Binge eating

When I quit smoking, I constantly said to myself, "I am not a smoker." Repeated in my head all day like some kind of weirdo. Try it! "I don't binge eat." Put that sentence on some Post-its around your house.

Also, finding ways to replace the "activity" of eating is a good strategy. There are a lot of books and podcasts and videos on the subject and it might help to do some tough introspective work on why you do it.

But to help while you're working on breaking the habit, some tips that work for me:

• Log everything, even when you binge. At the end of the day, put it to bed and move on. I think for me, removing any kind of guilt for enjoying food and life while still staying in control (my choices/my consequences!) has been key to success on the scale.
• Raise your standards. For example, if you love cookies, don't waste your calories on store-bought packages that make it easy to just keep reaching for another (unsatisfying) cookie. Go to a bakery and get a nice big delicious cookie. Plan for it, log it, move on.
• Incorporate it into your day if you can. Good cheese is one of my danger foods. It feels pretty decadent to put a 1/2 ounce of finely shredded good aged cheddar on my eggs in the morning. I know I can have it, so I don't keep shaving off slices to stuff in my face. I know I want to savor it (it's more expensive) and use it wisely but deliciously, where I truly appreciate it.
• Chips and snack crackers are weird for me. I don't even care for them that much, but if they're in the house, I will grab handfuls without even thinking. And trail mix! Holy cow. I do not know why. I can't buy them.

Sometimes I get a hankering for something and cannot get it out of my brain. This doesn't really fall into the category of bingeing (more obsessing over a specific thing), but my strategy might help: I just do it. I pick a day later in the week, buy the best ingredients to cook it (or pick a restaurant), and then take steps to offset the calories it's going to cost. This might mean an extra walk or two in the days leading up, eating at the lower end of my target calorie range for the rest of the week, etc. I recently made and devoured a perfect 1000 calorie cheeseburger. I'm not one to say "have a cheat day!" because that implies uncontrolled eating. But planning for a day that you know is going to be a big calorie day and logging it keeps you in control.

So, in summary: break the habit, plan to eat the things you really love, log it

Also, for what it's worth, you're losing weight so you're doing something right. Maybe 1/2 pound a week is an OK rate?