Time for some acceptance. You cheat. You binge. Whatever. You are in good company. Many struggle with this very same issue. Stop thinking you're gonna white knuckle it for a month. You can't make it past a week so move on. What you know about yourself is that right now at this point in time with your current living situation you can't seem to stop binging. So now you look at ways to control it, mitigate the damage and make it less frequent.

Vrimj hit a very important nail straight on the head! You need a ritual to bring attention to what you are doing. When you see you are going to crack and land head first into a carton of ice cream you need to stop yourself for just a moment. Visual a big red stop sign or something that is meaningful for you. Then you need to have something you are required to do before you eat the ice cream. My thing is a bowl of broccoli. If I am on the verge of a meltdown I stop myself and I eat a bowl of broccoli. A whole bag if I have to. With lots of butter. Not instead of whatever it is I want. Sort of as an appetizer. I can still have that thing I want but I just have to eat the broccoli first. Yours can be juice or a stick of butter or whatever. Develop a ritual to slow the beginning of the binge down long enough for you to catch your breath and become mindful of what is happening. Don't try to stop it necessarily. This isn't "Stop being weak and go eat something healthy" but more a "o.k. I'm getting ready to do something I really don't want to do let me buy some time and see if this is really what I want to do. Just something you have to do for 5-10 minutes. And you may still very well decide to eat the cookies and that's fine. It's about developing a method, a process to access some peace and a bit of wisdom in the moment before you do that thing you do not want to do and possibly finding ways to let that moment pass without doing damage.

The other thing is that some people just are not cut out for 100% compliance. And that's o.k. I think you may want to consider a "primal" approach of giving yourself permission at set times to eat what you want. Just knowing that on Saturday you can eat your cookies and ice cream is often enough to hold you over. Again you have to retrain your brain and write a new brain script for yourself. When the urge hits tell yourself that you can't have it now but you can have it soon. It's not no forever. It's just no for right now. So instead of demanding perfection for a month you only require it for a week or even 3 days. Maybe one cheat day a week or two cheat meals a week is a good place to start? I just think you need to work in a release valve instead of trying to white knuckle it especially since that isn't working so well for you right now.

This is a process so be easy on yourself. It's about retraining yourself body, mind and spirit. It's about developing strategy and tactics to get you the results you want. Stop thinking "why do I do this, I suck" and move on to "how do I learn to stop doing this." And it's not going to happen with the snap of your fingers. For now just find a way to make it work for the person you are right now and in the living situation you have right now. For now it's not going to be perfect but it can get better. And better can get better and better and it will if you just keeping trying.

"Today I messed up.. but I am getting back on my horse and trying this AGAIN (for the 1000th time)."

Derrick, there is no horse. There are only meals.

So let's say that for lunch, you ate food that doesn't make you feel good. Oh well. Lunch is gone. But dinner is approaching. Concentrate on that.

Every bit of energy spent stessing about the lunch that is already in your belly is energy wasted.

Good luck. You'll figure it all out.

It's okay. Gilliebean is right, don't get too stressed out about it. It can cause a guilt cycle where you react to feeling bad by doing something escapist, then you feel bad about it all over again and so on and so on and so on. No need for that. Take a step back away from yourself and the world and everything and clear your head and look objectively and impassively at it all.

Are your parents and those around you the picture of health? How do you feel about the fact that you know certain foods make you feel bad? What kind of future do you want to see for yourself? How will you get there? Will selfishness towards your food choices now make you more able to give to others later on? (that last one was a loaded question, since i tend to think the answer is yes).

Those are starter questions, but sometimes, when you're in a fight, you have to ask yourself a few questions- find the questions that are right for you to ask yourself. Maybe put it on paper, as writing or drawing seems to help a lot of people. Whatever format you like to make it a "solid" thought for yourself. Maybe you take photos. Who knows.

Also, food should be a pleasure, and as you get more financially independent you can look for better quality ingredients and kitchen whatnot to help you reach that very sustainable objective of enjoying your freaking awesomely delicious healthy dinner. For now, you could start an herb garden, that is cheap and easy to maintain and doesn't require much space. Get some library books on classic cooking techniques (they tend to use lots of good fats and simple ingredients) and start learning to cook. Knowing how to cook and garden are very important keys to making food healthier and more enjoyable for yourself. Your palate is always evolving, like all of your other senses, you should use it fully. :)

Derrick! The fact that you're aware of how you feel and what you're eating is a great success and something to be celebrated.

Don't get too stressed about it. You have a plan for the future (once you get your own place) and you have noted that you eat crap way less than you used to! It's all about baby steps!

I'd suggest two things:

1. Have protein with every meal (even binges!).
2. If you're about to binge, then try the Tim Ferriss method and have a small glass of sugarless lemon, lime or grapefruit juice before hand. It's supposed to help mitigate the insulin release.

Having your own place helps, but not 100%. Be sure to be in the right mindset when you grocery shop. I buy "treats" far too often.

I would modify a popular quote and say that necessity is the mother of determination.

I changed areas of my lifestyle in ways that are considered very drastic because I absolutely had to if I were to stop living in pain.

My friends are amazed at my determination in always sticking to my healthier choices, but for me it's 1000s of times easier to stick to good food than to endure the bloating, stomach aches, fatigue, ...

I think that if you make it clear in your head that you're going to live a shorter and less enjoyable life by eating bad foods, it'll be easier to stick to good choices.

I have the same problem but recently found what i think is a decent fairly paleo friendly treat... mandarin pieces dipped in at least 70% melted dark chocolate; put them in the frige, chocolate hardens and you have bite sized fairly friendly 'treats'. i find that 1 little mandarin piece quels my sugar cravings, and with a handful of nuts im full and not craving anything anymore.

Just cut out the cookies and make sure that the ice-cream is Vanilla Haagen-Dagz. Then you will be alright.

It is great that you are aware that you are more sensitive to the bad foods! Don't stress when you 'cheat', stress just causes too many other issues. Until you are 100% independent from your parents things will be a little difficult, just keep at it and never stop living the paleo life style. Things will not change overnight, but every little step brings you closer to what you want. The thing that helps me the most is paying more attention to my body and less to my brain - "Man's capacity for self delusion is limitless".

I agree with Shari.. you have to stop making it a habit. Should take a month at the most.

Identify your triggers. You said you eat when depressed/stressed... but WHY does it make you feel better? Does it give you an energy rush? Is it more likely to happen after a meal than when you're actually hungry? It could be a blood sugar regulation issue.

That being said... have you heard of Gymnema Sylvestre? Nora Gedgaudas is big on it for promoting insulin sensitivity. I dissolve a capsule sublingually if I start getting binge-y. It stops the "energy rush" I get from overeating (carbs, always carbs!) so it's just a matter of distracting myself afterwards.

“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Just a lil' inspiration...