So I'm doing really well on my own low carb plan (I don't count carbs and don't limit fruit, veg or whole grains but I do count calories)
ive only got a few more pounds to go till maintence.
Any way, recently I'v been pretty depressed and I keep binging on bad foods like cake and boxes of cookies, then the next few days ill eat clean and it'll just happen again like a cycle.. its really disgusting, I think I ate over 3500 calories yesterday.
I really need help and I don't know what to do

http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2012/...gliadin-effect/

He makes some comments about binge eating there.

What are you eating? And are you sleeping and getting regular exercise? If you are undereating severely, the binge could be a response to that. Or if you are doing a famine-plus-prison-labor routine.

When I wasn't eating enough, I would binge every 4th-5th day like clockwork.
There is also a 4-day cycle of endorphin high and low from the binge-and-starve routine. What happens is you get a huge endorphin high from the binge day, and then over the next few days your endorphins deplete untill you are depressingly low and dark (from "eating clean" or maybe mildly starving), so much so that you reach for the junk again. The way out of that cycle is to not do the starve part.

Also if you are not getting enough protein, energy, vitamins, and minerals. Those are all the anti-depression nutrients.

I think a lot of us overeat because we feel deprived in some way. Are you preparing each day for this to happen? If you work, bring some snacks, if your hooked on sweets, make sure you have something equivalent of cookies or cakes. Some of the protein bars out there are just as good or better than candy bars.

If you were at goal, assuming you are 5'2", then your bmi would indicate you were underweight. Bmi being what it is, though, it may not be a great indicator. Do you know what your BF% is? I'm suggesting that if it is too low, this may be the reason you're having cravings and bingeing. I'm not certain it's a logical conclusion to jump to, if up til now you've had success in controlling your diet, that you have a legitimate binge addiction. I would look elsewhere than that for an explanation.

Thanks for the responses, sorry for the late reply, I didn't see that people commented.

Seejay, I think you're spot on.
After a huge binge I feel bad so I eat less the next day but recently I haven't even been able to do that, ill be eating less and then suddenly cave in last minute, its awful.

I'm not underweight and defiantly wasn't before the binging ither, my frame is small and I feel happiest at my goal weight, I certainly don't care if I look like some super model but at this weight I can wear my nice jeans and feel confident.

My home situation is pretty bad, I had to leave my course last week, so ive been pretty down about that and im unemployed at of yet so ive got nothing to do all day, its so unbelievbly fustarting and I want to make myself feel better with food.
When I eat the junk food though its so fast and I hide when I do it.. Sometimes I don't even remember what I've eaten, its horrible.
As of last week I am up almost 4 kg, I want to cry my eyes out but I guess ill just have to keep at it, I jut don't know how without restricting, im so short and so close to goal that I really do have to keep an eye on the calories. I've decided to give up sweetners and gluten for awhile, I'm hoping that'll help.

So sorry you are in a spot like that SlimJen. What a drag! something to be gotten through for sure.

it does sound like you have extra life stress and you are using the food for bring the stress down. that includes financial, career, and emotional distress too.
One of the things that really helped me was to learn to put things IN more than I took things OUT.

For example, you are taking out sweeteners and gluten. That takes out a couple of sources of getting a little high on the brain chemistry side - that good feeling. (allergens like gluten evoke endorphins, isn't that something? to spare ourselves from the pain of the poison, however mild)

What can you put IN to get a small high of good feeling? Do you like loud music? that works amazingly.
Can you treat yourself somehow cheaply while you are figuring things out? Go to the library and read a funny book? Get out of the home situation briefly?

Sometimes when life is hard and dreary I have felt like it's not a time to treat myself. Wrong oh! It's a time to treat myself every hour! It got to be kind of fun. I am not kidding, even things like a ritual of nice hand lotion at morning and noon made me feel like a queen - and gave me a little brain chemical lift every hour.

Sounds nuts but it really worked.

