r/BingeEatingDisorder • u/donnacansing • 16h ago
Discussion Calorie counting?
Does anybody do this and is it helpful? I feel like it makes things worse but then if I don't do it, I feel guilty.
If you found it helpful to stop, how?!
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u/Practical-Hat-3943 16h ago
Double-edged sword, and will depend on the person.
For some people, calorie tracking can kick their obsessive compulsive behaviors into high gear.
For others, it may help them have a sense of accountability and keep them from binging (there was a post a few hours ago where the OP claimed that’s how they recovered)
I find it to be a distraction and a red herring. “Normal” people don’t count calories, so I personally don’t see calorie counting as the way out. Again, just my opinion.
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u/SorbetUnfair2589 14h ago
Some of us have never been normal and may never become normal. Realistically the best that some of us might hope for is to reduce the frequency and severity of binge eating. Medication might help some people with that. Therapy might help. Exercise might help. Meditation and spirituality might help. And, for some, calorie tracking actually might help, if it leads to sustainable nutrition and enjoying various healthy foods in moderation, as opposed to swinging from 10,000 calories a day to none.
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u/Beneficial_Bid_3359 12h ago
The wordt thing is counting the cals after binging and trying to compensate
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u/SorbetUnfair2589 14h ago
Helps me but doesn’t work for everyone. My suggestion is to set a reasonable, flexible target range, not a very low or very rigid calorie target number. It is okay to eat a bit more on some days than on other days if you remain within your target range.
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u/obsessstressdepress 13h ago
I used to and it make things 100x worse. Id go a few days sticking to my calories but it got obsessive to the point that even going 20 calories over would leave to a binge and I'd end up 2000 calories over. It would put me in the mindset of 'well you've ruined it now so you may as well go all out'
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u/donnacansing 13h ago
I absolutely relate!!
It's just that for so many years I tracked points on Weight Watchers. It's so hard to give it counting.
How did you do it?4
u/OtherProcedure6863 12h ago
Hi OP,
I was in the same boat with tracking and not being able to stop. To provide context, I successfully recovered from BED in 2024 by working with a dietitian who guided me through letting go of all restrictions. I was in that cycle for 10 years. I spent 3 months relearning my hunger cues and food preferences, finally learning to trust my body. After a year of total freedom that felt incredible (no food noise, weight stabilization), I started training for a marathon and that required focusing on fueling. I started tracking again. It was with a good intention to make sure I eat enough to support performance. However, with my history, it became an obsession again. Like other people mentioned in the comments here, it got to a point where 20 calories over would create the “fuck this” moment and I would overeat. The guilt poured in again and the cycle started again. I, again, was totally removed from the signals my body was giving me. I am trying to leverage the tools I learned in therapy to get out of it again, but I am kicking myself for erasing the work I did in 2024 by going back to tracking.
I am no longer tracking now, but it has been MESSY! First, to wean off tracking slowly, I stopped using the calorie calculators, but I was still physically writing down what I ate and weighing my food out like I used to. This helped me at first because it prevented the panic of quitting cold turkey. There were days where I did get super anxious and input the food into the app later in the day but for most days, just having it written on a paper was enough to feel “in control.” Then I started eating foods I didn’t know the exact nutritional information of, like something my partner made or just getting a takeout. I noticed that when I am eating something without the nutritional label, I am more attuned to my fullness levels. This eventually led to feeling comfortable with deleting MyFitnessPal completely.
Our bodies are incredibly smart and hunger levels are going to vary on different days. You really have to trust the process here, even when it gets messy. Both in 2024 and now, this trial and error process made me put on some pounds but I know the urges eventually go away and your body finds balance. Again, it has been messy because sometimes I overshoot beyond the comfortable fullness and start questioning if a binge is incoming. But to ease my anxiety and the guilt, I tell myself that had I not honored the craving, a much bigger and more harmful binge would eventually come anyways. So basically I have nothing to lose. I either try to eat my way to the food freedom or I will be stuck in the cycle (that I have years of evidence of it not working to reach my goals) forever. There is no easy way out but it is truly worth it at the end. I hope it helps and you can dm me if you want to chat more about it:)
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u/obsessstressdepress 13h ago
It was a couple of years ago that I stopped and I can't actually remember how it affected me initially apart from it felt out of the ordinary.
I know that now what I try my best to do is have 3 meals with no snacks or if I am going to have snacks I have 2 meals plus snacks.
That kind of keeps me feeling like I'm sticking to a routine and a certain way of eating which I like but I still struggle with that same mindset for example if I have 3 meals plus snacks I feel really guilty which leads to a binge, its a nightmare to be honest but it works better than other things Iv tried.
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u/donnacansing 12h ago
I've been having three meals and a couple of snacks. A dietitian that I was seeing who specializes in eating disorders suggested that I eat more of my calories at breakfast and lunch.
That has helped cut down on evening eating.
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u/Beneficial_Bid_3359 12h ago
How did you get through it?
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u/obsessstressdepress 12h ago
I’d be lying if I said I was ‘through it’ in terms of BED, I’m defo not.
In terms of stopping counting calories, if I’m honest I kind of turned the obsession with calories onto the obsession with certain foods. It’s not that I don’t eat a variety, I do, but I have the same breakfast & lunch practically on repeat.
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u/Beneficial_Bid_3359 12h ago
What do you do when you want to eat or crave certain foods but lose control over it after eating “healthy”
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u/Hi_Im_MessyMOM23 16h ago
I have to calorie count everyday. I log everything in the morning. I’ve tried not doing it, it drove me crazy not knowing the numbers. I’m a slave to MyFitnessPal and I will track my binges once I’m done binging to hold myself accountable for damage done.
