Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with binge

Learn to like liquor again?

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 04:10:08 -0800

Is it possible to get over my aversion to liquor? About four months ago, a few of my buddies and I went on a drinking binge of idiotic proportions (we're talking black-out, vomiting, &c). Now, I can't seem to drink liquor at all.

A little while after the unpleasantness, I tried to drink a shot of spiced rum and threw up seconds later. Just now I tried to give it (ie liquor) another shot, pulled out a bottle of whiskey, and even smelling it turns my stomach.

Is there any way to get over this aversion to liquor? I don't want to overdo it again, but I'd like to be able to have a shot or two without shuddering or throwing up.

I have a drinking problem. Now what?

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 15:48:44 -0800

My girlfriend says that she's going to leave me at the end of the week if I don't attempt to seek help for my drinking problem. Now what? To put it in perspective, I don't know if she'll actually leave me, but she's obviously doing a good job at expressing the fact that she's at her wits end.

I guess I do have a drinking problem, yeah. However, I'm totally in the stage where I'd rather just ignore it and carry on with my life. Is that what's best for me? Probably not, and I know that.

I'm successful in my career, and alcohol isn't interfering with that. My finances are a little bit messed up, but they're getting better and booze isn't the direct cause.

I'm a 28 year old male. I started binge drinking when I was in college. Now that I've been out of college, I still continue to binge (with my friends) about once/week. Sometimes a little bit less. I go out to the bar, and I'm not having a good time until I've had about 4 beers. From there, I'm incapable of stopping. I drink and drink and drink until the sun comes up or we run out of booze. As the years go by, it's getting worse and worse.

My girlfriend is worried about me (understandably so) because of risks that I take when I'm drunk. I get rides from strangers, I end up in strange places with people that I don't know. A few months ago, no one could find me for a few hours because I'd passed out in a neighbor's yard on my walk home. The latest incident, this past Saturday night, I ended up ditching friends to hang out with a stranger. My phone was off so no one could find me, but my girlfriend got in touch with my friends who told her that I'd left the party more than an hour ago. Essentially, I was missing. This is not uncommon.

So, yeah, I have a problem. I know it. I don't really want to stop drinking. Scratch that. I can't bear the thought of having to quit drinking. I keep thinking that if I can just learn to ride the buzz after a few drinks then I'll be fine. So far, that hasn't been possible. As soon as I start drinking I have no off switch.

Another thing to keep in mind is that I just get it into my head that I'm going to binge, and then I do so. At work and family functions, I'm always totally ok to go out and just have a drink or two. It's when I'm with my friends, where binging is acceptable, that I lose control.

These aren't just drinking buddies. They are my dearest friends from way back, and not hanging out with them anymore isn't an option. And it's not just their fault. If there's a band playing in town on a Saturday night, and friends don't want to come with me, I'll go out and binge by myself and end up hanging out with strangers. They're not as bad as me, by the way. They tell me that I drink too much too.

I'm very busy with work during the week, and taking a few hours off to go to a therapist is extraordinarily inconvenient. I might be able to find someone in the evening, but I dunno. This whole thing is a serious blow to my ego. I pride myself of being able to "work hard and play hard." That sounds lame, I know, but I guess what I'm saying is that I hope that moderation is somehow an option.

Where do I start? What do I do? Has anyone had success with learning how to drink in moderation? I don't feel AT ALL ready to just walk into an AA meeting ... that sounds like hell.

Is what I'm doing binge eating/drinking?

blackout — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 16:36:53 -0800

How do I know if what I'm doing is binge eating/drinking? More explanation after the jump. What is defined as binge eating/drinking.
Sometimes when I come home from work I'll order a large pizza and eat half of it and drink a bottle of wine in one sitting (by myself), I did this tonight. I don't do it all the times, nor do I have a crazy desire to do it. Sometimes I even only eat once a day, today I ate twice including the pizza.
What's too much? I don't sneak food, or anything like that.
I'm 22, just under six feet tall and wight 190 pounds. I'd say I'm about 10 pounds over weight for my body type (no clue what my BMI is, nor do I trust it).
I'm a helicopter flight instructor so my weight is a factor in my job. In high school I weighed 230 and when I started my helicopter flight training I lost 40 pounds, down to 180, via Atkins. I still try to follow the diet, when I can but my schedule kind of precludes following it all that well.
I just moved to Florida (the other side of the country form my family and friends) and I live alone. I don't cook for myself as much as I should. Not because I don't like it but because I get sick of eating the same thing over and over (eggs for breakfast, chicken and broccoli for dinner). So I order pizza or get fast food instead.
It's not like I have no will power or whatever you would call it to not eat my diet, it's mostly that when I get home from work it's easier to call in an order for pizza then to make some food.
Is this still binge eating, and I have a problem?
Is the whole bottle of wine (sometimes four Henneikens when I'm really off my diet) a night binge drinking?
Do I have a problem?

