Well done, @Misokatsu It’s an awesome achievement when you manage to moderate. I’m very happy for you, keep it up!
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Hello @CATMANCAM , how are you doing? 
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575 sugar
439 UPF
313 gluten/dairy
Got myself some popcorn yesterday. At some point during eating it I realized I didn’t even know why I was eating it. I was not hungry, it didn’t taste good, I just kept stuffing it in my mouth. I did not like that. It felt too much like loosing control during all my binges in the past.
I decided I don’t like that. I decided I don’t want that in my life. I put the popcorn away. I am not going to have it anymore.
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Day 1649 : No binge today. 
That’s awesome that you are managing to moderate, @Misokatsu! I’d consider that a win! Keep up the good work! 
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576 sugar
440 UPF
314 gluten/dairy
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Hey @acromouse Well done for noticing the pattern slowly creeping in! That’s really good that you could see it, not easy, especially in the middle of it already happening. What a master in self-reflecting and mindfulness really 
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I have about 28 days without binging on sugar. I tracked it down by scrolling through my posts here. I didn’t know the exact date, because I reset my counter for a few times due to “mini” binges on other things. Despite these “mini” binges I see my 28 days without binging on sugar as success and progress.
My last counter reset was 2 days ago, meaning I’m starting my third day today of fully binge free life. I am almost tempted to have two counters, one for the free of sugar binge and other for the rest. But I could as well end up with way too many counters and so I will just keep it as it is now I guess 
I feel like I’m doing a little bit better every day, the evenings are definitely the most slippery time for me. But last two evenings I managed not to eat after 7pm and that was very nice for a change. I would like to keep it up, the rule of not eating after a certain time in the evening is very important to me and the most useful. I only remember that the last time I had this rule and was on track with it I started to stuff my mouth with lots of food before the given time and that is something I’m now aware of and want to avoid it too. So I am trying to pre prepare my dinner at time when I’m sensible and stick with it later on, because I know that there’s a reasonable amount of food on my plate.
I very much noticed that any time when I was choosing food in the evening I always needed my plate packed as crazy with snacks on the side and yet I’d worry that it’s not enough and would be thinking what else I could have later. Like if I was about to starve to death if I didn’t eat loads of food before bed. It’s such a weird inner feeling that it was actually quite hard to realise that I have that. I used to have the same about alcohol - the fear that there’s not enough and the scenario of running out of alcohol was just way too catastrophic to cope with for me, so I always overbought alcohol and I feel like I am doing the same with food which leads me to binging.
I just thought I may share this as I am finding it fascinating that I fear such a nonsense and silly thing
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That’s great that you have a strategy that isn’t total elimination, it can be hard to moderate so good work! Also I love mint and lemon flavors, what kind of goodies are you getting?
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Thanks for sharing your inner narration and how you came to a conclusion.
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I haven’t had a full on binge in a while but I have had mini binges as @Jana1988 called it. Mine involve being out and about or commuting and getting something super unhealthy and eating it before I get home and then not telling my partner. I had gotten into the habit of telling him before I made a bad decision and then I kinda stopped so I need to get back to that. 2 steps forward 1 step back!
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What I do is that I binge but not as much as I used to (eat less food) and it’s on “healthy stuff”, like e.g. pistachio nuts are my new weakness now. I stead of having a bowl of then, I can eat a hole package in one go, and that equals to 3 bowls! 
I may have to stop buying them if I do it again.
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Thanks for sharing. I realize that after quitting alcohol I was much more aware of those patterns regarding food and other behaviours (like overtraining or even overthinking). Now that I have been sober for almost 5 years, I feel that maybe some habits have been creeping up on me. Especially regarding food.
It’s been a couple of time (months? years?) I say to my wife « ok I’ll be careful about my eating habits from now on », meaning not eating the whole ice-cream jar, not buying chocolate bar every time I passé by the cashier at grocery, not buying donuts just because I pass by the donut factory… I realize I’m just doing it without thinking, until I’m done eating and then I am back, realizing I was hijack by some surge of desire for sweets. It’s like overriding my will?
Your message made me realized that pattern was very close to my alcohol consumption pattern, and that, that is SCARY!! Because I was out of control and destroying me.
Do you guys use any reminder to help you be conscious or aware of your will vs your impulses? I always felt it was hard with food because, unlike alcohol, you still got to eat and moderation was always hard for me (and impossible with my DOCs).
Have a great day y’all!
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Day 1650 : No binge today.
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At my worst I can’t even take a couple of seconds to think about it. But every time you give in, you’re more likely to give in in the future.
If you have someone trusted who can point things out to you as they see you go through it, that can be a great way to interrupt the urge.
I also was trying to just eat 3 meals a day, so that I didn’t have constant food noise, because I would just remind myself that I have food for lunch.
