness.blogspot.com
I’ll be using my blog to update with longer posts and updates! More informational updates or fitness and health related things!


YouTube: YouTube.com/user/thevmfitness
I'll be using my YouTube for random vlogs about my bikini competition journey, and other things like q&a’s, workouts, reviews, cooking, etc!


Tumblr: vmfitness.tumblr.com
Ill use this tumblr to post everything I post on my INSTAGRAM (instagram.com/vmfitness) for those of you who donlt have Instagram! PLUS other daily things, more quotes, maybe random updates on foods I eat, workouts, etc! More of a daily blog than my blogspot blog!!


Twitter: twitter.com/vmfitness
This will be where all my random rantings and thoughts will be :P

Thanks for following my lifestyle journey fitfam! I love you ALL! <3

----------------------------------

If you follow me on my instagram, then you probably saw this post:

"Confession time: been pretty slacking this past week with foods and workouts... I've kinda lost my own motivation! Sorry to let you all down but I'm not always on point either! School was stressful with tests and reviews so I missed workouts (no excuse I know), this ebook is making me taste all these clean treats (still no excuse), and I've just been slackingggg. I've been giving myself excuses and reasons for slacking and thinking its ok.. Like "I have 14 more weeks left" or "eh it won't affect me thatttt much" etc etc. but in all honesty, I gotta take my own advice!! Stop getting in the habit of puttin things off, stop thinking that these little things WILL add up over time... A #randomthoughts of Josie this morning! I even thought of backing out of my bikini competition because of certain things (LENGTHY: but ill put the reasons why in a blog post this week!) however I'm still going to do it and go for it! Just needed to post this pic today, I CAN DO IT! YOU can do it!! You have to BELIEVE in your power to change and get motivated and go out there and kick some serious fat in the a$$! Even when you have days/weeks/times of low motivation, and slacking in the lifestyle, you have to pick yourself up, KNOW YOU CAN DO THIS, WANT to do it, and then simple, DO IT!  again, you don't fail until you completely give up. DONT DO IT. Also, the dessert volume of my ebook may have to be finished early.. There aren't as many recipes as I had hoped butttt if I keep making any more tasty desserts and eating them(been baking like 2-3 a day!) ill blow up like a whale! "

So yeah, basically the past week following my spring break [which ALSO was a bad week with workouts and eating] didn't go so well... that makes 2 weeks in a row of not doing so well... but you know what? IT'S OK! It already happened... it's in the past. Nothing I can do about it now! My excuses were weak too... just busy with school, and trying to get this ebook out to you all, made me bake a LOT, and therefor eat and taste a lot haha [guiltyyyy]. 

Time to MOVE ON. I'm holding tons of water weight and I do feel puffy! But nothing that getting back to routine can't fix right?! 

Oh yeah, I mentioned that I was thinking about backing out of my bikini competition journey... 

Ahhh sighhh I had soooo many reasons for doing this competition and prep, lots and lots of reasons, but the main one that I'll share with you here is because I really wanted to get control of my eating habits, aka 

BINGING.

I thought 

"Hey, if I can get through this prep and hard tough journey, then YEAH I can do anything! I can refuse junk food, stop at 1 cookie, not eat the whole box of [insert delicious naughty food of choice]"

Unfortunately though, it seems that this hasn't happened... I'm still struggling with binging... During spring break I found myself going back to old ways, eating everything I could get my hands on.. and now back at school, I'm still having hard times with control. So I thought,

"Is this comp really helping me achieve that goal I set for myself? Or is it just making me crave MORE because I'm restricting and is it completely making me do what I'm trying NOT to do?"

And while it is true, that it is NOT helping as of now.... I think I'm still going to go through with it... Ah I don't know... it's such a mental struggle... I honestly don't know what to do... That's right guys

I ADMIT I AM WEAK

I AM HUMAN

I am torn now.... 1 of any of these things could happen:

1. Continue this journey hoping that I can find this control that I crave and yearn for, hoping that I'll reach my goal...
2. Continue this journey and find myself binging again..
3. Decide not to compete and just enjoy the healthy lifestyle...

I'm also TERRIFIED of post competition, when it's all over and I get to eat normal healthy lifestyle again... so many horror stories of ladies just BINGING until they're swollen and gain back alll the lost weight again.... and I feel like that will most definitely happen to me...