Stop Binging?

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 20:16:26 -0800

How do i stop from binge eating? I have had an eating disorder (bulimia) in the past. Now i find myself not throwing up or even wanting to, but still eating large quantities of food and not being able to stop. Does anyone have any ideas on how to stop or recognize what is happening before going into a frenzy? I am going to counseling and have also been on anti-depressants. Both of these help a lot, but i would still like some strategies. Thanks!

Supplement (or other solution) for PMS cravings?

mintchip — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 19:35:18 -0800

Supplement (or other solution) for PMS cravings? I am a slim woman, but every single month I get such intense PMS that I go on what is basically a 10- to 14-day binge where I eat approximately double of what I normally eat. I gain about 4 to 5 pounds during this time (this always drop off when my period comes).

The weight gain and overeating, which tend to make me feel really sluggish and unnattractive, are irksome. I can't help but wonder if I'd lose 5 or 10 pounds if I didn't have PMS. Also, I have a strong history of diabetes in my family so I worry about the effects of overeating (even though I'm thin).

My cravings are not so much cravings for specific foods (although milk products and the grease/carbohydrate combo are always appealing) as they are for large quantities.

What causes this, and is there a supplement or other treatment that might help me overcome the urge to eat so much at this time?

I use drinking to manage social anxiety.

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 05:25:24 -0800

I use drinking to manage social anxiety. Suggestions? I have a tendency to binge drink. I feel that I do this because I am a shy, inhibited person, and I just love that it helps me interact freely with others without feeling self conscious or thinking too much (I'm a huge overanalyzer—it’s exhausting!). Being single exacerbates this because I get so nervous when I go on dates…it’s very tempting to share a bottle of wine at dinner and then go to a bar afterwards.

My drinking is completely related to social events. If I'm getting invited out a lot, I'm drinking more; if I'm not going out, drinking plays almost no role in my life. Also, many of my friends are heavy drinkers, and invariably all events are centered around alcohol.

I am beginning to realize that alcohol is a social crutch that I might do better without (or with less). Most of all, I am concerned about the health effects of binge drinking. My diet is great, I exercise, etc...will binge drinking 3 times a month really damage my liver?

So, my questions are …
How bad for one’s health/liver is binge drinking (~3 times/month)?
How can I cut back/quit and just learn to deal with my social phobias?
How to manage dating nerves without alcohol?

I would consider getting help from a professional, but I really don’t feel that a 12-step program would suit me or the specifics of my problem. I truly don’t feel that alcohol is THE problem…I feel that shyness is the true issue and that alcohol is just the quickest, easiest way I’ve found to deal with debilitating shyness. However, I want to protect my health and realize that alcohol in excess is not healthful.

I’m a women, fyi.

I can't decide if I want to move to another city.

Anonymous — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 21:38:37 -0800

I have an eating disorder and I can't decide if I want to move to another city. Having an eating disorder, and deciding whether or not I should move, seem like unrelated variables - but let me explain.

I am a queer female in my early twenties. Everything describing me seems good on paper – I have a contract job I enjoy; a scholarship to a competitive grad school program in another city; a lot of good acquaintances, and a new girlfriend of 6 months I really love.

I also have had bulimia, in various severities for the last 8 months in various severities – anywhere from throwing up every day for a week, to a few times a week, to a few times a day, etc. The most I have gone in this time without throwing up has been 3 weeks. The good news is the feeling and urge to be bulimic and throw up is genuinely tapering off.

In the year leading up to my bulimia, I developed a binge eating problem, which still persists, and which I consider to be the most painful, depressing and emotionally taxing aspect of my disordered eating. This problem still persists and confounds me more than my bulimia. An eating disorder is hell. I’m sick of feeling unhealthy and hating myself, and I’m freaked out that the rest of my life will be marked by it. I know there is more to life than having an eating disorder, but a lot of the time I feel I am just going through the motions, and I honestly am having a hard time. I have also had clinical depression which weaves its way back in and out of my life.

