He sat down  on the couch with a bag of chips to watch television. At the end of show, he looked down and realized he had eaten the entire 12-ounce bag of Cool Ranch Doritos…

…If he had done the math, he would have realized that that bag contained 1,680 calories. On a 2,000-calorie diet, he consumed almost all of his daily intake of calories in that one bag of chips. Why did he do it?

“I felt satisfied after eating the entire bag,” junior Zach Mendoza said. “I was kind of proud of myself too.”

Binge eating like this happens without realization. Binge eating may not always be hunger-related. Sometimes it’s a craving or simply boredom that leads to calorie intake.

According to familyeducation.com, “Emotional cravings can lead to binging.” The guilt and weight afterwards can be distressing.

“No human being should be able to eat an entire big bag of chips by herself,” sophomore Stacy Loewen said. “I feel so fat everytime I eat large amounts of food.”

According to familyeducation.com  consumers need to learn to listen to their bodies and know what they’re trying to tell them.

Junior Navil Hernandez lost over 40 pounds since her sophomore year. She found herself eating between meals.

“I would eat when I was bored,” Hernandez said. “Now I just want to weigh 125. I started working out and running. I ate fruits and stuff…healthy things, but I only ate one meal a day. That’s probably not healthy.”

Junior Dominick Uriegas does not look at the food content or nutritional facts of what he consumes.

“I never look at calories,” Uriegas said. “I eat whatever I want, and then I work out, so it doesn’t ruin my figure.”

Like Uriegas, junior J.R. Taylor does not worry about the nutritional facts or food content of what he eats. Taylor considers himself a binge eater. During a normal school day, Taylor consumes five-to-six snack size bags of chips, two-to-three juice boxes and one ice cream in addition to his normal lunch.

“I get hungry very quickly,” Taylor said. “I carry a lot of chips and other snack food during the day to help me stay full.”

Taylor said his family does not have a history of being obese.

“I’m sure if I start gaining weight, I can just cut back on junk food,” Taylor said.

Whether gaining weight or not, binge eating often is with unhealthy choices like junk food with little or no nutritional value.

According to Faith Allen who writes on eHow, a binge eater needs to learn to give him or herself permission to eat what he or she wants. They need to learn to deal with their guilt because the guilt fuels the negative feelings.

Allen suggests positive coping tools to prevent binge eating. When one has a craving, he or she should try exercising, talking with a friend, yoga, playing a musical instrument or anything else that helps one manage emotions in a more positive way.

“When I’m sad, I like eating sweets,” senior Justina Fehr said. “I eat a lot when I’m upset because it helps me cope with my problems.”

Recent changes to school food service requirements and even the implementation of the Fitness Gram are governmental measures designed to deal with student health out of control, but students must learn to help themselves.

“I’m not concerned with staying healthy,” Mendoza said. “If I was, I wouldn’t eat an entire bag of Doritos.”