Binging

xcbballuver

Ugh, i binged today. i consumed about 2300 calories. almost after two weeks of meticulously logging my food, i binged >< this always happens to me. I binge and then exercise and eat right the next couple or weeks. Then i binge again..How do i break this cycle? helpp! i rly wanted to lose weight this time. and just as i was making progress THIS binge happened>

ashley_h10

it happens to me too. I figure i lose sight of my goal because i love food so much and stress etc plays a large part in it. Just do the best you can do! Cliche but its true...tmw is a new day! hey, at least you start exercising and eating right again after a binge...that more than a lot of people can say right? Allow yourself a cheat day every once in a while...hopefully it will stave off the binge eating

AmenoKaji

Its normal but try planning your cheat meal/day. Also its only 1 day, 1 day isn't enough to destroy anyone's results. Start back on your regular plan tomorrow. Cheat days or random binges will come because of the meticiouls planning and micromanaging your foods and eating perfectly, eventually the body and mind will want a break, its just controlling the break or doing something that subsides it so you don't overdo it when you have one. Just don't super restrict your diet (more than what you would have normally did) because of the cheat day you ended up having, it will just make it worse next time around, because you're in a way punishing yourself.

imagymrat

I don't agree with the cheat day. I think it acts like a reward system for "behaving well" all week, and then you reward yourself with food. Bad idea and a bad habit to get into. A cheat meal can destroy your whole weeks effort. I think at this stage of the game, You need to focus on portions and control. Eat what you would normally eat and cut it in half. At this point you want to teach your body signals, when you're full for example, I wouldn't jump head first into a strict 1200 calorie a day diet and kill it in the gym,. You'll lose motivation for sure. Start small, little achievable goals, break up your meals to 5-6 six smaller ones, start cutting back on the fats, butter, switch to whole grains, small steps, will help with bingeing, You're feeling like you're "dieting" which can bring on a binge, if you feel deprived you're going to fail. So instead try another way, there's no right or wrong way to healthy eating. It's whatever steps you need to take to get you there. If that means, cutting back to one fried egg instead of two and then going to soft boiled eggs, that's a start, those little changs will make a big difference. Make sure you're hydrated, drink water before you eat anything. Hope I helped you a little! Good luck!...remember nothig is off limits, it becomes a prblem when you get it set in your head that you can't have it....that's when the real problems begin. With time your body will adjust to the changes and the cravings and binges will eventaully stop, not an easy process and there's no quick fixes.

AmenoKaji

A cheat "meal", cannot destroy an entire weeks of work, unless you've hardly done any work and or decide it would be a great time to eat 7000 calories in one setting. Just sayin'. We could have different definitions of what a cheat meal or day is however. But most of everything else you said is correctt for standard weight loss procedures. Like i said already, a binge will come around when you've micromanaged (extreme dieted, went too far for too long) and finally lose it out of trying to maintain such a rigid disciplin. There is nothing wrong with rewarding yourself upon surpassing a desired goal, as long as its managed. (Because its possible to have a cheat meal, something you want, within your daily calorie intake. possibly slightly above as it does help break a plateau if you've been undereating).

jodiking

I am in the exact same situation as you!! I have been so strick for just about 2 weeks and tonight has been a major binge night!!! I hate it!!! I do not understand myself!!!!! I want to lose weight soooo bad but it is so easy for me to lose motivation!!!

imagymrat

A cheat "meal", cannot destroy an entire weeks of work, unless you've hardly done any work and or decide it would be a great time to eat 7000 calories in one setting. Just sayin'. We could have different definitions of what a cheat meal or day is however. But most of everything else you said is correctt for standard weight loss procedures. Like i said already, a binge will come around when you've micromanaged (extreme dieted, went too far for too long) and finally lose it out of trying to maintain such a rigid disciplin. There is nothing wrong with rewarding yourself upon surpassing a desired goal, as long as its managed. (Because its possible to have a cheat meal, something you want, within your daily calorie intake. possibly slightly above as it does help break a plateau if you've been undereating).