I know so many of you support me on this ride to my first bikini competition, and I don't want to let any of YOU down.. but I do have to decide what's best for ME. Well it's all in the air right now.. not sure what I'll do.... Will be thinking it over the next few days/weeks etc....

But as of now, I AM STARTING FRESH. Back on the clean eating train after the past few weeks of slacking. I'm just going to continue healthy eating, working out, and see what I decide and where I'm at with the bikini competition journey...


To be continued....


Josie

Bounce Back from the Binge

Hey beautiful people! Sorry for my lack of updates! Been SUPER DUPER busy with school and comp prep and life in general! But I thought I'd update withhh another binge post.

Since my STOP THE BINGE post was so popular with you all, I decided to write this post on:

BOUNCING BACK FROM THE BINGE

Many of you have come to me either through e-mail or on instagram saying around the same thing:

Josie, I had a horrible binge, what do I do?

or

I had a horrible binge, and I can't seem to stop! I've done it ___ times this week! Help!

and so many other variations of the above.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE! 

Many of us have been through the same thing! I know that for me and others, it really WAS a binge eating disorder, but for some others it could just be a food control problem, which also needs to be fixed ASAP!

Here's what I USED TO DO after I had binged, that never EVER worked because they set me up for failure and just primed me to binge again, so DON'T DO THESE:

• Fasted the next day/ skipped meals to make up for all the food you had the day(s) prior
• Went VERY strict on clean eating
• Worked out for hours to combat the extra calories
• Felt Guilty & Beat myself up about it

And you know what happened after I did all that?

BINGED AGAIN.

Why? Because I was freaking restricting my body!

So, what CAN I do to set myself up for SUCCESS? And to NOT binge more in the future??

Here are a few things that I've found work in helping me stay in control after a binge:

• Go back to healthy clean eating the next day [no restrictions, no counting calories, just start the day new, fresh, and healthy!]
• Drink water like a fish! Water naturally purifies your body, so get all those toxins out!
• Drink some kombucha or probiotic drinks to reset your pH levels, or some dandelion tea to help out that liver of yours detox
• Exercise! But don't go CRAZY! Do some weights mixed with cardio to flush out the negatives and give yourself some happy endorphins! 
• DON'T RESTRICT - make healthier alternatives, find clean eating substitutions, don't cut out whole food groups
• MODERATION, NOT DEPRIVATION 
• CHANGE YOUR MINDSET

It's a LIFESTYLE change people! You think you can live your whole life without carbs or without fats or on low calories of around 600 a day? NO. Your body will end up KILLING itself, craving ALL this craziness that you've been depriving it of, your mind will go crazy and then you'll just KEEP REPEATING THE CYCLE OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

The main thing I learned was to NOT cut out foods completely. If you have a craving, try and resist. If you seriously can't, then have a taste! But DON'T have the whole box!

Don't say:

I CAN'T EAT THIS

because your mind will be like 

"OH SNAP, then maybe I should eat it all before I start over tomorrow!"

Instead, Say:

"I CAN have it, I just choose NOT to because it's not good for my body, it won't help me reach my goals, and I CHOOSE to not have it!"

BOOM.
Change your ways of thinking, and you can change a LOT of your actions!

BOUNCE BACK and STOP THE BINGE! 

I'll be filming a video soon for my YOUTUBE channel on more tips to Control Cravings/ Stop Binging/Mindless Snacking! So STAY TUNED!

STOP THE BINGE

HERE IT IS! The long awaited post dedicated to:

Stopping the Binge

The AMAZING Cassey Ho over at Blogilates.com had a post the other day on Binge Eating Disorder that I thought was just absolutely PERFECT. Check it out here. Seriously, it SPOKE to me! I had commented on one of her youtube videos our "goals" to achieve in 3 months! And I spoke out and said something along the lines of wanting to be able to control my eating habits and control my binges, because I seriously do think that I have, or was on the verge of developing a binge eating disorder.

Also, I found an AMAZING youtube video on this that has GREAT tips and information! Check that out here! This is seriously the greatest video that I've found on the subject, so PLEASE check it out!! It talks about WHY we binge, and how to STOP once and for all! I absolutely loved it. She really takes it from a psychological standpoint!

I admit it. Ever since my lifestyle change, I have had the horrible habit of binge eating.

