Binge Eating
A couple of weeks ago there was discussion here about how to handle
what was termed ‘binge’ eating. Having just had a little more
exposure to this in the past couple of weeks here are a few thoughts.
Prior to the recent discussion I never considered a fluctuating
caloric input as ‘binging’. I have just regarded it as pretty much a
natural phenomenon. Our pre-agricultural ancestors must have spent
most of their lives ‘binging’ - eating lots when it was available,
with the appearance of fruit in the fall for example, or when a
woolly mammoth happened by, and eating much less at other times.
[Does anyone have decent evidence that a moderately fluctuating
caloric intake is harmful? My guess is that the answer is
probably “No” because there does seem to be evidence that periodic
fasting is beneficial. And fasting clearly entails a fluctuating
caloric intake. But I am very open minded to evidence either way.]
The issue had always seemed to me to be the AVERAGE daily caloric
intake, and whether that average was consistent with whatever one’s
objectives happened to be. [I am very new to CRON, so there is no
assurance that what I say below, which has worked well for me pre-
CRON will work for anyone else, or for that matter me, after
commencing CRON. But it has been a successful approach for me to
this point.]
Periodically I feel it would be good to go somewhere and ‘pig out’.
It doesn’t happen often. Perhaps a dozen times a year including
calendar dates like 25th December. I have never resisted this urge.
But I have endeavored to channel it, as with all my eating, as far as
possible in what I believe to be a healthy direction. So one of my
favorite ‘binges’ has been a visit to an excellent local all-you-can-
eat chinese restaurant�.
Once at the restaurant the first thing I order is chinese tea (yes
TEA! and the lots of water it contains). Then I eat as much as I
want while taking care to avoid the items I regard as unhealthy -
especially anything deep-fried; as well as high fat items such as
tofu; and sugary stuff, especially desserts. I end up eating a lot
of delicious stir fried or steamed vegetables (delicious because of
the sauces) and small amounts of various meats that the dishes
contain.
I have absolutely no guilt about this. It is very enjoyable, and, as
far as I can tell, healthy. The issue for me has been (and remains
after recently starting to move gradually toward CRON) maintaining a
desirable average daily calorie intake - NOT an absolutely consistent
day-in-and-day-out daily calorie intake.
Here are some numbers that may be helpful for those amenable to such
arguments to get a grip on what might be termed ‘healthy binging’.
(If the numbers are different for you then you can easily substitute
yours and come up with your own result):
Let’s suppose I consider a healthy daily calorie input to be 1500.
Let’s also assume that on days when I go on an expedition to the
chinese restaurant I manage to raise my daily calorie intake to
3000. I will also assume I have a total of twelve binges a year.
Here is how the numbers work out:
The presumed healthy (for the sake of this example), CRON, average
daily intake of 1500 calories in a 365.25 day year amounts to an
annual consumption of 547,875 calories. The excess food consumed
during the twelve binges is (3000 - 1500) x 12 = 18,000 calories.
So, in order to still end up consuming the desired 547,875 calories
for the year (including the binge excess) then I need to eat 1450.7
calories per day, excluding the ‘binge excess’. (547,875 -
18,000) / 365.25.
1450.7 calories per day is about fifty calories a day less than the
desired average of 1500. The fifty calorie difference is the
equivalent of about half a banana.
So, I can fully achieve my calorie intake objective by foregoing half
a banana a day throughout the year, and enjoying a dozen binges
without any thought of guilt. It has worked for me thus far. It
remains to be seen whether it still will after I am twenty pounds
below my set point.
