Binge eating and re-starting Whole30

[Guest]

@hmg1993 sounds like you are in a good place mentally! Stress can be so overwhelming and I think for all of us it’s a huge reason we need to all find new ways of coping with it so it doesn’t affect our progress and we learn to not turn to food to deal with it. I know that’s probably one of my biggest things lm learning I need to work on. That and same with the anxiety for me. But it’s just one step at a time, one day at a time. Trying new strategies, staying focused on the goal, and continueing to work to develop new habits. And the fact that the binges are less extreme AND you still aren’t counting is a HUGE step in the right direction, so don’t sell yourself short. You are doing awesome! Just get back on track today and stay positive! You got this! 

I am finally out of my funk. Got some good sleep, feel refreshed, and am in a new place mentally that I hope takes me to new places. Starting work full time this weekend which I think will be really good. The change of routine always helps me and I will start the season off developing a good eating pattern at work, and practicing meditation and breathing each morning before I leave. I’ve also never really been religious, but I am trying the whole praying thing now because I think it will help me get through this time with my mom. 

On the agenda today: workout, grocery shopping, meal prepping, organizing ski stuff for work, reading/journaling. 

Will be making an egg casserole with sausage, spinach, artichokes, and mushrooms, Roasted veggies for lunches, baked spaghetti squash for today, and some kind of crockpot meal With whatever is on sale at the store when I go. 

Have a great day everyone. We have all had some bumps in the road this week, but we are all strong and just need to get right back to that good streak again. 

Inspirational quote of the day:

”Everytime you eat, you are either feeding disease or fighting it.” 

 

[Pandora]

Hello guys, just found this thread yesterday and couldn’t stop reading all your messages and your amazing support to each other. I’m doing the W30 for the first time ( actually this is the first time that I’m going to finish it, well I really hope so) the others two times I didn’t pass day 15, today is my day 19 and I really think I can do it, the problem is that I’m already starting to freaking out what to do after the 30 days, all I can think about is going to the supermarket and buying all the junk that I miss (mostly chocolate) then sitting in the car, at the parking lot and have it all, as I was used to, also already have plans for Christmas food =(

I have had eating disorders for a long time, since I can remember, and my relationship with food is basically love/hate. This year the things got super complicated to me, since I just moved back home (I was living in US during the past two years), my boyfriend still living there and long distance relationship is soooo complicated (I hate it so much) to complete I don’t have a job yet. So all I’ve been doing is stay home with my two dogs, and two weeks ago we discover that the old one, 11 yo has a heart disease, she’s not doing well, doesn’t eat nothing, nothing at all even meat she refuses to have, this is stressing me out even more.

I read some of the tips and encouragements and hope I can use then from now on. 

Dragonslayer I’m sorry about your mom, hope she goes well with the treatment and gets better soon. It’s super important to her to eat a balanced diet and the right foods so I think you can engage with her and come up with a plan for you two. But you live far away so not sure if it would work. 

One thing that helps me to not eat all that is in front of me is to fast, I know you are supposed to do 3 meals but for me doesn’t work, if I have breakfast it’s gonna be a bad day of overeating, sometimes binging in compilant foods, so I usually do a 16 hours fast, between 8 pm - 12 pm, has anyone tried fasting? What you guys think about it? Also about the sugary fruits I don’t feel that they’re all enemies, I mean, I’ve been having microwaved bananas with cinnamon almost every day, sometimes more than once and more than one at a time and I feel that maybe if I get addictive to them when I finish the W30 I will be able to chose them over chocolate, what are your thoughts about this theory? Also I just have them after lunch so I’m already full and once I’m finished with my one or two bananas I’m so stuffed that I don’t wanna more, but sometimes I let it be my dinner what I don’t think it’s good. 

Todays lunch was broccoli rice, broccoli burger, sauté mushrooms with onions, grape tomatoes and green grapes after.