What is binge eating? Is it the same as just overeating? No, it's not. Here's a great summary I found online:

Difference Between Overeating and Binging

Picture Thanksgiving Day as you gather with family around a feast. So many holiday treats tempt us to try one more thing until we feel so full we can't take another bite. Although this is not healthy, for most people it's just an occasion to overeat, and the following day a normal healthy eating routine is resumed.

People with a binge eating disorder lose control of their life to food. Instead of eating for life, their life centers on eating. The urge to eat becomes strong enough that it blocks rational thought. The best laid goals are disregarded, and the focus becomes food. Those suffering from a binge eating disorder gorge themselves on a regular basis, and this behavior leads to feelings of shame and embarrassment. As part of a cycle, they follow binging with renewed promises to change their ways. However, the compulsion to eat does not go away and their good intentions are not enough to help them overcome their eating disorder. To succeed in overcoming a binge eating disorder, good intentions must be backed up with a plan.

Binge eating has only recently become a recognized disorder. Binging includes eating when not really hungry and persisting to eat past the uncomfortable mark. Once the binge is over, the person often goes on a diet or tries to return to eating sensible meals. Unfortunately, restricting their eating can lead to more bingeing, perpetuating the cycle. If reading about this behavior makes you question whether or not you may suffer from a binge eating disorder, the following list will be of interest. Other behaviors that flag a binge eating disorder include:

• You continue to eat even if you are so full you're uncomfortable
• You eat more food when binging than you would at a regular meal
• You eat very fast when binging
• You struggle with feelings of out of control eating
• You diet often without losing weight
• You practice regular binging
• You regularly eat alone
• You hoard food and hide empty wrappers and containers
• You struggle with feelings of depression or anxiety over how much you've eaten

http://diet.lovetoknow.com/wiki/A_Written_Plan_to_Prevent_Binge_Eating

So when I say I experienced this, I really experienced this... not just overeating and loss of control which is sometimes normal, but I physically and mentally went through everything that was stated above. I hated it. Hated that food was having so much CONTROL over me and that I couldn't do anything to stop it! I felt so weak.

This would happen every cheat meal pretty much. I'd let loose that one day of the week, and then keep going. If we went to a buffet that day, I'd continue eating peanut butter Nature Valley bars into the night time or ezekiel with natural nut butters until I went to bed.

Then soon that one cheat "day" a week turned into 2, and from there I got very sloppy. It turned to little treats here and there, 3 cheat days a week, then a whole cheat WEEK. I did a cheat week hoping I could get it all out of my system, get the cravings gone and indulge in whatever I wanted, and then get REAL serious with my workouts and eating the next week. WRONG. 

After that, I was as unmotivated as ever. Constantly stillll wanting all that nasty food! Even though I saw the scale go up and my measurements grow due to fat gain most likely, I still wanted it! Even though I KNEW it was so bad for me! Cassey explained it so well when she described it as an "illness of the mind". And in the video, the lady perfectly explains how it IS ALL IN THE MIND. All in our brain! I love how she psychologically explained it!

So I reevaluated my life, my goals, my food, my health, all that jazz. I realized, which is why #operationsxy started, that I AM cheating myself of my dream, of my goals and desires. 

I'm taking steps backwards instead of steps forward. I'm sabotaging my own goals! 

I explain all this regreat and guilt I felt about my slipups here & here (I've had a few slipups...) . 

I made a new goal, a new promise to myself, to be HAPPIER, to LOVE my body, to work hard enough to get what I want, because I DESERVE it. 

I deserve to be happy, I'm capable of being happy and I'm capable of getting the body and health and willpower that I want. I saw a great quote the other day,

"The food you've craved for an hour, or the body you've craved for a lifetime? Your choice".

This was such a strong message to me, because it's true! Sure, eat that brownie that tastes like heaven for maybe 5 minutes, but then your risking making your journey to fitness and steps to that goal body a lot longer than it needs to be!

Here are great tips to Battle the Binge:

These are a few things that I've gotten from research or personal experience:

Keep it interesting in the kitchen.

Don't have dull boring and bland food. OF COURSE you'll want those tasty goodies! Look up fun new recipes online! Add seasonings and spice galore! Add veggies like sweet onions and jalapeno's and squash to give different tastes! Now I'm trying to keep it different everyday so my taste buds don't get bored! And if you look online, almost every UNHEALTHY dish has a CLEAN and HEALTHY remake recipe!! 

