When you are out with friends, are you comparing what everyone else is eating to what you are eating, figuring out the calories instead of enjoying their company? Have you ever doubled your workouts to compensate for splurging on a slice of pizza? Can you barely even remember a time when you weren’t trying out the latest diet?

You don’t have to have an eating disorder to have an unhealthy relationship with food. It’s called Disordered Eating and it can be emotionally draining, physically exhausting or even lead to a full blown Eating Disorder.

Disordered Eating starts with a mentality rather than a behavior. If you are lucky to eat one real meal a day during finals week because you are so crazed trying to cram everything in, it’s not good for you, but it’s not a symptom of Disordered Eating. If you only eat one meal a day during finals week so you can at least be in control of your diet since everything else is so hectic, that’s Disordered Eating. It can present itself in many ways, but here are a few of the most common.

Diet Hopping: If you went from Slimfast to Atkins to South Beach to Master Cleanse, this can be a problem. If you don’t even know what to eat unless you are following some set out regimented diet plan, and are constantly changing to find better results, you might want to evaluate your motivations.

Exercise Binging: Do you count calories as they go in AND as they go out? Those very clever machines at the gym that tell you how many calories you are burning are useful, but if you obsessively exercise to burn off all the calories you consumed that day, that’s dangerous. It can ultimately lead to Exercise Bulimia which involves using intense workouts to purge instead of vomiting or laxatives.

Hidden Eating: Do you order a salad with your friends, but grab the bag of Oreos once you are back to your room? Have you ever lied to someone about what you ate that day? If you feel ashamed of eating in front of people there’s definitely something wrong with the way you see food.

Eating should be a natural part of your life. Food should not feel like your enemy and should not be constantly on your mind.

If you have exhibited these behaviors you are not alone. Not too long ago, SELF Magazine conducted a survey that found 65% of those polled displayed some type of Disordered Eating. The most important thing to remember is that to truly be in control of your eating habits, you can’t let them control YOU. Being aware of the problem is the first step to freeing yourself from being constantly consumed with thoughts of food.

Don’t be afraid to get help; being open about it is the best way to make sure it doesn’t get worse. Talk to friends, or find a support group. START a support group if you can’t find one. Chances are a lot of your friends are in the same situation.

Stop the problem before it gets worse. This really can develop into a life or death situation.

There have been countless instances where I’ve found myself shoveling nachos, ice cream or third helpings of dessert into my mouth. Realizing my own utter gluttony, I’ll drop the spoon or the cheesey chip and think, “What in god’s name am I doing?” Because the truth is I’m not even hungry. I’m bored or annoyed or just craving something that has nothing to do with food.

It took me years to identify any of this as emotional eating. I think because almost all of my girlfriends experienced the exact same thing. We’d even declare Sunday as the “Day of Eating” which made it OK to binge on the “bad stuff,” i.e. s’mores, pizza, bagels with cream cheese, to list a few. And the next day, of course, we’d all be at the gym, furiously working off the excess calories.

Looking back, I see how incredibly unhealthy and unbalanced this was. Yet, so many people turn to food to comfort themselves. In order to forget feelings from sadness, anxiety, loneliness or boredom, they reach for high-calorie, sweet, salty and fatty foods. And usually, they wind up eating way too much, which of course contributes to weight gain and guilt.

The good news is, all of us can regain control of these habits and get back on the healthy path.

1. Learn to Recognize True Hunger
When a craving hits you suddenly, ask yourself, “Am I really hungry?” It’s important to gain awareness of what is making you want to eat. If you just ate an hour or two ago, it’s likely this is simply an emotional urge. Wait and allow the craving to pass.

2. Know What Triggers Your Cravings
Start keeping a journal of everything you eat and make note of your emotional state with each snack or meal. This will reveal any negative eating patterns and will allow you to become conscious of what triggers your emotional binges.

3. Find Comfort Elsewhere
Instead of grabbing that bag of Doritos, go for a walk, clean your room, create a list of things you’ve been meaning to take care of and start taking care of them!! If you feel stressed or sad, vent to a friend, write in your journal, deal with your emotions head on instead of numbing the pain with a candy bar. Food is a temporary relief; obviously, it does not fix the problem.

4. Remove Unhealthy Foods from Your Space
Having high-calorie snacks lying around will only tempt you as you try to overcome your eating habits. Get rid of any chips, cookies, ice cream, cheese … anything that is unhealthy. Refill your pantry and refrigerator with low-calorie items and avoid urges to shop for the bad stuff. Again, wait for those cravings to pass. This is about disciplining yourself. You can do it!!!