It can ruin a whole weeks worth of effort, I see it in the gym everyday...it's not uncommon for people to eat in excess of 1000 calories in a meal, which usually leads to guilt which then leads to poor choices the rest of the day, because the "well I blew it" mentality carries over. A cheat day or meal, whatever you want to call it, is a very bad idea for someone who's just starting out or has lots of weight to lose. If you want to justify it as being ok, go right ahead, but don't tell me I don't know what i'm talking about,. I see it everyday.

sbilyeu75

A cheat "meal", cannot destroy an entire weeks of work, unless you've hardly done any work and or decide it would be a great time to eat 7000 calories in one setting. Just sayin'. We could have different definitions of what a cheat meal or day is however. But most of everything else you said is correctt for standard weight loss procedures. Like i said already, a binge will come around when you've micromanaged (extreme dieted, went too far for too long) and finally lose it out of trying to maintain such a rigid disciplin. There is nothing wrong with rewarding yourself upon surpassing a desired goal, as long as its managed. (Because its possible to have a cheat meal, something you want, within your daily calorie intake. possibly slightly above as it does help break a plateau if you've been undereating).

I agree with this. Yet I do it, all the time. It's probably one of the reasons I've been at a stand still.


It can ruin a whole weeks worth of effort, I see it in the gym everyday...it's not uncommon for people to eat in excess of 1000 calories in a meal, which usually leads to guilt which then leads to poor choices the rest of the day, because the "well I blew it" mentality carries over. A cheat day or meal, whatever you want to call it, is a very bad idea for someone who's just starting out or has lots of weight to lose. If you want to justify it as being ok, go right ahead, but don't tell me I don't know what i'm talking about,. I see it everyday.

beautifulnow

cheat days are stupid...who are you cheating?? yourself!! Everyone wants to be kind and tell each other what they wanna hear but as I sit here eating Chocolate pie I am DECIDING to be fat....not tomorrow I will try harder but if I want to be thin as much as I think I would have never bought the dang pie....BUT I am only eating half and I haven't had anything else.....we cheat and then slipp for the day and then lay down for the week and before you know it you are posting a "I'm back.." or "fell off the wagon" post.
its easy if you wanna be fat then fine but claim it and if you really want to be thin then eat right alllllll the time and I am sure some of you will be pissed but lucky for me I dont care.....you are only mad cause you know I am right

AmenoKaji

A cheat "meal", cannot destroy an entire weeks of work, unless you've hardly done any work and or decide it would be a great time to eat 7000 calories in one setting. Just sayin'. We could have different definitions of what a cheat meal or day is however. But most of everything else you said is correctt for standard weight loss procedures. Like i said already, a binge will come around when you've micromanaged (extreme dieted, went too far for too long) and finally lose it out of trying to maintain such a rigid disciplin. There is nothing wrong with rewarding yourself upon surpassing a desired goal, as long as its managed. (Because its possible to have a cheat meal, something you want, within your daily calorie intake. possibly slightly above as it does help break a plateau if you've been undereating).

It can ruin a whole weeks worth of effort, I see it in the gym everyday...it's not uncommon for people to eat in excess of 1000 calories in a meal, which usually leads to guilt which then leads to poor choices the rest of the day, because the "well I blew it" mentality carries over. A cheat day or meal, whatever you want to call it, is a very bad idea for someone who's just starting out or has lots of weight to lose. If you want to justify it as being ok, go right ahead, but don't tell me I don't know what i'm talking about,. I see it everyday.

When I first started out at 440lbs. I was eating at 1200 calories daily, for the first month. I'm pretty sure I know ALOT more about willpower then you ever will. Sorry, until you actually post a picture of your "before" I wouldn't believe that you were ever overweight. That's just my opionion anyway, whether you like it or not.

What you see in the Gym everyday is a bunch of people who don't know the first thing about nutrition, pure and simple. (Talkin' about the ones that suddeenly explode once they step off their diet, unless they're in competition shape, then its expected and they already know what will happen) They are the people that come in there and hit the bench press or the squat machine, and then go grab a mcdonalds cheeseburger for a post workout meal and eat like crap to begin with and complain about no gains when they have a "cheat" meal, that happens to have been 2 xtra large pizza's. Wondering why they aren't seeing proper gains or a weight loss Or they are the ridiculous person that got into the stupid mentality of being so rigid and inflexible with their diet that they literally burn themselves out because of people like you, when they're in their first stage of learning their own personal habits. News flash, what works for you, does not work for others. You should know this, which is also why you cannot preach against it. We all know what methods(methods=MORE THAN ONE WAY IS RIGHT) it takes to see results, not everyone is capable of following straight through with those methods and some methods are MORE extreme then others.