Now, being on #operationsxy, I found that for me personally, having something different to eat every day makes me a lot less likely to crave other foods. Keeping it interesting in the kitchen makes me enjoy my food more! So now I don't food prep whole meals, maybe just proteins to pack for lunch like chicken or steak, and then I make the sides fun and delicious! I found that the same meals day after day, week after week, had my tastebuds so BORED that I was looking for all these other sinful and guilty deliciously bad things! BUT NO MORE! Keeping it different in the kitchen has most DEFINITELY helped me with my cravings! 

Keep a food & fitness diary/journal.

If you haven't seen my post on this, check it out here. This has helped me a lot because it keeps me accountable for everything I'm eating! That's why I've been doing my daily updates during #operationsxy so YOU ALL can help keep me accountable! This way you can track every single one of your eats, your workouts, your feelings, and a few weeks or months from now, you can go back and read them and see what you ate that made you feel a certain way, or what you ate that made you gain, or what made you lose. I've been doing this and my past journals have helped me tremendously in figuring out the types of foods I used to eat back when I wasn't craving! They DO help! And usually, since it's your diary for your own eyes, you usually don't lie to yourself! Be honest in your entries! 

Set short term and long term goals.

For example, some short term goals could be: Stick to one pb sandwich. Eat one cup of cottage cheese at night.

By writing them down, you visualize it and it's mentally in your mind, making you more likely to stick to it.

Also, think of the long term goals: bangin' body by New Years, lose 1 pound by my birthday, etc. Having these long term goals in mind will make you think twice about overindulging because you know it'll just make it that much harder to get to your goal.

Think about the calories.

Now I usually don't count calories anymore, because I hate anything having control over me mentally and physically, such as food, or numbers on the scale, or the amount of calories I eat. Now I'm just aiming to eat enough of the healthy things! BUT it does help to stop a binge by thinking about the calories in it. Think about that cheesecake from the Cheesecake factory, some up to 900 calories! And then think of how much work you're going to have to put in at the gym to burn it all off.

I know for me, on a GOOD night (So I've eaten way over this...), I would have maybe 6 slices of ezekiel with natural peanut butter! Each tablespoon of peanut butter is around 95-100 calories! And each ezekiel slice is 80 calories! So: 6(80) + 6(95) = 1050 calories!!! If I had thought of that as almost 1/3 of a pound (a pound is approximately 3500 calories) or that I had to workout for 2 intense hours to get rid of that, I probably wouldn't have binged!

Know the difference between hungry and bored.

Don't mindlessly eat. 

Give yourself 30 minutes, and most likely the craving will be gone!! Cravings don't usually last too long, so try and wait it out! If you ARE hungry, grab fruit or veggies instead! Fill up on some fiber or low calorie foods so that you get full so you're not tempted with other foods! Things rich in fiber give you that fullness feeling!! Or go do something else! Get your mind off food! Find a fun hobby of yours or:

Get active. 

I learned from Cassey's post that apparently exercise is a natural appetite suppressant! Good to know! Get out there and do SOMETHING. When in doubt, WORK OUT! Or go for a nice walk outside with fresh air, walk your dog, hang with friends and family outdoors, anything! Just get MOVING.

Why do you binge?? Trigger situations and De-Stress.

This is from the video I posted above! Try to find out WHY you are binging! What are you getting from binging? Identify WHY and once you're honest with yourself about what's making you binge, try to correct it and resolve the matter.

KNOW WHAT SITUATIONS make you binge! This could be stress, it could be a certain type of food, this could be certain people you hang out with, a certain emotion, ANYTHING. Know when you'll most likely crack, so that next time if you see a similar situation arising, remove yourself from it! Get away! So that you WON'T be tempted into it!

Recognize your trigger foods and get rid of them.

What foods do you crave most, and when you eat one, you can't stop? For me this was cottage cheese, bread, and nut butters. SO, if you saw from the pic on #operationsxy Day 1, I threw them out! Get rid of temptations. It makes it so much easier to say no! I threw away my nutbutters, rice cakes, and promised to buy no more cottage cheese. Now I WILL introduce these back into my life once I have more control, but for now it's just easier to say no when there is NO temptation!

Food is FUEL. 