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I will repeat what @acromouse wrote at here for many times: the worst enemy is processed food.
a) I listen to a podcast from a guy who used to work for a multimillion dollar industry specialised on creating processed food, and accordingly to him there are insane money invested into a research how to make processed food more tasty and more ADDICTIVE so people keep buying it. So if you sometimes feel like your behaviour around food is well similar to your previous addiction, you’re not being a full.
b) I stopped eating most of the processed food, mainly chocolate and other sweets and it got much easier for me to gain control over my eating. I won’t even mention the great health benefits I can already see. I’m not planning on eating processed food any time soon, if ever.
The other thing certainly also is our habits. I can realise the urge to eat more than I need if I sit down in front of the telly in the evening. So I went out to do some sport in last couple of evenings and it works perfectly for me. I’m lucky that we just entered summer and the days are long so I can do what I love like this. Plus it’s more pleasant to exercise in the evening now anyway because of the heat.
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Just cookies or mini cakes. Actually, the seasonal stuff is usually sold in smaller individual packs (because they are limited) rather than family packs of the all year round flavours, so it is easier to moderate. It has been several years of learning not to binge, I really feel like I am getting somewhere. Not perfect, but the general direction is the right one.
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@WCan There are obviously many ways to go about it. My personal experience is I realized at some point in my life that I am very sensitive to the changes in my body and mind triggered by certain edible substances.
The first to go for me was sugar. It was blatantly obvious that I have no idea how to deal with sugar. My body and my brain chemistry will go into a state I absolutely do not want to be in. I will totally loose control over my behaviour short and long term. I don’t have experience with other substance addictions. But from what others share of their experiences with alcohol for me sugar addiction feels very similar to that.
Quitting sugar was very hard work for me. I devised a rigorous battle plan and stuck to it. After the worst cravings were over (about a month in) I found peace from what others often describe as ‘food noise’ - this constantly nagging feeling inside that makes me want to reach for food all the time.
At some point it became clear that Ultra Processed Food has a very similar effect on me. It is not as pronounced as when it has sugar in it - chocolate bar vs chips - but it is still there and it will kill my peace of mind. So I also removed it from my diet aswell.
So in this way I do not moderate. I abstain from the substances that destroy my peace of mind. For these I have my counters.
I still will overeat once in a while. I still will have a bit more of something when my hormones are out of whack. But I don’t feel out of control around food any more.
edit: I left out topics like meal planning, controlling your food environment, recovery programs to deal with emotional issues, etc.
577 sugar
441 UPF
315 gluten/dairy
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Day 1651 : No binge today.
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Good morning 
Yesterday was weird. I spent last few evenings doing some kind of exercise on the top of my usual day time exercise and I know for fact that I burnt lot over my intake calories, mainly due to my rule that I won’t eat after 8pm. Some days I finished eating even as early as at 4pm, did some intense cardio and then went sleep hungry. And I was ok with it, although a bit concerned about the calories I burn versus the calories I managed to eat as weight loss is not my goal at all 
I was visiting my dad-in-low yesterday, which meant cycling to his place and then back and doing a walk in between. I felt quite light headed during the walk and so when he offered me an ice cream after the walk, I took it purely for the purpose to have energy to cycle back despite it was already 8.20pm. There’s one long hill on the way back from his to mine and I was wary of it. The real struggle however came up after I got home and I felt super hungry. I got good at it and I’d be able to drink just a cup of tea to lessen the hunger feeling and go to sleep. The thing is that I’m going for cycling with my club today morning and it’s almost 90km route and I need energy for it not to get stuck and hypoglycemic. It happened to me once during a ride and it wasn’t nice..
So I Googled if it’s ok to eat after workout before bed, and if it’s good to go to sleep hungry after an intense cardio. Both results basically recommend me to eat protein and carbs so my body can repair possible micro tears in my muscles. It was well against how I felt like but I worried about not having the energy today and also increased risk of injury due not being recovered so I made a protein shake from zero sugar almond milk and banana and drank it. My night wasn’t the best but that could as well be because it was so hot at night and because light was coming in from a street lamp straight to my face and I was too lazy to close the blinds, which now feels stupid but whatever. I was a little bit bloated today morning but overally I feel ok, a little bit tired but I believe that a proper breakfast will help with that.
Today, when reflecting on yesterday food situation I feel like I did the right thing and that was my inner addict who wanted to restrict because I always go to such extremes. I will have to think about my 8pm rule again and perhaps make some exceptions to it - carefully so they can’t be abused by my addict..
Thanks a lot to anyone who actually read all the way to here 
Sending love and hugs 
Wish me luck 
on today’s ride with my club. At least it’s not too hilly 
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@Jana1988 It took me quite a while after the binges stopped to find the right amount and type of foods, as well as times and meals that worked for me in terms of activity levels and satiety. I really like seeing you on that journey 
578 sugar
442 UPF
316 gluten/dairy
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