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Hello all!

Its been a while since I've had a good amount of fruit. I avoid it like the plague because Im aiming for fat loss. I might have berries ONCE a week with some almond meal crumble on top (eggs, almond meal, cinnamon, vanilla, very minimal raw honey) as my once-a-week dessert but thats a MAYBE...probably happens more like every ten days, but I digress. Last night, I went on a small binge of dried fruit (pineapple, pear, apricot, and bananas) and when I came home I had two pieces of dark chocolate with a little butter and pecans on top (stole this one from a post I saw yesterday). It wasn't a ravenous OH MY GOD LET ME EAT EVERY THING SWEET I SEE IN SIGHT type binge where I eat EVERY FREAKING THING in my sight. It may have lasted like 10/15 minutes of snacking on a handful of dried fruit, putting it away, going back...so on and so forth....then I got home and had the chocolate concoction. I know my will power is low because I'm on my cycle (sorry guys) HOWEVER this "binge" seemed much more in control and my binge-foods werent ice cream, frozen yogurt, milkshakes, and other CW crap like they were, say, a month ago. Honestly, dried fruit, dark chocolate, and grassfed butter really isnt THAT unhealthy...just a lot of carbs/natural sugars that I could do without. I was also able to stop myself, whereas a month ago I would binge for an hour or so.

Is this change in binge eating preferences, and ability to stop it, showing progress in my body's "road to recovery"?

I'm about 8 months into Paleo, I came off my birth control last March (so I'm probably a bit hormonally imbalanced...or at least was), and am trying to relax/sleep more and not be so high anxiety about everything. Im recently on a Raw food multi. and I take a teaspoon of Omega-3's every morning. Usually Crossfit 5/6ish days a week (probably cutting back to 3 strength days and 1 METCON to see if that speeds up fat loss).

I know that I should avoid binges anyway, and I usually able to ignore the beck and call of sugar, but hey I'm a 19 year old female and for the sake of the men, let me eat my chocolate ;)

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4 Answers

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Progress, progress and more progress. Maybe your body needed that bit of sugar, or maybe it was just more important not to stress about being perfect every single day. Whatever the reason, having good foods available and allowing yourself to eat them when you feel the need is always going to work out better than trying to 'control' yourself for the rest of your life. Maybe there were some less than ideal oils in the dried fruit? Incredibly marginal though - 15 minutes of eating dried fruit once in 8 months is just eating as far as I'm concerned.

If you start getting into habits or craving things more often you might want to start paying attention but right now I wouldn't worry!

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1 
 I agree. It's all good. And you look phenomenal, by the way. – Dave S. Jan 24 2012 at 14:20
@Dave S. I appreciate it :D +124543 – Hoover Jan 24 2012 at 14:33
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 If som dried fruit and 2 pieces of dark chocolate is a binge then I'm in deep trouble. – gydle Jan 24 2012 at 16:09
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Progress! It could have been worse. Take this as a lesson about dried fruit and chocolate. I avoid both, but I do have a bit of cocoa powder every once in awhile. I would also ease up on the crossfit and go for a few walks instead.

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Dear God, Crossfit 5/6 days a week!?

Your body needs carbs, and now it's resorted to bingeing.

Cycle or not, I think going to the reduced workout plan is going to help.

Eating some potatoes or sweet potatoes pre and post-workout is going to help as well - and as long as you don't go crazy on them, they won't impact your weightloss.

Sometimes people need sweet things too, but with your activity levels and the fact that you aren't really that overweight - if you aren't already eating some dense non-fructose carbs before/after workouts, I would guess that's the culprit.

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Joshua, you should say that "in your opinion" that her body needs carbs. Excessive excercise (such as Crossfit) actually slows down weight loss in some studies (read Lyle McDonald's stuff), and body builders have been using Ketogenic/low carb diets for years while still working out pretty darn hard. Once our bodies become keto adapted, exercise intensity goes back up. Most people wuss out long before that happens though. So a CKD is probably better for them. I would add that a common mistake on a low carb diet is not enough salt or water. This is why people can feel shitty. – Cody Jan 24 2012 at 14:42
I'll try that. I LOVE SWEET POTATOES! So many people have told me to avoid the starches, but I'm not going to lie I ate a sweet potato with some met the other night and was FULL and had no desire to eat more (also because its sweeter I dont crave sugars). – Hoover Jan 24 2012 at 14:46
Michelle, you may try a CKD. Low carb most of the time, except around workouts. It's a great way to hold onto lean body mass while enjoying a calorie defecit. – Cody Jan 24 2012 at 15:24
Cody, I was specifically addressing the how/why of her binge and it's reasons, not trying to completely re-map her dietary protocol. As we've discussed in other threads, I'm quite familiar with Lyle's stuff. Also, if she is working out 6/7 times a week, then a CKD with it's specific carbohydrate timing around 1/2x weekly refeeds - isn't really a CKD at that point because she would be refeeding potentially every day. – Joshua Jan 24 2012 at 15:49
I understood where you were coming from Joshua. Just adding additional info/points. My response was aimed at folks who don't have as much background on this type of stuff as we do. And she stated that she is cutting down on the Crossfit, which is why I mentioned the CKD. Even four days would be too much, though, unless maybe she did a PSMF type diet on non-workout days... – Cody Jan 24 2012 at 15:54
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you might need to find a new name for this little indulgence. the fact that you were able to stop after what sounds like a reasonable portion disqualifies this as a binge doesn't it?

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I guess I'd decided it was a "sugar binge" because I really dont eat sugar with the exception of the teaspoon of raw honey in my little berry crumble...super mass quantity? maybe not....but it was definitely more sugar in one night than i usually consume. – Hoover Jan 24 2012 at 14:49
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 Call it a planned diet break, a free meal, refeeding, what have you. When you plan it and give it a more positive name, and realize that it is inevitable, embrace your own true nature, and just pig out from time to time, then you'll find that life is good. – Cody Jan 24 2012 at 14:51
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 ahhhh Cody you had me smiling till you added "inevitable" and "pig out". a planned indulgence is neither. – sage_ Jan 24 2012 at 14:56
It is inevitable, though, right? When you restrict and restrict and restrict, you want and want and want. And eventually wanting wins. Pigging out was meant in fun. – Cody Jan 24 2012 at 15:21
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 It depends what you mean by diet though. Sure the restriction used to come naturally, but it didn't drive us mad not being able to eat fruit in january. That's something we've invented, ergo not inevitable. – PrimalDanny Jan 24 2012 at 17:43
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