I am having problems sticking to eating low carb mainly due to daily cravings and eventually binging. I started LC around August last year and lost a good amount and since then I have been on and off. :/ Throughout this period I binged several times (usually on high carb food). Three days ago I tried to recommit to this WOE properly and I was doing okay but I still had cravings and today it went out of hand. I ate normally but by evening I ended up having 260g of peanut butter (no sugar) and now I feel so disgusted with myself. It feels impossible to control the cravings/binging. I feel so powerless. I wasn't hungry, I just wanted to eat. And I would also binge on 'legal' food such as beef, vegetables, etc. Usually after a binge I end up fasting/restricting my eating for the rest of the week and this is probably my form of self-punishment. Low carb works well for me in terms of health and my IBS but I can't stop the binging. When I restrict my carbs and calories, it stops me from binging - temporarily. But I also feel unhappy and of course fatigued, weak, etc.

I don't know what to do. All I see in the mirror is a very fat person even though people around me say I'm close to becoming a walking stick. I am disgusted with my ugly self and just feel like starving myself so bad right now.

Sorry for the rant. I just don't know what to do. Any advice?

I find the best way to keep from binge eating is to avoid having trigger foods around me. Can you control your environment to that extent?

Have you tried counseling? Based on your height, desired weight, and your friends' reactions, you may have an ED.

How are you eating on LC? Are you also restricting calories? If you are trying to do both, you simply may not be eating enough, setting yourself up for a binge. Are you eating enough fat?

Just a thought... maybe it would be a good idea to look into talking to a therapist.
If you're willing, the right one could help immensely

Good Luck Angelene

That's the thing. My place only holds low carb vegetables, no fruit, meat, eggs, cheese, butter and oil. It's more of an impulse problem I think. It's not hunger. My flatmate bought chocolate, crisps and peanut butter. And although I managed to say no to the high carb stuff, I gave in to PB. It didn't have any added sugar but still so dense in calories. The jar had like 1500 cal and I had that all in an hour.

So even though I don't have any high carb/sugary stuff at home I end up going up and buying some impulsively.

I am seeing a therapist for other mental health problems. My disordered eating is only a recent addition and to be honest I feel ashamed talking about it to anyone.



I try not to restrict my calories but every time I sit down to eat the numbers are playing in my head. Most days I average 1000/1200 but I find myself terrified of going above that with healthy food. It's not that I'm terrified of fat but I always feel like I'm overeating.

Binging on peanut butter is your body's way of screaming GIVE ME SOME FAT RIGHT NOW!!!!! When I did a low-fat diet back in the day, that and ice cream were my only binge foods and I have no doubt it was due to their high fat content. The fact that you "punish" yourself for binging is definitely not a good thing, nor is that you see yourself as fat and your friends see otherwise. At the very least, eat more fat. Put butter on your vegetables, eat fattier meats. I promise you won't die.

Bingo. Your body wastes a lot of calories in the form of ketones when you're LCing. You're starving yourself and your body is telling you so.

You really need help with your body perception. I am the same height as you and was the same weight when that photo was taken in my userpic. Pretty sure I wasn't fat. ;(

Good luck. Don't dismiss this as something that shouldn't be brought up with your therapist. It's very serious.

I wonder if really planning my meals on a daily basis would help. Most of the time I only have one meal and sometimes 2. I don't know if having like regular 3 meals a day might help with the cravings. I always add butter and oil to my food and go for fatty meats. I honestly don't know where else to get the fat from.



I do have a really awful body image and it upsets me because I was the complete opposite until a year ago. Then came hospitalisation and ballooning in weight. That's when those thoughts and feelings crept in over time. I want to go back to having a normal relationship with food but it seems impossible now. I think it's probably time to bring it to the table with my therapist seeing that I can't deal with it solo.