I have my own diet plans, one for extreme results, and one that I can maintain a steady weight loss/ not gain weight/fat while eating healthy and still having what I would like.

and to Beautiful, falling off the wagon has nothing to do with having a meal you will enjoy (franky I enjoy my meals to begin with but yeah..) falling off the wagon comes from someone that didn't properly learn how to change their lifestyle and their eating habit to begin with. They picked up a trend diet or really stupid advice from someone that didn't work for them, so they gave up. plain and simple.

Edit: Your will power = your results. Long term and otherwise. If yyour will power is so weak that looking at a doughtnut breaks you into a month long habit of overeating, that is only your fault. sorry.

smhunnicutt

My husband is a truck driver. When he comes home it seems that I eat more and bad foods. I hate it. Then he says just one piece won't hurt you. But I do good till he gets home

imagymrat

A cheat "meal", cannot destroy an entire weeks of work, unless you've hardly done any work and or decide it would be a great time to eat 7000 calories in one setting. Just sayin'. We could have different definitions of what a cheat meal or day is however. But most of everything else you said is correctt for standard weight loss procedures. Like i said already, a binge will come around when you've micromanaged (extreme dieted, went too far for too long) and finally lose it out of trying to maintain such a rigid disciplin. There is nothing wrong with rewarding yourself upon surpassing a desired goal, as long as its managed. (Because its possible to have a cheat meal, something you want, within your daily calorie intake. possibly slightly above as it does help break a plateau if you've been undereating).

It can ruin a whole weeks worth of effort, I see it in the gym everyday...it's not uncommon for people to eat in excess of 1000 calories in a meal, which usually leads to guilt which then leads to poor choices the rest of the day, because the "well I blew it" mentality carries over. A cheat day or meal, whatever you want to call it, is a very bad idea for someone who's just starting out or has lots of weight to lose. If you want to justify it as being ok, go right ahead, but don't tell me I don't know what i'm talking about,. I see it everyday.

When I first started out at 440lbs. I was eating at 1200 calories daily, for the first month. I'm pretty sure I know ALOT more about willpower then you ever will. Sorry, until you actually post a picture of your "before" I wouldn't believe that you were ever overweight. That's just my opionion anyway, whether you like it or not.

What you see in the Gym everyday is a bunch of people who don't know the first thing about nutrition, pure and simple. (Talkin' about the ones that suddeenly explode once they step off their diet, unless they're in competition shape, then its expected and they already know what will happen) They are the people that come in there and hit the bench press or the squat machine, and then go grab a mcdonalds cheeseburger for a post workout meal and eat like crap to begin with and complain about no gains when they have a "cheat" meal, that happens to have been 2 xtra large pizza's. Wondering why they aren't seeing proper gains or a weight loss Or they are the ridiculous person that got into the stupid mentality of being so rigid and inflexible with their diet that they literally burn themselves out because of people like you, when they're in their first stage of learning their own personal habits. News flash, what works for you, does not work for others. You should know this, which is also why you cannot preach against it. We all know what methods(methods=MORE THAN ONE WAY IS RIGHT) it takes to see results, not everyone is capable of following straight through with those methods and some methods are MORE extreme then others.

I have my own diet plans, one for extreme results, and one that I can maintain a steady weight loss/ not gain weight/fat while eating healthy and still having what I would like.

and to Beautiful, falling off the wagon has nothing to do with having a meal you will enjoy (franky I enjoy my meals to begin with but yeah..) falling off the wagon comes from someone that didn't properly learn how to change their lifestyle and their eating habit to begin with. They picked up a trend diet or really stupid advice from someone that didn't work for them, so they gave up. plain and simple.

My, you are full of yourself, 400 lbs or not, you have no right to judge anyone. I couldn't give a flying rat's a** if you don't believe I was ever overweight, I don't need to prove anything to you. You make quite the genera ljudgement call on peoples behaviours and lifestyles yet you know nothing about them.. If you were successfull with your weight loss and you want to share tips that's fantastic, but you can leave the know it all attitude at the door, it's not needed. Falling off the wagon can definitely be a result of a cheat meal, as I stated before, it starts off as an innocent meal, and can lead to further calorie consumption because of guilt or whatever have you, whatever justification someone wants to throw out there. As far as the gym goes, have you interviewed everyone there? again your opinion, and right now it's meaning squat to me. I can't respect someone who has no respect for anothers opinion. There's people from all walks of life there, cardiologists, nutritionists, police officers, stay at home moms, the fact that you lost 400 pounds doesn't make you an expert on what will work for everyone, only for you. And for the record, I didn't get the way I am now by having cheat meals, hard work and dedication got me there.

iowabelle

My husband is a truck driver. When he comes home it seems that I eat more and bad foods. I hate it. Then he says just one piece won't hurt you. But I do good till he gets home

It sounds like your husband wants an eating buddy.