5. Eat a Balanced Diet
You’re transforming yourself by putting the effort into ending the emotional eating. Now it’s time to become passionate about your body. It is a temple and deserves to be fed only the best. So give it the good stuff — veggies, lean protein, fruit, whole grains, low-fat dairy. All of these things eaten in balance will give you more energy and promote all over wellness. Number one, eat breakfast. Number two, don’t skip meals. Number three, include foods from the food groups listed above.

6. EXERCISE!!
I doubt anything can combat bad moods better than physical activity. It is the absolute best way to relieve boredom, fatigue and negative emotions. Why? Because exercise releases endorphins which give you an almost euphoric feeling post-workout. I know it’s difficult to jump into a cardio routine when you don’t already exercise regularly, but it can be done. And I promise you’ll feel like a new person once you do.

Here’s to beating emotional eating! Every one of us deserves to feel good about ourselves and you can and will accomplish this if you utilize the strategy I’ve discussed. Share your experience with us!

Oh girl, you’ve overdone it … again.

In trying times like these (cue the violin), you must ask yourself why you just shoveled those unneeded calories into your mouth. Were you actually hungry? Or were you just bored?

Probably the latter.

Somehow you’ve gotten into the habit of associating free time with eating. You’re done with class and you check the fridge. You take a study break and you pick up a Snickers bar. You go for a drive and and stop for ice cream. Quite a pattern.

Food’s a quick fix, but let’s end the regretful food overdoses for good and fight the boredom with something stimulating.

After tossing the fatty snacks (out of sight, out of mind!), sit down and make a list of all the things you need and want to accomplish in the next month. Hang it somewhere (in plain view!) in your kitchen. The next time you stumble upon a couple of Oreos, the list will be there, staring you in the face. You’ll be forced to reevaluate the situation.

Hungry?

Not really.

Do something on the list instead.

Not only will you get a lot more done on a daily basis (I spend a lot of time grazing in the evenings), but without the constant flow of food throughout the day, your body will drop excess weight quickly. More importantly, you will no longer hate yourself for eating until you empty the pantry.

Easy as pie (that you will not eat when you get bored).

The point is, in most situations, we will come up with any excuse possible for eating badly. I’ve seen it happen too many times to count, and I also definitely admit to coming up with some pretty lame excuses myself. So, I’ve compiled a list of the most commonly heard excuses. Maybe the next time you’re about to say one, you’ll think about this and make a healthier choice.

1. “Finals are coming up. I’m stressed. Chocolate makes me feel better.” Yes, finals and the end of the semester do cause a ridic amount of stress, and eating chocolate might ease the pain, but while you’re scarfing down that king-sized Snickers bar, consider this: you could possibly be causing yourself more stress. When finals are over, and you look in the mirror and see that you’ve gained about 10 pounds, you will definitely start stressing about wearing that cute new bikini. Don’t let the stress get to you – chew some gum instead.

2. “The drunk munchies don’t REALLY count.” – Yes. Yes, they do. You might not really remember it happening, but all of those greasy pizza slices and bags of potato chips do add up, especially because it’s late at night. Eating at night is always worse because your body has no chance of working it off before you go to sleep. I know it’s hard to control those cravings when you’ve had a few drinks, but I promise you’ll feel better when you wake up in the morning.

3. “It’s too hard to eat healthy in college.” – I know on my campus, the cheapest food is always the worst for you – cheeseburgers and fries for only $4 while a salad costs $7.50. In tough economic times, it’s easy to give in to the excuse that all you can afford are these fattening meals. You may have less money, but you should be spending that money on the most important things, and healthier foods are definitely one of those. You could even try running to the grocery store once a week and stocking up on some cheaper and healthier foods instead of relying on the campus cafeteria or, more likely, pizza place for your nightly meals. It may be slightly inconvenient, but it’ll be worth it in the end.

4. “It’s just this ONE time. And I deserve a treat!” – Okay, so sometimes you do deserve a little treat. Everyone knows that denying yourself of every unhealthy craving you have only results in binge eating. But that doesn’t mean you can completely give up and give into EVERY craving. First, you’re letting yourself have a few M&M’s. The next thing you know, you’re having macaroni and cheese for dinner – ‘This isn’t so bad. I ate a good breakfast and lunch’. And a few hours after that you’re chugging beer and eating wings and telling yourself that you worked hard this morning – and you deserve it. Treating yourself is a slippery slope, so you gotta stay focused.