Thank you so much!
Thats great advice, really cheered me up and now I feel I can actually.. do it, you know?
Yesterday and today I ate on plan and have been drinking lots of water =)
I finally feel I can do this, today was hard because my sister was eating an entire box of cookies by herself (shes naturally thin,eats what she wants) but I said no and just got myself some tea!

YAY! that is it! Now THAT's what we're talking about. You can SO do this,

Day 3, down 1 kilo! =D

...And then the binge happened, Im so disappointed in myself, I cant even go three days.
I weighed myself and in 2 weeks ive gained 4 kilos, pretty much all the weight I had lost this year, gained back.

Its so hard because Im back to living with my family and they eat such junk..Today in the kitchen in the bench there is pizza bread, croissants, a large packet of dinner rolls and chocolate chip cookies..I feel like Im living in a prison

What did you eat during those 3 days - enough good food?
Or, what happened?

Binges never, ever come out of the blue. If you can figure out what was the tipping point you can avoid it in the future.
I promise you it was something that came BEFORE the junk food in the bench.

You know what else. At your tiny size, and so close to goal, losing a half pound a week is actually grade A results. In case you were wanting to lose faster. Could that be part of your being hard on yourself, you want to lose faster?

If you could think of it as learning - you can keep the learning and lose the bad feeling (easy to say I know!) It will get easier with practice.

If you ask me, the very worst thing you can do the day after a binge, is to go restrictive. That just leads to a binge on day 3 or 4. If you don't believe me you can test it on yourself (gentle teasing here)

Instead have as much as your plan allows. Hm and since you are designing your own plan - what is the most you allow yourself when you are "eating clean" ? That is one of the drawbacks to making up a plan. It is hard to imagine the non-restrictive amount of food when you need it to stop bingeing.

I ate pretty well, just a normal days food and then id have a bite of a biscuit or some white bread and I just go crazy and start eating everything in site.
I think you're totally right, everytime I binge its the day I've weighed myself and seem some sort of progress, I think its almost guilt that I'm losing weight so I freak and then binge.
Maybe I should stop weighing myself for awhile. You see, 5 years ago I went through anorexia I was quite underweight and put my Mum through hell, when recovering I binged ate my way back to a normal bmi because I felt guilt and past that to overweight. I went low carb, lost the weight and am finally getting to my goal and I guess I get scared when I see it going down, it freaks my Mum out.

Yeah restricting sucks and I'm pretty sure it just makes me hungrier. Sometimes fitday freaks me out cause I weigh everything religiously and make sure I don't go over calories or i'll gain..
My normal plan allows fruit and statchy vegetables, I don't count carbs, they can vary from like 70 to 130 grams, I think I really should cut the bread though.. I love it but its just tooo tastey.. Maybe whole grain pita bread, but stuff like buns or toast I could just eat the entire pack.
I think I'm going to allow myself ONE sweetner, its tasty and with cocoa and coconut oil its a great sub for chocolate.
Today was a good day, I ignored all the horrible bready junk and was able to control my meal. I think I'll wait to weigh myself till saturday, if I binge on saturday then I think ill just get my mum to hide the scales, it not really about a number after all, but because of the eating disorder, its a huge thing for me.
I feel the 4 kilos, my thighs touching, my stomach bulging.. People proberly don't really notice but its nearly all I think about.

How much protein and fat does your plan allow? if you are low on protein and sat fat that makes the bread look even better!

It might be as simple as avoiding the bread. That might be your trigger of all triggers if you know what I mean.

And if you must count calories - as I see you like to because of your history and you don't want to freak out - at least use the Miffin St Jour equations. They are the best and most recent for women. If you have enough protein and fat for your height, it will naturally limit your starch and sweets if you are targeting a calorie window.

Sorry about your bout with anorexia. My family has that too in our history. me, my daughter, my sister. I honestly think that restricting messes up your brain, more than your brain messes up your eating. So eat the good stuff ! Also binging following restricting doesn't heal the brain - it keeps the neurochemicals in the bad place, making it harder. Just one of the things I learned along the way.