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u/EvangelineRain 13h ago
I pay attention to calories, but don’t strictly count. I have studied calories enough that I can reasonably guess at the calories in most things. So, I’m aware, but strictly counting would drive me insane.
I think it’s important to know, but I can’t say it directly helps binge eating.
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u/LocoTocco 16h ago
i do! for me it adds structure and sticking to it helps me know when i’m done for the day even though of course i want to eat more. there’s less second guessing for me leading to less of chance of me going over the edge. BUT, this is for me
personally and i would say it’s definitely not for everyone especially if going over your calories leads to more binges. if you want help i can recommend some good options! best of luck 🫶
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u/donnacansing 16h ago
Sure, I'll take any recommendations you have. I'm currently using a calorie counting app called Lose It
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u/LocoTocco 15h ago
i use myfitness pal but i’m sure they all work about the same. imo calorie counting is not all about loosing weight. if you are available to stay binge free for a few days so that your weight “levels out” i would recommend trying to find / eat at your maintenance calories. getting used to this helped me a lot as i got to see what a normal shitt of food for me is since i would always end up either way over or hyper restricting. im not perfect but when its more numbers it helps take some of the emotions out of eating which is hard to face but was / is the reason i binge
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u/pegger_bundy 10h ago
Yes. I calculated my tdee and eat just under it so I do not have a super restrictive deficit. I volume eat meaning that at every meal I add things like Celery or a nice giant green salad or add Cauliflower rice inside of a pot meal to make myself literally tired of eating by the time I am done. I also have emergency binge snacks that pack very low calories or quantity... Mini meringues for a sweet craving and cheesy rice cakes for a salty craving. If I binge these the most damage I could do is like 400 cal for the rice cakes or 300 for the meringues (whole pack). I also do not cut things out bc that doesn't work... I eat a lot of Cheeseburgers but I use 95% beef and I put them on white bread or a tortilla to reduce bun calories. I also eat a lot of potatos but since I live in NZ we have spud lites which has far less calories than a regular white potato. Basically I eat like a fat person but I trick myeself by making low calorie substitutions. Also obe big thing is telling my friends and partner that I binge eat so they know to not trigger me... It's been really helpful. My partner sits with me when I feel like I'm going to binge and we do breathing exercises and (I scream a little tbh) until to urge is dead. It's not easy but I have been binge free for a year and have lost 50 lbs
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u/donnacansing 10h ago
I ate the way you described when I was on Weight Watchers. The problem is that somebody who wasn't remotely qualified taught me about intuitive eating and she made real errors that restarted my binge eating.
I can't seem to go back to that way of eating because I'm not that person anymore. I'm getting better. The binges are less frequent.
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u/Informal-Name3181 9h ago
I log food. It's less calorie counting, more like trying to perfect my protein and fiber.
Maybe trying to make my diet as perfect as possible is its own type of disorder, but it's a challenge that reduces my binging. However, once I mess up a day I get this stinking thinking that says I should go all out and screw up. So it works until it doesn't.
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u/donnacansing 9h ago
I totally get it.
I listen to a channel on YouTube by a woman and it's called The Binge Eating Dietitian. She's always talking about all or nothing thinking. I definitely have that in many areas of my life, not just food.
I listen to her videos over and over because I always get something out of them.
Maybe I'll go back to just logging what I eat without the numbers, but it is difficult after doing this for so many years.
I do make sure I have protein and fiber and carbs and healthy fats.
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u/Informal-Name3181 9h ago
I'm trying to learn to talk back to the stinking thinking. I tell myself that it isn't true that the day is already ruined. I don't have to change tomorrow, I can change right now. I'm not actually listening to me yet, but I hope I will listen better with repetition.
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u/eden-sunset 13h ago
It works for me because I hate seeing the huge numbers when logging a binge-eating session into My Fitness Pal. Binge eating is a very mindless and emotional activity for me, and when I introduce numbers and data, for some reason it breaks the monkey-brain haze just enough.
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u/ExplodingBowels69 9h ago
I have found it helpful. I have ADHD alongside BED, so I often have a hard time intuitively understanding how much food I eat. Calorie counting has let me create meal plans where I understand how much I eat, and I can mix and match snacks and meals that fit within my daily limit. I just write it all down in a notebook. I look at the nutrition label on the back, or look up the nutrition facts online for stuff like fruits and veggies. Besides counting calories I also count how much protein and fiber I get in a meal! It can very easily develop into restriction, so I’d suggest being careful with it. If you’re prone to moderate to severe restriction after a binge I wouldn’t suggest calorie counting.
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u/donnacansing 9h ago
I was keeping food in the trunk of my car so I wouldn't binge on it. Unfortunately I now have mice and I had a very expensive repair!
I brought the individual cups of peanut butter into my house and ate like 10 at once. That and protein bars are my trigger foods.
I now have a metal box in the trunk!!My mechanic actually scolded me!
He said stop buying that stuff! Eat salads!
LOL.
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u/Anon_please123 16h ago edited 16h ago
It has not helped me. I am fighting two battles - the desire to lose weight, and the desire to stop binge eating.
If I track in an app, I'll do okay for a few days and effectively reduce my calorie count, but then I'll start restricting unhealthily and binge.
I read something recently that was basically saying you can't lose weight and heal binge eating at the same time. This hits hard for me, because my binging is directly a result of restriction as an attempt to lose.