5. “It’s cool, I went to the gym this morning.” – Good job on making it to the gym, but it’s completely counterproductive to eat like a pig just because you burned some calories earlier. In order to lose weight, you have to eat healthy AND work out. A few of my friends are constantly going to the gym in groups, coming back and feeling nice and sweaty, and then ruining everything by going out to dinner and eating disgusting amounts of food. When I point out that they basically just worked out for nothing, they come back with “Exercising makes me hungrier!” Okay, then have a healthy snack! Please don’t work your butt off at the gym only to come home and ruin it all with some junk food. It’s a complete waste of your time and energy and also just doesn’t make any sense.

6. “I’m starting my diet tomorrow.” – I have one friend who says this statement at least three times a week. “I’m starting a diet tomorrow, so I have to eat this stuff while I have the chance,” she says, as she eats anything unhealthy in site. Don’t pretend you haven’t done this before. You plan to start your diet on Wednesday, but then you wake up late and end up eating a bacon-egg-and-cheese for breakfast, so you decide to start Thursday. Thursday comes, and you do pretty good during the day, but then you go out and eat everything in your kitchen that night, so you figure you’ll start Friday. But on Friday you go out to lunch with your friends, and you HAVE to have at least three of those breadsticks. The weekend’s here, and you know it’s going to be hard, so you decide you’ll wait until Monday – a fresh start for a new week. Guess what? Putting it off is doing nothing but helping you gain a few extra pounds.

I remember those naive high school days when puking during a rager meant that a) you couldn’t control your liquor and b) the party was over, for you. That’s why I was shocked one night during my freshman year of college, when my friend came back from the bathroom and proudly announced, “Oh, man, I just puked my brains out!”

I immediately switched to babysitter-mode. “Are you okay? Do we need to leave?” I asked, fully concerned.

“Nope!” My friend replied. “Got more room for beer now!”

At the time, this was an unprecedented occurrence to me. I’d never considered the theory of “puke and rally.”

A few years later, I’ve totally become acquainted with this practice. One summer, after a coworker tried unsuccessfully to light three consecutive shots of Sambuca on fire in mouth, I knew that that much booze so quickly was not going to be good. After the third shot went down, I booked it for the bathroom and barfed. A friend was worriedly knocking on the bathroom door, concerned as I had once been for my own friend. I opened the door, and she asked if I was okay. My response?

“Let’s rage!”

It wasn’t until the next day that I’d admitted to vomiting. The funny thing is that, at the time, this seemed logical. But as I’m writing this, I am already imagining the scathing comments this article will receive from disgusted CC readers.

The truth is, there are thousands of college girls across the country who have taken to this procedure. Not only is it easy to think you’re sobering up by sticking your finger down your throat midway through the night (newsflash, you really aren’t), but, in today’s media-crazed, looks-obsessed society, there’s a lot of pressure for women to keep the freshman (or sophomore, or junior, or senior) fifteen off. And a lot of the time, getting rid of the empty alcohol calories seems like the way to go.

It’s a lot easier to induce vomiting when you’re already close to naturally letting go, or when you’re buzzed enough not to feel your index finger scraping your tonsils. And then there’s the midnight munchies. You know, when that chicken parm calzone, side of curly fries, and half order of mozzarella sticks sobers you up enough to know that you’re going to want to throw up in the morning just thinking about all those calories. So, ladies, what do many of us do? We throw up.

Vomiting due to drinking doesn’t have the stigma that true bulimia has. Bulimia is a disease. Binge drinking in college is merely a social problem. Besides, there’s always the “that hit me way too hard” excuse. If you’ve thrown up from drinking, chances are, people will assume it was a freak incident, but if your friends suspect you of having an eating disorder, they will call for intervention. So making yourself throw up with the “well I was drunk” excuse doesn’t seem so bad.

The truth? Purging is purging. You can’t make excuses to your esophagus when it is being eaten away by the stomach acid you just conjured up. And if you’re drinking to excess every night and consistently blowing chunks before hitting the hay, you better write an apology letter to your liver as well.