[Guest]

Hi @Pandora! Thanks for joining! Congratulations on making it so far!! You are almost there... DONT STOP NOW! As for the reintroduction after 30 days, maybe if you are still worried you will have those behaviors, you might want to consider doing the whole30 eating for a little longer. Maybe 40 days? I think the intention of the program is to feel like you have made your mind shift to a different way of looking at and feeling around food. It may seem hard, but I have a feeling that most of us with eating disorders definitely need to go longer than 30 days. We have years of habits, thoughts, and behaviors that need to be worked on, and they cant be "quick fixed" in such a short time (in my opinion). I like to think about it more like after this first 30 days, I will evaluate how I feel, look at what habits I have gotten rid of and can continue to strengthen, and then look at which habits are still around that I need to work on. Then the next 30 days I will focus on that stuff. As for the foods, you shouldnt be scared of them. Melissa says in the book "food is not good or evil. it just makes you feel good or makes you feel bad." We all need to work on getting to the point where we truly understand and believe this concept. Until I get there, I don't want to reintroduce the foods I tend to binge on. It takes dedication, time, and hard work. and sometimes it feels impossible, and other times you see the progress and get that boost to keep going. But the key is to not give up, stay positive, focus on the things you are improving, and really be honest with yourself about whether or not you think you are ready to start eating non whole30 foods yet. Might sound like too much "tough love", but totally just my opinion. Sounds like you are on a great path to success right now, so just stay strong and keep coming here for support if you need!

[hmg1993]

Happy weekend everyone.  Hope you're doing well.  Today I am picking myself up, taking some of my own advice, and focusing on the future.  30 days of clean eating and then we will see.  The back and forth is tiring me out and I know one thing for sure which is that stuffing food in my face does not make me feel any better.  So, here i go (again).  @Dragonslayer  I love your quote about food.  It's so right in terms managing our health and our stress. I choose today to feed my health.

[Guest]

@hmg1993 Love it! Today is a new day and a new start. Be proud of your dedication and rock it today! but I would say one thing, don’t focus too much on the future. Just focus on the present and day to day. I read another good quote last night... 

“if you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present.” 

I was supposed to be working this weekend but we got delayed due to lack of snow. Sad, but I finally got a day off with my man today so it’s nice. Hopefully starting early this week! I need to start working or I️m gonna start getting cabin fever! Feeling good. Trying to just stay positive, take all this day by day, and remember why doing this is so important in my life as well as my family. 

Made a great casserole last night. Used PaleoRunningMomma recipe for spinach artichoke dip and added some mushrooms and ground chicken and baked for 45 min at 400. So so good. It’s better than the cheesy versions of spin dip I swear! Ate it for breakfast with some fried eggs. Hit the spot. 

[Guest]

I'll post the recipe below. You gotta try it! I'm gonna make it for Thanksgiving as a side I think. 

Paleo/Whole30 Spinach Artichoke Dip:

1 tbsp ghee or oil of choice

1 bag frozen spinach

1 can artichokes (or hearts), chopped

1/2 a large yellow onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, diced or minced

1/2 cup any whole30 Mayo

1 can coconut milk (but drain 3/4 of the water and just use the thick cream) OR 3/4 can coconut cream

1/4 cup Nutritional Yeast

3/4 teaspoon salt 

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder (optional, I added because I LOVE garlic)

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tbsp lemon juice

3 strips whole30 compliant bacon

** Any optional add-ins of your choice. I've tried meat, eggs, other veggies, turned it into pizza topping, every way its delicious.

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

2. Sautee onions and garlic in ghee/oil. Add in frozen spinach and cook until thawed and water is mostly evaporated. Add artichokes. Cook for approximately 5 minutes. 

3. Remove from meat. Add in all other ingredients/spices. Mix well. Pour into baking dish.

4. Cook for 30-35 minutes, or until edges are just beginning to brown. While dip is cooking, fry bacon and then chop into small pieces.