I do the binge thing too. It got started after I had a bad breakup and a "broken heart", which I promptly cured with lots of pizza and beer... and gained 50 pounds in about 4 months. It's gone on for SO LONG.

Right now I'm just about shaking because I want to eat something so bad. I thought I didn't have anything in the house b/c I was trying to eat better... but I remembered one of the things here that is higher calorie. And now I want it so bad. I guess I'll try to put it off for 15 minutes, maybe the "wanting" will go away, I'll fall asleep or something.

And I don't think "cheat days" are a good idea. I have a tendency to make every day a cheat day.

AmenoKaji

Oh and to stop taking over this post, you are more than welcome to flame me in Pms if you would like. doesn't matter to me either way I already added what's worked for me in the past.

Ely82010

I will play devils advocate. Do you think that a cheat meal will not harm you, will not hurt all your efforts, your healthy habits and meals?

Think again! Would you do the same thing to your marriage or relationship? Would you cheat on your wife, husband BF or GF just once becaue it will not hurt.

It is a matter of self respect, control, and commitment to your health and eating habits. Temptations are everywhere, they can not be avoided BUT we do have control on how we react to them.

We should eat to live, not live to eat.

lizzys

that is so me this week i think its from not smoking i need to get it under control, just a thought anytime you over eat its bad for you. God calls it gluttony:sick: it one of the ten major sins.it makes you gain alot of weight witch is the number on killer out theri it shows God is right again:flowerforyou:

AmenoKaji

I will play devils advocate. Do you think that a cheat meal will not harm you, will not hurt all your efforts, your healthy habits and meals?

Think again! Would you do the same thing to your marriage or relationship? Would you cheat on your wife, husband BF or GF just once becaue it will not hurt.

It is a matter of self respect, control, and commitment to your health and eating habits. Temptations are everywhere, they can not be avoided BUT we do have control on how we react to them.

We should eat to live, not live to eat.

Oohh I got one for that, is masterbation cheating in the relationship?! :O I mean its with yourself after all.. much like your diet.. okay i'll stop joking around.

Anywho I did say to "plan" the cheat meal if you're going to have one to "Control" the possibility of binging from being overly strict. and to me (as in, myself, me a lone) no, I don't feel that a cheat meal of my choosing will harm my own diet. Because I have the power to pick up my diet as normal the next day and to not feel guilty about giving myself something that would be off my normal menu. Because my standard diet alone will carry me to my goals and because out of habit I workout as hard as I possibly can each workout. One day, does not equal my lifetime results. Consistent good habits equal my lifetime results.

lizzys

I will play devils advocate. Do you think that a cheat meal will not harm you, will not hurt all your efforts, your healthy habits and meals?

Think again! Would you do the same thing to your marriage or relationship? Would you cheat on your wife, husband BF or GF just once becaue it will not hurt.

It is a matter of self respect, control, and commitment to your health and eating habits. Temptations are everywhere, they can not be avoided BUT we do have control on how we react to them.

We should eat to live, not live to eat.

Oohh I got one for that, is masterbation cheating in the relationship?! :O I mean its with yourself after all.. much like your diet.. okay i'll stop joking around.

Anywho I did say to "plan" the cheat meal if you're going to have one to "Control" the possibility of binging from being overly strict. and to me (as in, myself, me a lone) no, I don't feel that a cheat meal of my choosing will harm my own diet. Because I have the power to pick up my diet as normal the next day and to not feel guilty about giving myself something that would be off my normal menu. Because my standard diet alone will carry me to my goals and because out of habit I workout as hard as I possibly can each workout. One day, does not equal my lifetime results. Consistent good habits equal my lifetime results.

cheating dose not mean,gluttony but if we were not gluattonos we would not have to lose weight :noway: shes right people are not going to stay true to a diet like they would to a relationship,if you do cheat plan it and make it small:huh: no ex large milkshake a small one

SouthernBell86

Hmm, I'm not really personally sure about cheating or not cheating. I think it works for some people, but it would probably not really be called cheating as they do it. Cheating indicates something sneaky, against the rules and guilt inducing, whereas planned meals or days of eating outside the new food plans should not be those three things.