When I used to get cravings (which do eventually stop - honestly) I would simply stuff myself full of low carb food. Cheese, meat, eggs, pepperami, even butter mixed with desiccated coconut.... til I felt too sick to eat anything else - ok, my carb count may have been slightly heavy, but it stopped me cheating and enabled me to stay on track

Jo xxx

That's great that you already have a therapist. Do not hesitate to talk to her.

Fasting is also counter-productive for many women. Try eating 3 meals per day and see if that makes a difference. I don't know how old you are but 1000-1200 calories for a young active woman is simply not enough. Eat more. It sounds like you are eating the right foods, just not enough of them.

All the best to you as you try to turn this around.

Do you know why we binge?

Because we're HUNGRY.

I started bingeing when I started starving. They go hand in hand.

Also, I'd look into supplements; in my experience, disordered eating drains us of important minerals, and our bodies are going to prod us to eat until it gets them.

Here's somewhere to get started:

http://bingeeatingtherapy.com/2012/...s-binge-eating/

Forget about the calories, the science is wrong. Peanut butter is relatively low carb and full of healthy fat, you should actually be proud of yourself that you only binged on low carb foods. Your body is screaming for nutrients that are missing, binging is a survival mode.

I agree that you should focus on correcting your self image. Post pics if you would like a greater consensus on how awesome you look. A therapist might advise you to eat 'low-fat healthy whole grains', so be careful to just focus on body image.

I would add fat too. Energy may be what your body is screaming for and carbs are the fastest of all. If you preload with fat you won't be screaming for energy.

You could add an avocado to a meal or tablespoons of coconut butter and feel an amazing difference.

Different perspective. I really only use this as a guideline in general because everyone can be different.

But you are 5'7(170 cm). I am 5'7 and my "normal" according to medical science says I am suppose to have a weight range of 145-165 for a large frame.. Which I measured I am a large frame.

At the smallest frame it is 123-136.

You are aiming below the min on the smaller frame.

And you are current weight is within the weight range for a small frame.

I don't know what size frame you are here is a link

http://www.medindia.net/patients/ca.../framesize1.asp

The input does...
It does gender, height, wrist circumference.

In general quick wrist test

Only you can tell if you are truly overweight or if you are just feeling fat for some reason or another.

But I would really examine the perception. Because to me based on numbers 134 being 5'7 is tiny.

Thanks everyone. I saw my therapist today and although I was very hesitant to bring it up, I eventually did and we had a long talk about my disordered eating and my relationship with food, how I 'use' it, etc. I felt a bit ashamed when I was talking about it but relieved too. It's going to be among the main things we tackle.

She echoed a lot of what you guys said particularly the whole deprivation-binge-compensation cycle I seem to be stuck in. She knows I generally eat LCHF so I am glad she didn't go on about low-fat balanced diet, etc.

Mindful eating was talked about too, which at first sounded like the last thing I needed. Usually I try to finish a meal as fast as I could to get it over with. But I think it may help. I tried it today and spent about 20 minutes eating (which is a long time for me) I did have a feeling of being full and satisfied-- like I actually ate. And it helped with the thoughts and feelings I have every time it's time to eat.

I managed to have 74%~ fat, 21%~ protein and the remainder was carbs. That's usually the percentages I get on most days, the difference is today my intake was more. So far I had one big meal and tea with double cream and I feel full. My calories roughly averaged 1600-1700. I made sure not to check the amount of each macro until after I had finished my meal so as to not deter me but once I saw I averaged that much it felt like too much. I haven't had any cravings or feeling like binging so far but there are still few hours to go before the day is over. I think I might try to have 3 smaller meals tomorrow rather than just one big one in the middle of the day and see if it makes a difference. My carb count is very low (nearly always 10g or less), should I up it or leave it as it is? Would it make much of a difference?

It wasn't easy today but I managed to pull through. I am going to continue and see how it goes, hopefully not so badly.

~WereBear: Thanks for the link. There were some helpful posts there that hit home.

~lovinita: Well according to the calculator, I'm a small frame. But I have wide hips which seem to distort everything else for me I guess.

Thanks again everyone.