5. Sprinkle bacon on top of cooked dip and let cool.

 

[5280sarah]

Hi ladies, now it's my turn to fall off the wagon. I feel like the perfect storm has caused me to binge and I'm trying to give myself and break but obviously I still feel terrible. @Dragonslayer my week hasn't been bad like yours has been but just small scale stressful. My husband is out of town for two weeks so I am solo parenting. At the start of the week I wasn't feeling good and had low level fever, sore throat etc and had no appetite. Finally thursday I felt better and went out with a group of friends and drank two glasses of wine which is a lot for me. Friday I felt pretty terrible from drinking wine and had the associated anxiety that I get from drinking wine. I was doing a good job taking care of myself until the end of the day when I picked up my kids from school. I had to take care of my friends kids too for the night (which I find stressful). I started to eat candy and cookies I think because I was legitimately hungry as I hadn't eaten a lot all week. It continued through the night and I had a pretty dreadful time getting one of my friends kids to get to sleep. He basically refused and was being really badly behaved while all the other kids were sleeping, so much so that I had to call my friend to pick him up at around 10 as the kids would not sleep. I finally got to bed feeling super stressed out because I'd had no evening AND had binged and then proceeded to be woken up by one of my own kids several times during the night. I woke up in the worst mood and feeling terrible and still had my friends older kid at my house. She came over to get the older one and brought the younger child back to my house where they all continued to make a mess. Finally they left and I feel like I've been chewed up and spat out. I had no appetite all day and ate a couple of things just to try to get back to normal. Fast forward to this evening when I had to go to a kids bday party. I drank a glass of wine as I was honestly just so relieved to be with other adults. Then when I was offered cake I had a slice of cake and then took another slice home which I have now eaten. I can objectively look back on all of this and say that it was stressful. I'm so tired, I still don't feel great in myself and I'm stressed out from looking after my own kids and my friends kids. I also underate at the start of the week as I didn't feel good. Even though I can see all of those things and see the reasons why I am still furious with myself as I hadn't binge eaten OR felt like it for 4 weeks straight which really was a record for me after several months of bingeing regularly. Anyway, I don't really know why I'm writing all of this but I just wanted to reach out. Sorry for the essay! 

[Guest]

@5280sarah Sounds like this is all completely stress related and I️ would give yourself a major break here. The kid situation sounds awful, makes me wonder if I️ still want them haha! And if you were having a less stressful few weeks prior and then all the sudden had a big change, your body is going to automatically try and solve it with the most easy and comfortable way it knows how (which for most of us would be bingeing). It’s familiar and doesn’t require your mind to do extra work. So I️m sure it was just the stress response, and now you can just learn from it and know that next time you are in a stressful situation, you may get the same triggers and hopefully can have some alternative options to try. I️ keep a list of them in my phone to go to when needed, I️ don’t always use them but it’s nice to have in case you forget strategies you can use. Just give yourself some grace and Love today. Get back on track and I️ bet you will fall right back into a good streak again. Sounds like you are in a great place lately. 1 slip up doesn’t mean that’s over. 

[hmg1993]

@5280sarah  I completely agree with @Dragonslayer  It's when we let one or two slips ups ruin everything that things get bad.  You have been under a lot of stress.  Do something nice for yourself today and tell yourself how strong you are.  I am working on finding non food ways to respond to stress because the reality is there will always be something.  @Dragonslayer  Your recipe sounds amazing!!  Yum.  Will definitely give it a try.  I am about to embark on a monster food prep session that will hopefully propel me from today's Day 2 all the way through Day 7.  Here's hoping!!

[5280sarah]

Thanks so much ladies. I am sure that you are right. It's annoying that I turn to something that's so disruptive to my body. I might try the spinach dip recipe you posted @Dragonslayer it looks amazing although right now i am out of eggs - this hasn't happened in over a year so i really must be out of my mind! My husband normally makes fun of me as we have so many cartons of eggs in our fridge. I don't find that my kids push me over the edge that often but other peoples kids do for me. I find it really hard work to take care of others kids but at the same time I want to be a good friend and help people out. Also because my husband travels a lot I always have this feeling that I may need a favor of another friend so always want to help in case I need to call on someone else at the last minute for something. I think I just need to be more mindful of my energy when I agree to things like that and in hindsight I wasn't in the best place to have 2 kids stay over when I was exhausted and recovering from being sick and at the end of the week going into the weekend. Good luck with your food prep @hmg1993!