The key to that is that it is planned, whereas binge eating is not really something you plan as much as it just happens one day. You really do want to avoid that if you can, because it can have a snowball effect.

My best tip to anyone struggling with unwanted binge eating is to journal about WHY you did it. It doesn't have to be public, but try to get to the root of how you were feeling emotionally beforehand, whether you had real hunger pains or were just mentally "ready to eat" and how you felt during and after. Save it. Read it the next day.

Learn from your past mistakes and then forgive yourself and move on. Figure out what triggers you. Figure out what motivates you. Use those things to your advantage. The best way I know to learn those things about yourself is to write them all out in the heat of the moment.

Also, when you are feeling great because of a healthy meal or a great workout, write about that too so that when you are tempted to binge or not exercise, you can be reminded in your own words why doing what is good for you is so great!

I finally realized that when I chose food (for binge eating) I was really rejecting people. Everyday is a choice of food or people, and what will be more important in my life that day. Ultimately I have to decide which one will make me happier in the long run, and remind myself that eating crazy food is another step towards denying myself those people and that happiness.

So I encourage you to start figuring yourself out like that so that you can use personal knowledge as your best tool for weight loss! :happy:

29bubbles

I didn't read everyone elses reply.. so sorry, in advance, if I repeat something already said

IMO, log it. Log every single thing you binged on every time you bing. For me that has helping a ton - just seeing how many cals I really am comsumming then also asking myself "did I really need that?" and learning that binging is not going to help me fill in a gap left by the weeks/lifes issues.

It is a bad cycle... I've done it and can't say that it won't happen again... but the first step is not wanting to do it anymore.

Hang in there, and log it if it happens. I don't take a day off/cheat day.. cause if I take one.. that leaves my mind open to take more. I think taking a cheap/day off depends on the individual.
I

HealthyChanges2010

I don't agree with the cheat day. I think it acts like a reward system for "behaving well" all week, and then you reward yourself with food. Bad idea and a bad habit to get into. A cheat meal can destroy your whole weeks effort. I think at this stage of the game, You need to focus on portions and control. Eat what you would normally eat and cut it in half. At this point you want to teach your body signals, when you're full for example, I wouldn't jump head first into a strict 1200 calorie a day diet and kill it in the gym,. You'll lose motivation for sure. Start small, little achievable goals, break up your meals to 5-6 six smaller ones, start cutting back on the fats, butter, switch to whole grains, small steps, will help with bingeing, You're feeling like you're "dieting" which can bring on a binge, if you feel deprived you're going to fail. So instead try another way, there's no right or wrong way to healthy eating. It's whatever steps you need to take to get you there. If that means, cutting back to one fried egg instead of two and then going to soft boiled eggs, that's a start, those little changs will make a big difference. Make sure you're hydrated, drink water before you eat anything. Hope I helped you a little! Good luck!...remember nothig is off limits, it becomes a prblem when you get it set in your head that you can't have it....that's when the real problems begin. With time your body will adjust to the changes and the cravings and binges will eventaully stop, not an easy process and there's no quick fixes.

I totally agree with you on this one imagymrat, the whole concept of 'cheat day, cheat meal, cheat cheat cheat'.. what does it even mean?

Like someone else shared....who the heck do we think we're cheating??? When I hear this over and over again what I hear is ppl trying to justify food as a means of a reward. Isn't this how the majority of us got overweight in the first place?

Enjoy a treat, but why hide it, why do we feel the need to call it a cheat in the first place? This has always confused me, this is one of the first threads I've seen with a few of you agreeing that it's used as a reward system for eating and really serves no positive purpose. I'm glad to see others also feel this way.

It's hard to see so many feel they need to reward themselves each week or every other day or however often 'this cheat deal is done' with food! What about incorporating it into your daily lives, like a person that's not been overweight might do naturally. Do they eat French fries every day? oh heck no, that's why they aren't over weight, most likely, right? Do they call an occasional treat a 'CHEAT'? lol I highly doubt it...once in awhile they decide to eat something they enjoy that might be a higher calorie, less healthy food. But it's incorporated into their day, isn't this what OUR goal is? To make this a new way of dealing with food, creating a new lifestyle and a healthier relationship with food? Least that's what I've been learning to do and look to continue too....

ohhhhhhh I think I'll go to bed and not get all nuts over ppl and their cheat days. :grumble: :laugh:

It simply reminds me of a 1st grader or a jr. high kid 'cheating' and thinking they'll get away with it. But at least they are cheating from the teacher, who is a person cheating except ourselves by pretending a cheat weekend won't show up and effect how the beginning of our next week will start out? :huh:

LotusF1ower

A cheat "meal", cannot destroy an entire weeks of work, unless you've hardly done any work and or decide it would be a great time to eat 7000 calories in one setting. Just sayin'. We could have different definitions of what a cheat meal or day is however. But most of everything else you said is correctt for standard weight loss procedures. Like i said already, a binge will come around when you've micromanaged (extreme dieted, went too far for too long) and finally lose it out of trying to maintain such a rigid disciplin. There is nothing wrong with rewarding yourself upon surpassing a desired goal, as long as its managed. (Because its possible to have a cheat meal, something you want, within your daily calorie intake. possibly slightly above as it does help break a plateau if you've been undereating).

All depends what the cheat meal is and how often. Some people are cheating regularly, stuffing their faces and then moaning "oh the weight is not shifting, have I reached a plateau, should I eat more to kickstart my metabolism" WTH???

Eating cheats is what got us here in the first place, personally if anybody thinks I am going back to that way of eating, they can think again.

3500 extra calories is needed to put on 1lb, a couple of big Macs and chips (fries) - don't like to think how many in that little pile of grease. A portion of battered fish and chips - over 1000 calories. A large pizza from Dominos - hazard a guess.....

The list is endless and cheating can ruin weeks and weeks of hard effort. How? Because suddenly consuming large amount of carbs will make the eater crave more and eat more they will.

Iamagymrat is totally correct, the person has broken their eating plan and so may as well continue breaking it for the day and by gum they will break it bigtime, because you see, they know that going back onto it from "tomorrow", they will be unable to have these lovely "treats" that they have missed so much.

A change in thinking is what is required, a lifestyle change. The little lightbulb needs to go on in their heads so that they realise that eating correctly benefits them mentally as well as physically, but until they see it for themselves, nothing, anybody will say will make a jot of difference.

Those high carb foods that make a person crave more are addictive in their nature and for a person trying so desperately to lose weight, they are, in effect, poison.

In reference to your later posting, you quoted:

Oohh I got one for that, is masterbation cheating in the relationship?! :O I mean its with yourself after all.. much like your diet.. okay i'll stop joking around.

Anywho I did say to "plan" the cheat meal if you're going to have one to "Control" the possibility of binging from being overly strict. and to me (as in, myself, me a lone) no, I don't feel that a cheat meal of my choosing will harm my own diet. Because I have the power to pick up my diet as normal the next day and to not feel guilty about giving myself something that would be off my normal menu. Because my standard diet alone will carry me to my goals and because out of habit I workout as hard as I possibly can each workout. One day, does not equal my lifetime results. Consistent good habits equal my lifetime results.

You are very fortunate that you can pick up where you left off, I too can do that now, but a hell of a lot of people cannot do that and it is these people that are desperate for the help. You don't feel guilty, well they do.

It is not the actual cheat food that is the issue here, but the mentality that will surround it after it is consumed.

beautyqueen1979

There are a lot of good points raised on this board. I think for me, I don't use the word 'cheat'. I am here to learn to live a new way, and never look back. I'm not dieting, only to go back to my old habits when I burn out. Because this is me, for life, there are going to be days over the course of your month or year when you have a meal which is bigger than your average - such as going out for dinner. The way I see it, if I decide I am going to have a meal which is heavier in cals (etc) rather than opting for my normal sized meals, I will work for it that day. Today I have 1500 cals left for dinner. So when I go out for a meal tonight, I will allow myself to choose something I like from the menu - of course, I will not have a starter/dessert and will still tend to stay away from anything battered/fried/greasy, but I will choose a main that I like, and enjoy it. Also when I go out for meals I tend to avoid chains or places which live to sell burgers/pizzas/fried chicken etc. I am fortunate to have a selection of independent restaurants serving fresh local produce nearby to choose from

I won't have a full day of overeating, or have anything I want. That was the me that got me to where I am. I am learning that I can still eat some of the foods I used to but in moderation - i.e. choose between a heavier main or allowing myself a small dessert one day (obviously not daily!). That sort of thing. It has worked for me so far in making me feel like I am not denying myself anything, and has helped in changing my thinking towards eating - I am no longer obsessed with or even thinking about the next time I can eat X or Y.