So, ladies, let’s make a pact – let’s not over-do the binging, and let’s not rely on purging as a quick solution to our bad decisions. Besides, what happens when you run into a hot guy at the end of the night, and your breath smells (and tastes) like stale beer, vomit, and the lingering aromas of cheese fries?

Taking 20 credits, working two jobs, and writing your thesis doesn’t leave for a whole lot of free time, and that’s a pretty hard thing to adjust to. I usually like to procrastinate – I work better with a gun to my head, it seems. But now I have to work in advance, because I don’t have time to do things the way I normally do.

This weekend, I don’t even have time to drink. What is my world coming to?

As for lessons learned these past two weeks or so, I realized the value of backing your sh*t up like your life depends on it. My thesis chapter was due on Monday. I didn’t finish it until Tuesday. Now, because I have an older version of OpenOffice (a free version of Microsoft Office, essentially), when my computer decided to spazz out, I lost 11 out of 12 pages.

Cue comfort food binging.

I binge eat when I’m upset. It’s a problem I’ve been working on for a while now, but I’m worried that this year might drive me back to it – especially when I’m this upset at the very beginning of the semester.

I started work this week essentially calling old alumni and asking them to donate to the college. Some of them ask me what I’m doing when I get out of school, and my uncertain answer usually consists of some variation of “I don’t know.” I’ve always want to work with animals, but I want to continue writing. There doesn’t seem to middle choice that I can find right now…and I don’t really feel like entirely looking for it. I don’t like thinking about the future as it is – planning the next couple years of my life nearly on my own has be a little upset.

Okay, who am I kidding? I’m flipping out.

For now, though, I’m just going to plow through the next couple of days. And maybe on Monday – because I don’t have time to do it on Sunday – I’ll get my drink on. God knows I need it.

I think my senior year might turn me into an alcoholic, you guys.

[Picture courtesy gettyimages.com]

Newsweek recently uncovered the six most fattening ice cream flavors (Personal note: there wasn’t any real news to cover, Newsweek? Like the upcoming elections, the crumbling economy, or the War on Iraq?). Here are the results of the study, with my personal opinions on whether 6 hours at the gym is worth a scoop or two.

1.Haagen Dazs Chocolate Peanut Butter: 360 calories, 24 grams of fat

This should really come as no surprise. Chocolate+Peanut Butter= guaranteed muffin top. But it’s sooo good! Still, 360 calories will take about half an hour of vigorous cardio on a CrossTrainer, and can you really trust yourself to stop at the teensy half-cup serving?

Fight this craving with: two frozen peanut butter cups.

2.Ben and Jerry’s Chubby Hubby: 330 calories, 20 grams of fat

Umm, did anyone EXPECT fudge-covered, peanut-butter-filled pretzels, swirled in vanilla malt ice cream and rippled with even more fudge and peanut butter to be healthy??? Sure, Ben and Jerry might be a perfect rebound after you spied your ex at the bar with the dorm sleaze, but you won’t be able to fit into your skinny jeans after more than a bite or two.

Fight this craving with: a 100 calorie pack of Mr. Salty chocolate-covered pretzels.

3.Haagen Dazs Butter Pecan: 310 calories, 23 grams of fat

First of all, Butter Pecan is a flavor my grandmother would go for. If I’m even going to think about spending the next month working off an ice cream binge, it sure as hell won’t be because I gave in to freakin’ Butter Pecan.

Fight this craving with: uhhh, anything with chocolate in it?

4.Sheer Bliss Pomegranite with Chocolate Chips: 320 calories, 20 grams of fat

I’ve never even heard of this, but I’m already drooling on my keyboard. Aren’t fruits supposed to be good for you? Damn your misleading ways, Pomegranite!

Fight this craving with: a Pomegranite martini and a Hershey’s Kiss or two. Yeah, the martini packs a lot of calories, but the buzz beats out the fat content any day (or is that just the alcoholic in me talking?).

5.Ben and Jerry’s Vermonty Python: 300 calories, 19 grams of fat

I will give Ben and Jerry credit; they beat Haagen Dazs any day. But because they are the frozen gods of PMS-cravings, they offer far too many reduced fat options to justify getting a third of your day’s fat content from a serving that’s smaller than a tennis ball.

Fight this craving with: The low-fat version of Cherry Garcia or Chocolate Fudge Brownie.

6.Coldstone Cookie Batter: 300 calories, 16 grams of fat

I’d like to interrupt this column with a quick anecdote: for a friend’s bridal shower, I served Coldstone ice cream cakes, and they were worth every calorie-packed bite.