 

[Guest]

Just checking in. I've had an uneventful day full of laundry, cooking, a short workout, and many hours of wedding planning... although I'm pretty sure I have made no progress haha. I've also been eating ALL DAY. I'm so bad about this when I'm just sitting alone all day at home. I just eat out of boredom and keep questioning my hunger. I know I am not hungry but I still don't have a very good feel for my hunger cues vs my cravings. I feel like I am always hungry when I'm not bingeing because my stomach expands so much on the binge days that I just never get full on the days after! anyone else have this feeling sometimes? Anyways, I am definitely feeling overly full now finally, and I am sure I ate way too much today. I need to start focusing on only having my 3-4 meals without snacking to avoid this issue. At least I am learning though and am aware of the issue I guess. Tomorrow I will be more strict about my meal times. The other bonus is that I am not wanting or craving any non whole30 foods, just healthy stuff, so that is good.

@hmg1993 I hope your meal prep mayhem is going well! I started, and then ate everything I baked so I stopped cooking haha.

@littleg Haven't heard from you in a few days. All good? 

My food today thus far (and probably done for the day based on my fullness right now)...

Breakfast- chicken spinach artichoke casserole with some leftover baked broccolini and a fried egg. 

Lunch- Leftover sweet potato/cauliflower mash, italian sausage, and veggie mixture with homemade pesto

All through the afternoon- the rest of the mash, more chicken casserole on top of a white sweet potato, some baked cabbage, brussels, and a large parsnip (made into fries with tumeric- so good!), even more casserole (gah!), and some green tea. 

[hmg1993]

@Dragonslayer  Your food sounds so good and so healthy so I wouldn't worry about it for a moment.  And, it doesn't sound like you ate too much.  Yes, I have just finished marathon prep and now need to lie in a darkened room.  I made

Braised chicken breast with peppers, artichoke hearts, olives and lemon.  I will serve it with some mashed butternut squash

A large frittata with a base of grated sweet potatoes with sausage, spinach, mushrooms and onions.  This will be for lunches this week served with roasted parsnip, carrots, fennel and squash

I also prepped another meal for pork tenderloin with roasted squash and red onion with a mustard glaze

Plus hard boiled eggs and mayo.

And yes, I bought way too much butternut squash at the farmers market this week!!  But it is in season.

Tonight I will make a nicoise salad with tuna.  Not very hungry though as snacked a little too much on pecans earlier.  I bought them for a thanksgiving recipe but then couldn't resist.  But seems like I will make it through Day 2, so that's a win.

 

 

[5280sarah]

@hmg1993 Your food always sounds so good. I might be picking your brains for some REALLY good recipes. I like the stuff that I cook but I'm about to have my mother in law to stay and she's a really good cook and she does not buy into my Whole30 way out eating. She's fine if I just cook her Whole30 type food but it has to be really amazing whereas I'm fine eating quite boring food on repeat! I'll need to up my cooking game while she is here. I made a list of my top 10 recipes tonight as that's all I need as we'll be going out for dinner and will have Thanksgiving too. I have 10 decent recipes that I can cook pretty easily and my kids will eat with a little adaptation. @Dragonslayer I find Sunday a tough day for grazing on food all day for some reason. I think your food choices sound good but I get that you want to have the feeling of hunger and eating distinct meals - I want that too. I had a better day. I was pretty down on myself this morning but tried to get my house tidied up and food prepped. Me and the kids hung out in the house this morning and then I took them out for ice cream and then went to see a friend in the afternoon which was nice. It felt good to get out. I made an early dinner and then put the kids to bed early as they are tired. I'm a little worried as I have a lot to do this week as my kids are out of school all next week and my mother in law is coming into town Saturday for 12 days so I need to get my house in order (literally and figuratively). I didn't have a massive appetite today but had:

2 sausage patties, fingerling potatoes, asparagus with tessemae's ranch

RX bar

Leftover spaghetti sauce with ground beef (using whole30 compliant recipe), half an avocado, fingerling potatoes, roasted cauliflower, asparagus

As you can see I REALLY need to go to the store and will tackle that one tomorrow. I usually eat more than this but after two days of poor food choices I am still not feeling 100%. Eggs normally feature prominently in my diet but I am all out right now. 

