What is Bingeing?

Does an individual binge only during diet time? An answer that may surprise you....

When people diet, a term is used to define failure. It is called bingeing. However, bingeing occurs more frequently in non-dieters than in dieters.

If you are currently dieting, or if you have previously been on a diet, you took great care in watching every morsel that passed through your lips.

Remember the great ancient saying, "Through the lips, straight to the hips"? Yes, during this time you were more focused than a bull on a herd of cow-ettes during mating time. You were so careful - no bingeing here!

Trumpets blared in the background, shooting out-of-tune notes into the stale air about you. After days, weeks, and months of sacrificing, you were at your limit - your rope's end.

With the invisible noose around your neck, you jumped right off of The Old Diet Trail and right into a runny brown pile of chocolate pudding.

Oh my, it was so tasty! That one-serving took about 2 seconds to eat. You had practically inhaled the luscious chocolate wonder. Before you knew what hit you, that eight-serving box was gone. You may have even topped off the event with a jar of Maraschino Cherries, a bag of Mother's Tea Cookies and a can of Borden's Eggnog, a lush rich ooze that's always in season. My, the fun feast was better than sex. You contemplated smoking a cigarette, then realized that you didn't smoke.

Most nutritionists would tell you, "NO, THIS IS NOT NORMAL!" However, if you're a fan of Diet Bites then you know that we think a bit differently. We tend to think outside of the Fried Chicken Box. And with all of the weight issues facing the world at this point and time, it is past time that we start looking at the weight loss issue much differently - because what we have in place right now, obviously isn't working.

So YES - you are very normal! Most people sit down to the table thinking about how much they are going to eat. They don't take time to savor each bite, they just eat all of the goodies that they have set their thoughts upon. This is defined as 'bingeing'. Are these people on a diet? No - which brings us to the point that we began with...

- Take small spoons or forkfuls rather than loading your utensil down as if it were a small shovel. The same goes for your knife, should you be eating peas.

- Enjoy a beverage with your meal. It not only helps the food to go down easier, it's filling and you'll be apt to eat less or too much of a good thing.

- Dress up for meal times!

- Eat very slowly and chew your food well.

- Take it easy for a few minutes after you have finished eating.

If you are 50 pounds over what you need to weigh, keep this thought in mind:

An individual who is 50 pounds overweight generally consumes about 2 candy bar's worth MORE food per day that an individual who is at normal weight. In other words, it doesn't take much to put you over the top. And once it packs on, it's like trying to whittle a masterpiece out of cork - very difficult. Keep focused and plan those meals! Smart dieting will keep you out of Brother Binge's grasp and on track to meet that magic number on your scales!