Last December or January I began an inpatient program for people with eating disorders. Blood and heart testing revealed my physical health had not yet been damaged. As someone who formally enjoyed a lot of different sports and had no serious physical or mental health problems to speak of, it was a bit of a change to suddenly be a person seeking help - it's like I can see myself dying. I saw a counselor on and off, but stopped because I was working full time on a large project at my job.

I live with wonderful people, but my house spooks me because I associate many of the rooms, especially the bathroom where I would throw up, with being bulimic. In fact, the whole city of Vancouver seems laced with my bad attitude, poor self-esteem and failed attempts at living heathfully – a concept which feels genuinely out of my grasp.

My girlfriend is great, and dating someone I care about has definitely helped improve my mood. I feel happy when I’m with her and often forget these struggles. She knows about the depression, and has in fact had issues with mental health herself, but I have never told her straight out I have an eating disorder of one type or the other. Other than telling two of my friends and a counsellor, I find it incredibly difficult to talk about these problems and my self-imposed silence is utterly deafening.

Now, faced with the opportunity to move to another city, I don’t know what to do. Trying out grad school can’t set me too far back. But starting up all over again will mean stress, losing contact with my friends and probably losing my girlfriend – although it’s not like I’ve ever been genuinely honest about my mental health with her. I am also considering traveling on my own. And then there’s the eating disorder and whatever it is that is causing it, and how that will or will not be affected by moving. As a project at work is winding down, I now have some more time to work on my personal problems. Please help me figure out how I can be proactive about getting my life back on track. Thanks in advance.

How do I stop myself from gaining all the weight back?

jspierre — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 08:25:21 -0800

I've lost 50 pounds and need to keep it off. I'm also by nature a "grazer" (wanting to eat all the time), which is how I gained all the weight, but calorie restriction just isn't working any more. There's I'm a 5'8" male, 30 yrs. old, 167 pounds. I started off in June weighing 217. This is like the 3rd or 4th time I've lost this much weight. EVERY SINGLE time, at the end of the weight loss phase (around this exact weight), my body becomes super-hungry and I find myself cramming EVERYTHING I can in. So, I try to restrict calories to stop regaining weight, and it just gets worse, until I end up grazing all day long on unhealthy foods until I'm stuffed and sleepy at the end of the day. I am really scared of gaining all the weight back again, I know it can't possibly be healthy to keep gaining all this weight back and losing it again, so I need to change something to make the weight loss stick this time, but I'm at a loss...all the search results I get aren't much help.

My body seems to be angry at me for restricting it (around 1000 cals/day) for all this time and seems to be determined to put the weight back. My optimal maintenance calorie intake is about 2200 calories a day, but it just seems like I can never hit around that number -- I always go way over and feel like I can't control it and my appetite is out of control.

What are some good maintenance ideas that work? I am really good at losing the weight, but keeping it off is a HUGE struggle. Are there any foods that I can eat pretty much freely that will really keep me from feeling hungry all the time? I'm also away from home quite a bit, so foods that are highly portable (i.e., don't require refrigeration and can be carried in my backpack) are the most helpful. It seems like a lot of things I eat just make me want to eat more. Also, exercise ideas that won't make me hungrier in the long run?? I'm so confused...help!

How do I stop loving food?

[insert clever name here] — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 11:13:15 -0800

I can't stop eating and my metabolism has come to a screeching halt. I am a tiny person. All my life I've also been a high metabolism skinny person that could eat anything I wanted. A few years ago, my metabolism started to slow down and I started to gain weight. Then I got a high energy job that got my metabolism back to "normal" and I was fitting into my old pants again.

Then I went back to an office job, and that's where the trouble began. I've been steadly gaining weight for the past 8 or so months. I enjoy eating, and I lack any willpower what-so-ever. I often eat just because I think something would taste good.

I sort of got things under control a couple months ago and dropped 5 pounds. But now I gained it back again + another 10 pounds.

I seem to be binging like mad the last six weeks. I am not eating when I'm hungry, just when the urge hits me. Part of it is that I think I need to be chewing something all the time. I tried gum but that didn't help. I tried not stocking the food, but I just drive to the store to get it. I repeat, I have no will power.

Last year at this time I was approximately 30 pounds lighter than I am now. I haven't a clue what to do about it.

Food Binge

Evangeline — Tue, 31 May 2005 12:37:21 -0800

Help, I just ate 5,000 calories! Normally I keep to a strict diet, but every once and a while I go a little crazy. I've always heard that the occasional binge won't cause any weight gain. Can anyone explain the science behind this idea? I've always believed "calories in, calories out".