Jac,

I suffer from binge eating disorder. It can be really scary and frustrating.

I have been on and off Atkins since last summer. In June last year I started the diet and bought all the vitamins and supplements. I started at about 142 lbs and lost down to around 127. It was fairly easy, and I worked out a few times a week at the gym. When school started in August (I'm a teacher) my free time shrank drastically. We adopted new science textbooks, so I had lots of extra time spent in adapting my lessons to the new books. I also was a "coach" for our FIRST Robotics team, which started around the middle of November with after school meetings. From January to April I was spending at least 20 hours a week involved with the team (we had to design, build, and test a robot in six weeks, then do other tasks to ready for the 3 competition trips).

Anyway, time to exercise went out the window, and my eating was hit or miss. As a result I gained all lost weight back.

During that time I started Induction again several times, and would do okay for about a week and a half, but then would go on a super binge for several days. I would even go to the trouble of going to several different stores and buying just a few things at each, so no one would know how much junk food I was purchasing. And I would go home and eat until I was ill. A few days later I would do it all again. All the time I was bingeing I would think "I'll get back on track again just after this binge is over." But it didn't seem to work.

On May 29th I started on Atkins again, and have been regularly going to the gym. I have not had any urge to attack junk food, and have even been offered all kinds of high carb foods (even chocolate, which is my major weakness), and been able to resist. I have been losing weight (136.5 this morning) and feel great.

The only thing that I can think of that is different (other than being out of the stress-school environment) is that I have started back with supplements. I had quit taking L-glutamine, L-carnitine, and chromium during the school year, for no particular reason other than too busy to buy new supplies. But I have been taking 1500 mg of both L-carnitine and L-glutamine (500 mg 3x day) and also 200 mcg of chromium picconolate. I know that L-glutamine is supposed to reduce carbohydrate cravings. Perhaps this is why I failed with the carb cravings during the school year and am doing well now.

You might check into the supplements idea, and see if they might help your bingeing. Meanwhile, good luck with the LC eating!

Joan