Sure, I’ve given you craving-fighting options that offer fewer calories, but who am I kidding? If you want Vermonty Python, you’re going to keep wanting it until you shove a huge, dripping spoonful down your throat. If you want Chubby Hubby, 100 calories worth of pretzels is not going to suffice. So throw the rule books out the window, grab yourself a scoop of ice cream, and celebrate having the balls not to count calories.

Anything in moderation is okay…and when you’re ready, treadmills and South Beach will be waiting to burn off every succulent bite. Enjoy!

Really, I have no reason to be complaining. I’ve noticed a definite increase in my energy level, and while I can still quite happily sleep until noon, I don’t find myself passing out during the day as much as I used to. And while my allergies are still being a pain, even my asthma seems to be less aggressive. I’ve gotten to the point where I like and even look forward to going to the gym; I’ve perfected my iPod routine and work out for the entirety of an album (double albums don’t count) before I hit the showers.

But I’ve barely lost any weight. My endocrinologist swears I don’t have anything wrong with my metabolism, but I can’t help the sinking feeling that I’m not going to reach my goal weight when I wanted to. I’m not expecting anything ridiculous, but I would like to see a little progress, you know?

Now mind you, I’m pretty sure the diet-lapses in the past two weeks that I’ve had aren’t helping much. Finals and end-of-the-school-year stuff in general definitely raised my stress level, as I’m sure it did with pretty much everyone else. As a result, there was a fair amount binge eating, something I’m all too familiar with. Now because I stocked my fridge with nothing but fruit and my pantry with nothing but whole grains and fiber bars, there wasn’t much decadency going on, but my body is so ridiculous that I suppose it was enough to do something. Now that I’m home, I’ll be able to control myself a little better, since there isn’t much to eat here and no especially convenient stores around (save the corner store, which is far from your local health food place).

I’m heavily contemplating detoxing next week; this means, of course, that I will have to stock up on fruit like it’s my job. Maybe it’ll give a good jolt to my metabolism and help me deal with my allergies a little better. ‘til then, TTFN, ladies.

Current Weight: 226.5

Current Size: XXL, or 20/22.

After Lohan got into a drunken strung out car crash just a little over a month ago a gram of cocaine was found in her glove compartment finally affirming what everyone already knew: Lindsay Lohan does drugs. How convenient that an alcohol monitoring bracelet can in fact only detect alcohol

go figure.

But on the plus side for Lindz, it has no way to trace cocaine binges, ecstasy filled weekends or some top of the line gangah. Although not drinking keeps a belligerent Lindsay off the long and winding Hollywood roads she has now been let loose on the club scene once again but this time she really is holding a red bull.

Now 21 the former child star can’t seem to rid herself of scandal and intrigue.

With hacked MySpaces, paparazzi brigades and whacked out parents Lindsay is our favorite bad girl that we never thought was good. Gone are the days of Britney proclaiming “Oops I did it again”, this is the dawning of the “I did it again, and what?” age which was ignited by a pack of Hollywood socialites self destructing all at once but look absolutely fabulous while going down. Jailed, pregnant, drug overdosed, rehabbed with cases pending, divorced with two babies and a shaved head. No it’s not this seasons Jerry Springer line up it’s how Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Mischa Barton, Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears spent their summer.

The sad part is that these ultra rich ultra powerful girls have no guidance or support, just a check book and limitless possibilities. When alcohol monitoring bracelets become a fashion statement is all hope lost? We hope not but in the meantime you can get your black monitoring anklet for free at a county courthouse near you.

– Theresa Bennett

We cannot help but hunger for something, anything to keep the dream alive… or atleast our attention.

So as the hunger strike ends, let the gluttony begin.

Enter Kevin Johnson.

According to TMZ.com, this attention-starved media whore “has decided that he’s going to binge eat until Sanjaya wins the crown.”

Now, now, I know what your saying. This story is as tired as my grandmother nudging her tennisball-footed walker to the little girl’s room.

I hear you loud and clear and mad props back at’cha. But you gotta give it to Mr. Johnson. He claims his motive to be nothing more than a quest for fame. He lays it out on the level, and is pretty funny to look at while stuffing his face.

And unlike “J’ (aka Fat Ghandi) his video is proof that he not only talks the talk, but walks the walk as well.

Do we even care anymore?

The Beginning.

Four Days In.