We all have binge triggers. And they are usually sugary or starchy foods i.e. carbohydrates. With me it was biscuits. I love biscuits and on a bad day, or even on a good one, were I to be so totally daft as to risk having a biscuit or two, chances are I would very soon be off and running and eating whatever I could get my hands on.
Basically eating carbs is what triggers our binges. Nobody binges on lettuce. Nobody craves rocket salad in the wee small hours of the morning. When we feel tempted to stray from our diet it is 99% likely to be for high carb food - not necessarily sweet - can be bread, crisps, chips, pizza... etc.
With me the worst offender was always biscuits, but not exclusively. It would start with something sweet, in any case. And all too often from that point on I was helpless. Real, no kidding, serious bingeing such as described by Felix and others involves consuming many different foods - usually carbs - over a period of time that ranges from minutes to hours. And the total calorie consumption can total many thousands, not just a few. It's all a question of degree.
So the important thing is to avoid the trigger or triggers. This is why I love low-carbing. It calms that raging appetite that no amount of junk could ever hope to satisfy, long term. One biscuit, you could say, is too many and a thousand not enough. Yes, this is borrowed from the phrase alcoholics use - indeed, addicts of all kinds. And I and most here are addicted to food and eating and more specifically to carbs.
There is a huge difference of course between the occasional binge and true binge eating disorder. I have the latter, and have had for most of my adult life. In either case, though, the dieter has to make a real commitment to avoiding the binge trigger or triggers. It's not easy, to say the least. The definition of addiction is trying to quit a substance or behaviour, wanting desperately to quit, and being unable to. That certainly covers my lack of control around carbs, particularly sweet ones. Some days I can 'get away' with it but other days - oh, boy.
Some have suggested that VLCDs encourage binge eating, because the dieter gets so hungry (or, rather, so powerfully craves the physical process of eating; biting, licking, chewing, swallowing etc) that they can only last for so long before they crack. This is why Cambridge Weight Plan has a rule that the diet should not ever be sold to people who have had in the past, or who still have, any kind of recognised eating disorder, the most significant being anorexia or bulimia. Binge eating disorder is bulimia even without throwing up.
However that would mean that most people would not qualify to use it as, let's face it, most of us have starved in the past, then binged, etc etc. Again it's a question of degree.
The single biggest saviour on Cambridge is ketosis, just as it is on Atkins etc. But even in ketosis we can suddenly feel desperate to eat. Cambridge is a great diet but the habits and behaviours that made us fat have been in our lives for years. We can't expect to be cured, overnight! Nor in a few weeks or months.
Take it easy and as someone said, take it one meal at a time. One pound at a time etc. Don't say okay I want to lose 5 pounds this week - and then get upset if you don't lose that much (most people don't after the first week or two). Don't jump on and off the scales because you are just giving them the power to decide whether you are about to have a good day or a miserable one - any reading you don't like can really throw you, even though you know it is probably just water.
Carbohydrate restriction offers the best solution I think to binge eating. Cambridge restricts carbs for good reason, because without ketosis nobody would be able to stick to the diet long enough to get such amazing results. That's not because we are weak, greedy, useless etc. It's because we have a problem with carbs! No more and no less. It's not a moral issue, that you are bad or wicked or not-trying-hard-enough. It's just carbohydrate addiction, and it can be arrested, one day at a time.
Good luck everyone and never give up x
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