[Pandora]

Thanks Dragonsleyer for your words, it does make sense. I read about the W100 at the beginning of the thread and give some thoughts on that but I don’t feel like doing it right now, not with the holidays coming, even though here I don’t have the thanksgiving to worry about. But I might be doing W30 and after that switching to the W30 for vegetarians, I’ve allowed myself to have some fish and seafood during this W30 because it’s really hard just with eggs as protein, but even I really like seafood I don’t feel good (not in my head, but my body) eating that on my regular basis although I love them when I’m on vacation. So if I can have some beans it will make me go some days further I guess. Your recipe sounds amazing, I’m so frustrated that I don’t have some ingredients here to make it, since I began the W30 I’ve been trying to find nutritional yeast and coconut milk/cream that is compliant but I didn’t  =(  I make the coconut milk myself, just made yesterday to have some shrimp with it but the homemade one it’s too sweet and everything gets coconutie. 

5280sarah sorry to hear about your bad days, stress can do terrible things to us. Hope you are doing better now and maybe having some strategies to help with that as dragonslayer suggested may help. I used to work with kids so I really know what other people’s kids can do to us even though I don’t have any on my own.

Sundays are hard to not overeat, every body is home and my mom cooks so well, even the W30 recipes, but Saturday I barely ate since was a full day with a lot going on.

Hope everyone have a good week!

[littleg]

@Dragonslayer Thanks for checking on me.  We closed on our new house last week and now little man is pretty sick so not much time for reading threads as carefully as I'd like.  But I'm ok and will be back!

[Guest]

@littleg congrats on your house! That’s so exciting! But sorry about “tiny g” , hope he gets better soon! And hopefully you are getting some sleep and down time soon. 

@5280sarah don’t stress about the MIL. It’s your choices and your health, so don’t let her pressure you into eating anything you don’t want to. And I️m sure your cooking is delicious!

I️ had the munchies all night last night. I️ was not hungry and stayed semi mindful, but kept snacking. My fiancé wanted gluten free pizza so we went out to a restaurant and thankfully there was literally nothing there I️ could have which was good because I️ would have over done it. I️ came home, had a few more snacks, and then went to bed very full but very happy I️ didn’t binge. Small victories right?! Don’t feel stellar this morning but not too horrible either. I’ve got a tough ski conditioning workout that should make me feel better this morning and then it’s more wedding planning, errands, cleaning, Finishing re-reading FFF, and practicing more meditation. (The breathing is really helpful and I️m trying to learn to use it each day so it becomes a habit.) 

[littleg]

https://www.marksdailyapple.com/paleo-apps/   The Apnea app made me think of all the breathing talk in this thread.  I may check it out!  Sorry that I can't write back to people individually... keep plugging along everyone

[hmg1993]

Happy Monday. Here’s a MIL pleasing recipe or two ...

Turn oven to 350. Pan sear up to four chicken breasts in olive oil. When you turn over, add two sliced peppers - red and yellow. Cook for 3 mins and then add in juice of one lemon, handful of pitted olives, can of artichoke hearts and whatever herbs you like. Oregano, basil and garlic are good. Pop in oven for 30 mins.

 

Mix together a tablespoon each of chili powder, smoked paprika and cumin. Plus a teaspoon of oregano. Take two 1-1.5 lb tenderloins and roll in spice mixture. Pan sear on all sides and then  put on large baking sheet lined with foil. Add fingerling potatoes cut in half that you’ve tossed in whatever oil you like and carrots cut into matchsticks with some fennel seed. Roast at 400 for 30 mins and then let rest for about 4

[5280sarah]

@hmg1993 Those recipes sound amazing and if I can rustle up a pepper then I might even be able to do the chicken breast recipe tonight.  I added your chicken and fennel recipe to my list of 'amazing tasting recipes' as that one was really good too! I can't wait to try the pork loin too. Thank you, thank you!

