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  #16   ^
Old Mon, Oct-26-09, 13:07
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
Experimenter
Posts: 25,842
 
Plan: DDF
Stats: 202/185.4/179 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 72%
Location: San Diego, CA
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Seriously, people endlessly ponder, "Why did I binge just now?" They look for all kinds of reasons but really, the reason is quite simple... your brain is wired to do it. Now, you may have wired it that way yourself inadvertently or perhaps you were born with it, it doesn't matter. Bingeing releases endorphins and probably other chemicals that make you feel good. It's like smoking a cigarette, shooting up, or taking a drink if you're an alcoholic.

There's only one reason for it... because you've got an addiction and that's what happens when you're addicted. The lizard wants it. You don't need to go looking for repressed memories or attribute things to emotions and a bad childhood. It's just a waste of time trying to explain these very low level primitive urges, brought on by neural circuitry, on much higher level brain function. The only blame we have is that we haven't used our higher reasoning to outsmart the lizard.

That's where higher level reasoning comes into play. How do I make sure I don't do this again? How do I avoid that trigger? What do I do if I can't avoid that trigger in my environment?

My favorite techniques are:

Remove triggers from my environment (my home, especially). This is huge and what I give credit to low carb to. However, it doesn't help me outside of environments I'm controlling quite so much.

When I walk into a store that triggers me (convenience stores), I've already walked myself through the scenario before hand and walked myself through the consequences of failure.

Deflection: I want Doritos, but a fresh stick of gum or a coffee with cream (rare treat) would feel pretty special to me and make resisting the other stuff much easier. If I'm going to eat at a friend's house, I might bring the dessert which will be low carb and crazy delicious.

When I eat XYZ I start to crave things. So don't eat XYZ.

Avoid triggering places, people, situations when hungry. Have snacks on hand so you don't get to that point. Acknowledge your weaknesses. I know damn well if I eat one chip, I'm going to eat them until they're gone. So don't eat that first one.

Understand failure. Failure reinforces the neural wiring that causes me to do this, and want to do this, that makes me trigger more strongly the next time I walk into a convenience store, or see a bag of chips or whatever. Understanding what failure does to your body in terms of your health is really good too. Taking another step towards premature aging and diabetes and so on. Reading Good Calories, Bad Calories did a lot to stop my cheating.

Then when you are about to enter a triggering situation, you get your higher reasoning to walk through the results of a failure and you can probably avoid it.

Time. Finally, the less you binge, the less you will want to binge. Those neural circuits degrade when they're not constantly reinforced. I guess this falls under "Understanding failure".

Hormones. Not having insulin and blood sugar pushing you around (by eating too many carbs) makes this soooo much easier.
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  #17   ^
Old Mon, Oct-26-09, 14:16
fatnewmom fatnewmom is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 746
 
Plan: My own low-carb rules
Stats: 190/180/140 Female 5'5"
BF:
Progress: 20%
Location: Seattle
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nancy LC
once you figure out there's a portion of your brain about as smart as a lizard is in charge of this stuff, you can use the other portions of your brain that are a little smarter to outwit the lizard.


That's a classic! Love it, sure puts things in perspective. So true.
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  #18   ^
Old Mon, Oct-26-09, 14:18
rightnow's Avatar
rightnow rightnow is offline
Every moment is NOW.
Posts: 23,064
 
Plan: LC (ketogenic)
Stats: 520/381/280 Female 66 inches
BF: Why yes it is.
Progress: 58%
Location: Ozarks USA
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That's a great post Nancy. That should totally be a sticky somewhere!!
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  #19   ^
Old Mon, Oct-26-09, 15:24
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
Experimenter
Posts: 25,842
 
Plan: DDF
Stats: 202/185.4/179 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 72%
Location: San Diego, CA
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Hey! Glad you enjoyed it! It feels good to understand a little more about why I binged and I've gotten it under much better control as a result.
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  #20   ^
Old Mon, Oct-26-09, 18:14
deirdra's Avatar
deirdra deirdra is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 4,324
 
Plan: vLC/GF,CF,SF
Stats: 197/136/150 Female 66 inches
BF:
Progress: 130%
Location: Alberta
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Too bad I was over 50 after feeling so hopeless on other diets for 35 years when I finally realized this!

LC stopped most of my binge urges, but dairy and minute amounts of grains still triggered them. Only when I gave these up did I truly develop a "normal" relationship with food and realize that it was the foods, not character flaws or mental instability causing my problems. How refreshing.
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  #21   ^
Old Mon, Oct-26-09, 18:20
Seejay's Avatar
Seejay Seejay is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 3,025
 
Plan: Optimal Diet
Stats: 00/00/00 Female 62 inches
BF:
Progress: 8%
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Yes, good one JudyNYC! Best writeup I've seen in years, covering so much in such a readable little post.

I'm glad you mentioned time, too. These things have to get re-grown at the speed of growing things, not the instant "aha!" as soon as we get the idea.
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  #22   ^
Old Mon, Oct-26-09, 19:51
Judynyc's Avatar
Judynyc Judynyc is offline
Attitude is a Choice
Posts: 30,111
 
Plan: No sugar, flour, wheat
Stats: 228.4/209.0/170 Female 5'6"
BF:stl/too/mch
Progress: 33%
Location: NYC
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Seejay
Yes, good one JudyNYC! Best writeup I've seen in years, covering so much in such a readable little post.

