What qualifies a binge?

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In mid-September of 2012, I apprehensively went to a doctor's appointment. I made an appointment to discuss my high blood pressure, but really for the sole purpose of talking to my doctor about my binge eating episodes. My doctor and I discussed what happened and how I felt during a binge. After discussing how compulsion runs in my family, it was determined that I needed to take a low dose of Prozac to help combat my binge eating episodes. Since compulsion runs in my family, my doctor thinks that mine comes out in the form of compulsive overeating and binge eating episodes...

I took my Prozac for about nine months total which includes about two months of weaning myself off the pills... With my personal definition of binge eating, I have not had an episode since my doctor's appointment in September of 2012. But, what constitutes a binge? According to Wikipedia:

Binge eating is a pattern of disordered eating which consists of episodes of uncontrollable eating. It is sometimes a symptom of binge eating disorder or compulsive overeating disorder. During such binges, a person rapidly consumes an excessive amount of food. Most people who have eating binges try to hide this behavior from others, and often feel ashamed about being overweight or depressed about their overeating. Although people who do not have any eating disorder may occasionally experience episodes of overeating, frequent binge eating is often a symptom of an eating disorder.

About one in five young women report that they have had binge-eating symptoms, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Women account for about 60% of binge-eating disorder symptoms.

Binge-eating disorder, as the name implies, is characterized by uncontrollable, excessive eating, followed by feelings of shame and guilt. Unlike those with bulimia, those with binge-eating disorder symptoms typically do not purge their food. However, many who have bulimia also have binge-eating disorder.

In my previous searches for binge eating information, I saw that some people classify it as eating more than 2500 calories in one sitting while some people say it's 3000 calories. There are a lot of different sites with a lot of different information regarding binge eating.

What do I think constitutes a binge eating episode?

Loss of control and being ashamed. Those are the biggest factors to me. I still overeat and I overeat often, but I do it consciously not because I lost control. I do it because I'm in the habit of eating more than I need to survive. I don't hide in my house alone when I want to eat... I don't feel ashamed after because I lost control... I feel slightly ashamed when I overeat just because I'm never going to lose weight if I keep overeating, but I'm not ashamed in the actual act of overeating...

Since September of 2012, I haven't sat at home eating because I just cannot stop. I haven't eaten until I'm physically ill and then felt so ashamed that I did it. While I do overeat, I don't believe that I've eaten more than 1500 calories in one sitting since my official diagnosis. The meals with that kind of calories intake are usually when I eat out at a restaurant or have seconds of an especially decadent dish I made at home. I don't eat an entire box of macaroni and cheese, four waffles with butter and syrup, and a ginormous bowl of cereal within a two hour period. That's the episode that made me realize I needed to seek help...

I think that that Prozac really helped me to understand when I was in a binge. I can now consciously make myself stop eating if I feel a binge coming on... and I do it often. I fought the urge to binge just the other night. I wanted to eat everything in sight even though I had just had a delicious and semi-healthy dinner... I forced myself to go to bed instead of binge. It has taken a lot of work, but I honestly feel like I've conquered my compulsive binge eating.

I just wish I could figure out how to control my overeating. While I no longer binge, I am still highly addicted to food. I feel like I need to discover a diet that tells me what to eat, how much to eat, and when to eat it. I think that the less control I have over what I can eat, the better I would do. People always tell me to buy only healthy groceries and to plan my meals in advance... and this works for a few days, but then it doesn't work anymore. I need a meal plan where I have no choice as to what I eat. Anyone know of any healthy meal plans like this???