@Pandora are you in the UK? I am from there originally and when I was there a few weeks ago I noticed how hard it is to find a lot of ingredients that are really common in the US. Like nutritional yeast, almond meal and all that stuff. You literally have to go to the most specialist health store to get that stuff whereas in the US you can just find it in the health food aisle. 

@littleg Good luck with the move and hope the little one feels better soon. I have a sick kiddo at home today too but she is 6 so much easier to deal with than a sick baby. 

@Dragonslayer yay for small victories! I'm so happy for you! Good luck with wedding planning and other admin today. 

[hmg1993]

@5280sarah funny coincidence! I’m from UK too! Although I’m now ensconced in the frozen north! Glad you enjoyed the fennel recipe. And you can use any veggies with the chicken recipe.

 

@Dragonslayer and @littleg hope you have a good day!

[Guest]

GRR... another day of constant munching. I️ honestly didn’t even try hard to stick to the 3 meals. But once again, no desire at all to eat anything but Whole30 foods, although I️ definitely was trying to satisfy my sweet craving with sweet potatoes with butter and cinnamon, apples, frozen berries, and fried plantains. Not good behavior, but honestly I️m trying to be realistic with myself right now and just focus on getting through the first 2 weeks without breaking the plan. Once I️ get to a more comfortable place (which is usually around day 15), I’ll start focusing on the other stuff. Right now is just more “survival mode” haha. I️ know that’s extreme but it’s really kinda true for me for the next few days. I️m almost at a week which is when I️ always cave, so I️m just gonna focus on doing everything possible to just eat my plan foods and that’s all I️m going to expect of myself for the short term. 

[hmg1993]

@Dragonslayer  Your survival mode looks excellent.  I think it's natural to be hungry and particularly given the exercise you're doing. I don't think you need any GRR.  Way to go too on reaching a week.  You totally have this!  I am on day 3 after too many ups and downs.  Made it through the day though and went to exercise class as well.  Exhausted but focused. 

[littleg]

@Dragonslayer You got this!  You've got your breathing, your healthy foods.  And if you are exercising a ton eat more!  I think your safe foods is a great idea and probably necessary from the physical demands of your job.  You probably should be eating all those foods   

 

@hmg1993 Did you have a cooking background or is all this deliciousness the result of getting rid of processed foods?  You should start a meal planning service!  I'd be a guinea pig for you  

@5280sarah Baby turned the corner last night.  Thank goodness.  When he woke to breastfeed at 4 AM I literally had to practically chisel the dried snot off of his nostrils.  It is a good thing he is old enough to mouth breath now!  When is hubs home?  Have things settled down a bit for you?

 

On an unrelated note... are DS posts showing up with a bunch of rectangles and stuff for anyone else?

[Guest]

@littleg Yeah, it only happens when typing the letter “I️” haHa I️ can’t even type it to explain....I️ think it’s something to do with needing an update, I️m working on it. 

Got through the night with more snacking but I’ve got a busier day today out of the house so I️ should be able to focus more on eating just meals. I️ start full time work finally tomorrow! Yay! So meal prep will be happening this afternoon after I️ go for a quick ski to test my new boots. Still feeling focused and although I️ once again ate way too much yesterday, I️ don’t feel nearly as bad today as I️ would After a binge. Like not even comparable. So it’s another reminder to me why sticking to the good foods is so much better for me, even when I️ overdo it sometimes. It’s day 6, so my hardest days are on the horizon, but working is going to help me soooo much so I️m not too worried. 

@littleg so happy the little guy is doing better! And I️ hope you are getting sleep. I’ve found it makes all the difference with my mental strength. 

@hmg1993I️m trying sheet pan chicken breasts today. Can’t wait! And we made some crockpot venison green chile yesterday so I’ve got that to look forward to this morning! 

[littleg]

So that spinach artichoke dip... we make our mayo with MCT oil which shouldn't be heated.  Any ideas how to make it mayo free?  I'd think heated up mayo just kind of disintegrates into oil anyway... no?