This is also a tip I got from Cassey's blog. Basically, don't view food as a reward or cheat or treat. Just see it as something that is going into your body that will FUEL your body! Do you want good clean foods to give you natural energy, or bad foods that will make you groggy and not operate to your full potential? Food is what gives us energy! And we should see it as something fun and exciting, different ways to put together healthy things to give us bounds of clean and natural energy! 

Lifestyle 

We have to remember, this is a LIFESTYLE change. No diets, no fads. If you limit yourself and make your mind believe you're on a "diet" then of COURSE you'll binge! And when you finally get to that cheat, you're going to say, "Oh it's the last time I'll get to eat this, so might as well eat EVERYTHING". FALSE. 

In a lifestyle you can have what you want! But in MODERATION. This is the part I need to work on most for myself! Because I know if I just realize, that junk will still be there! Then I won't have to binge in order to "Get it all in" to satisfy my "last cheat" before my "diet" starts up again! 

NO.

This is a lifestyle. Fill it with creative, tasty foods, have your healthy treats! If you do have a treat, Don't overdo it, KNOW that you can have it again. Don't view it as: "I'll never have it again, so I'm going to eat as much of it as I can now, EAT EAT EAT!" 

If you deprive yourself too much, you're basically setting yourself up for a major binge when you do get to eat what you've been depriving yourself of!

Motivation

WHY do you want to change? 

List the POSITIVES: what would be the great things that you can attain from being healthier and NOT binging? 

Looking better, fitting that old New Year's dress, climbing that 4th flight of stairs without huffing and puffing, no osteoporosis, no heart conditions, healthier life, healthier family, stronger body and toned muscles, etc.

Now think of the NEGATIVES if you do NOT reach your goals! 

Such as weight gain, feeling low in energy, feeling guilty and failing, diabetes, heart disease, ETC.

By associating POSITIVES with good behavior and Painful negative feelings and experiences with negative behavior of binging, this will create NEW pathways in our minds, according to the FigureandBikini video! And by creating these new connections, we're forming better habits!!! The habit of eating HEALTHY, and destroying the habit of binging.

REPLACE the behavior

Another great tip from the video!

Associate binging with all the bad outcomes that you made from above's tip ^ ^! 

If you associate these horrible outcomes, and consistently THINK about it, your brain will soon associate binging with these painful outcomes. It's all about consistency. If you keep thinking about these negative consequences, your mind will adapt to them and be like, HEY! There's so much PAIN associated with this habit of binging, WHY DO I WANT TO KEEP DOING IT?!

Anyone ever take a psychology class and learn about Operant Conditioning and Negative Reinforcement? WHOA - school actually HELPS?!?!?! Crazy I KNOW!!!!

Don't just try and QUIT binging with no action to back it up, or else it won't happen! 

You have to REPLACE that behavior with a POSITIVE one! And be CONSISTENT in it.

Once a trigger situation or emotion comes up that may lead to binging, have a list of new positive behaviors to do instead to replace the old behavior, creating new pathways in the brain! 

Some examples:

dance like crazy, 

sing, 

yoga or meditate, 

go for a walk, 

get active, 

do a fun hobby, 

listen to music, 

go bowling,

decorate that Christmas tree, 

hang with friends and have a fun paint splatter party, 

play with pets, etc!!

REINFORCE

So now that you've recognized your triggers, and instead of binging, replaced it with a POSITIVE behavior, you HAVE TO HAVE TO HAVE TO reinforce it IMMEDIATELY.

Say to yourself "GREAT JOB, I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!" or write down a super nice letter to yourself! - reward yourself, like a coach would! You need to IMMEDIATELY reinforce a wanted positive behavior with a positive reward, just like you need to reinforce in a NEGATIVE way the negative behaviors. Psychologists say that immediate reinforcement is better to make new habits than delayed reinforcement, so think of ways you can immediately reward yourself! Congratulate yourself, or go shopping, or whatever else makes you happy, in a POSITIVE way that won't hinder you from your goals!

Talk it out

This is a REALLLYYYY important part of getting over ANY tough situation. 

For the longest time I never found anyone I was comfortable enough with to tell them everything going on in my life. Ha, almost no one in my personal life even knows I have this blog or instagram account! Because I felt like there was no one to relate to! 

But it's BAD to keep it all bottled inside, keeping it all in, which could lead you to BURSTING OUT through eating those foods.

