Best Advice Given After Overeating

For me, the occasional 600 over maintenance is a normal part of life, sometimes much more than 600 over.

IMO, this kind of calorie level is not inherently "a binge" in the eating disorder, technical sense of "binge".

What makes the difference, IMO, is state of mind, and only the person doing the eating knows that. S/he needs to do some honest self-assessment: Was it in fact a complete loss of control, literally unable to stop, compulsively consuming unusual amounts of nearly any food available? Was it a reaction to stress or other emotional upheaval? (In the OP description, it seems like there's room for that interpretation, based on things like "berserk", "feel sick").

If those kinds of psychological issues are present, then it would be a good plan to address them. If the problem isn't really food, then nothing about food is the solution (including white-knuckled adherence to calorie goals - that's just treating the symptoms, and avoiding the weight consequences: Not valueless, but not addressing the core problem). The real solution might be any number of things, from therapy to meditation to other more productive stress-management or self-soothing behaviors. At that point, it's not a food problem, it's another kind of problem expressing itself through food.

If, on the other hand, someone has been over-restricting calories, or not getting good nutrition, and the appetite hormones get the better of him/her as a consequence, it would be a good idea to re-examine diet strategies, and adopt a more sustainable approach. That's a reason to re-assess, and correct course in a better direction.

But eating over maintenance, even hundred (or thousands, sometimes) over maintenance - not necessarily a psychological problem. If I make a conscious decision to loosen the reins and eat/drink freely at Thanksgiving dinner, I'll be far over maintenance - hundreds to thousands. If I go out to dinner at a special restaurant, and decide to have an indulgent entree, a rich dessert, plus some wine or cocktails, I'll be far over maintenance. This is not inherently a sign of disordered eating. It's possible that people can make conscious choices to do these things, with the recognition that things need to balance out somewhere, over the long haul. It can be a low-drama kind of thing.

I agree with the OP that guilt, retribution, "making up for it" are not the answer. Figuring out what's behind it can be useful. If not hungry the next day (as sometimes happens), then eating less is fine. If more energy the next day(s), then sure, extra workouts or extra intensity. But the "must make up for it" mentality, if it begins to move toward guilt, shame, self-blame, extremes of exercise or calorie compensation - also potentially signs of deeper issues, just as true uncontrolled binge eating can be a sign of deeper issues.

It's definitely been my experience, by the way, that the scale-weight consequences of a rare, isolated high-calorie day or two are much less dramatic than I might expect from the raw calorie count, as long as I'm back on my normal routine immediately. I don't know why, but I've found it to be so (across 4+ years of maintaining a healthy weight, BTW).