I'm glad you mentioned time, too. These things have to get re-grown at the speed of growing things, not the instant "aha!" as soon as we get the idea.

Its a very wonderful post but I didn't write it...
NancyLC wrote it! Great writing Nancy!!
But thanks anyway!!
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  #23   ^
Old Tue, Oct-27-09, 07:13
Anniriki's Avatar
Anniriki Anniriki is offline
Registered Member
Posts: 55
 
Plan: Low Carb
Stats: 250/245/175 Female 5'9"
BF:
Progress: 7%
Location: Minnesota
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Nancy, that post says it all. Each one of us who struggle with weight issues know exactly what you are talking about, but the way you worded it sums it perfectly. Thank you!!
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  #24   ^
Old Tue, Oct-27-09, 09:22
Carne!'s Avatar
Carne! Carne! is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,038
 
Plan: Atkins OWL Rung 4/ IF
Stats: 135/125/115 Female 5'4
BF:19% (approx)
Progress: 50%
Location: MIAMI BEACH
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bah, how topical. for me it's these damn 'treat days' that end up with me stuffing my face since i know i won't be having bread/sugar/ etc for a while...except for that damn day.

i think it's time to rethink my strategy. am now doing some sort of detox....10 carbs 1 week, then 15, then 20 for two and then 5 carb upping until i reach my carb threshold (around 70).

Tried doing Atkins my way....think it's time to try the old man's way...

(((...kicks pebble....))))

Damn thee treat days!!!
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  #25   ^
Old Tue, Oct-27-09, 09:45
Judynyc's Avatar
Judynyc Judynyc is offline
Attitude is a Choice
Posts: 30,111
 
Plan: No sugar, flour, wheat
Stats: 228.4/209.0/170 Female 5'6"
BF:stl/too/mch
Progress: 33%
Location: NYC
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Carne!
bah, how topical. for me it's these damn 'treat days' that end up with me stuffing my face since i know i won't be having bread/sugar/ etc for a while...except for that damn day.

i think it's time to rethink my strategy. am now doing some sort of detox....10 carbs 1 week, then 15, then 20 for two and then 5 carb upping until i reach my carb threshold (around 70).

Tried doing Atkins my way....think it's time to try the old man's way...

(((...kicks pebble....))))

Damn thee treat days!!!

Instead of a "treat day"...how about you choose a "treat food" that you allow yourself to have "a" portion of once every few of weeks.

I had to do this as I lost my 120 lbs or I felt I'd break if I didn't have an old favorite every once in a while. Once a month and "a" portion worked out well for me. it was Dreamfields for me and I hardly ever eat it any longer.
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  #26   ^
Old Tue, Oct-27-09, 09:49
Carne!'s Avatar
Carne! Carne! is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,038
 
Plan: Atkins OWL Rung 4/ IF
Stats: 135/125/115 Female 5'4
BF:19% (approx)
Progress: 50%
Location: MIAMI BEACH
Default

Yeah, I think you're right. Although it is safe to say I am extremely sum zero/all or nothing.

I'm going to experiment with low carb treats once I am past the 20g mark and see how that works out. If I stay within the carb goal, even with LC treats, it'll be easier to maintain hinged.

I can def say that on treat days i am UNHINGED. And the worst part is, i don't even enjoy the carby food as much as I think I will.

I love the quote "Abstinence is as easy for me as temperance is for others."
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  #27   ^
Old Tue, Oct-27-09, 10:26
Seejay's Avatar
Seejay Seejay is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 3,025
 
Plan: Optimal Diet
Stats: 00/00/00 Female 62 inches
BF:
Progress: 8%
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Judynyc
Its a very wonderful post but I didn't write it...
NancyLC wrote it! Great writing Nancy!!
But thanks anyway!!
Argh thank you!

screen name dyslexia strikes again. All those n, y, c's in the names

Excellent post NancyLC!
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  #28   ^
Old Tue, Oct-27-09, 13:54
svince6's Avatar
svince6 svince6 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 646
 
Plan: HighFat/LC
Stats: 160/158/135 Female 5' 6 inches
BF:
Progress: 8%
Location: Missouri, USA
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NancyLC that is a wonderful post!

Very topical for me as well. I was just writing in another post about the "carb monster" inside me.
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  #29   ^
Old Tue, Oct-27-09, 15:04
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
Experimenter
Posts: 25,842
 
Plan: DDF
Stats: 202/185.4/179 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 72%
Location: San Diego, CA
Default

Ok, you guys inspired me so I wrote it up for my blog.

http://mostlypaleo.blogspot.com/200...-binge-eat.html
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  #30   ^
Old Mon, Dec-28-09, 12:42
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
Experimenter
Posts: 25,842
 
Plan: DDF
Stats: 202/185.4/179 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 72%
Location: San Diego, CA
Default

Here's more proof that what causes us to binge is physiological: Why some continue to eat when full.

However, it doesn't mean we can't contrive to make this happen less often.
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