You have to be able to TALK IT OUT! Find someone that you can speak your mind to, let them know how you're feeling, your hardships, etc. This could be your family, closest friends, a therapist, anyone! I'm so thankful that I found such great support through IG! I know I constantly use the help of my Instagram friends! So find that someone you can lean on! 

Now... to Cheat or Not To Cheat?

The video diddd make a good point about cheat meals... She said basically that: CHEAT MEALS lead to disaster. 

Apparently, we're basically "rewarding" a healthy lifestyle with binging... which is a positive reinforcement, which is what we DON'T want. It does make sense doesn't it? This is just mixing messages in our brain! 

If you followed me for a while, you know in the past I have advocated cheat meals and that it's good to have them to boost your metabolism, keep you sane, etc. But now after watching this video and understanding it more from a psychological standpoint, it really does make sense. 

Why would I reward my week or 2 weeks of clean eating with a cheat and naughty foods? That's basically associating naughty foods as a POSITIVE reward for going through a "tough" week of clean eating! When really, it should be the other way around! 

Clean eating and being healthy should be the reward!! So remember to make those associations! 

What could happen if I eat healthy? YAY! 

What will happen if I eat bad? Nayyyyy.

So I actually think now, I'm not going to set that once/week cheat! I'm just going to ENJOY all my foods! Not deprive myself, not limit myself, but not "look forward" to that naughty treat! I can still make my healthy baked goods, and add some dark chocolate here and there, but I'm not going to view cheat meals as "Rewards" from now on! And from seeing what I've written in the past and evaluating my past cheats [This is why it's important to keep a fitness and food diary people! To know what you did WRONG or RIGHT and learn from them!] that actually having that "cheat meal" set me off to having a "cheat day" therefor binging. 

So basically, whenever I let myself cheat, that would lead to a binge! Basically, my cheat meals that were supposed to aid my journey were my triggers to binging! SO I'm taking them out to see how it works out for me!

NOW I KNOW SOME OF YOU NEEEEEED THAT CHEAT MEAL! And if you do, fine!!! I just know for ME personally, that these cheats set off my binges, that's why I'm taking them out! If you have to have them, then go ahead! But remember, just a MEAL. Not a day! 

I know some people that have that balance and CAN do that one cheat a week and keep everything else clean! 

For me right now though, I can't :[ I'm hoping this change in my mindset does help though, and maybe in the future once I have control over myself, I will be able to incorporate that "Treat" and NOT view it as a reward!

-----------------------------------------

Man, I feel like I've learned SOOOOOOOO much about binge eating! 

I'm so motivated to try and TRAIN MY MIND and my BRAIN and see if it actually works! Hahah the thought is actually making me pretty giddy and hyper right now, if you can't already tell :P

I really hope you all like this post, and I do hope that you found it helpful in some way. I know doing the research to write this up for you all DEFINITELY helped ME out and I'm more excited than ever to give this a go. It's such a simple concept, retraining the mind, but it will take a lot of dedication, hard work, and consistency!

But you know what??

I think I can do it.

No.

I KNOW I can do it.

Ahhh *sigh*, I can't wait to be able to have control over my cravings, my mind, my body, and my life.

If I can do this, YOU can do this. I BELIEVE IN YOU!

Remember, if you ever need anyone to talk to about ANYTHING at all, if you haven't found that one person in your life you can talk to about this, or questions to ask, feel free to e-mail me! It can be found in my about me section :] 

I know it was tough in the beginning for myself because I had everything bottled in, never let anything out, and it broke me!

And  I know sometimes it's not the most comfortable conversation to have with people you actually know about any possible eating disorders you may have.

And sometimes you may just have questions regarding fitness & health but there's no one around you that is truly dedicated to it like you!

So truly though, #fitfriends and #fitfam, if you need to reach out, don't hesitate to e-mail!!!!

Love you ALL

Stay fit, stay healthy, stay sexy!

#operationSXY

-- <3 VMFITNESS -- 

Some other web sources:

http://www.shape.com/weight-loss/weight-maintenance/secrets-stop-binge-eating

http://undressedskeleton.tumblr.com/battlingbinge

http://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-and-nutrition/why-you-binge-and-how-to-stop.aspx

http://diet.lovetoknow.com/wiki/A_Written_Plan_to_Prevent_Binge_Eating