I am in Month 4 of this journey - and like you all said, the struggle with binging is SO real! It's so helpful to hear all your stories. The good and the bad. Having a place where we can all be honest AND accountable has made a huge difference in my journey, and I hope in all yours too.
@Bee21 You're doing awesome tackling the snacking habit. I found habit hacking really useful. Drinking hot herbal tea/water, mints/gum, finding alternate activities during typical snacky moments. And when a couple of times when I got HANGRY, a workout did the trick to improve my mood AND kill the cravings.
@alleykat I think it's important from a mental perspective to celebrate every small win. 2 pounds is fabulous! (and so much better than doing nothing and GAINING 2 pounds in the same period of time. Time is going to pass anyway!)
@Geostache You are doing absolutely amazing :) I agree - now that you've done so much hard work and learned so much about your body, it's time to consider your feelings towards food. What about planning for some controlled binges? Pre-plan some treats into your week in a way that works and that might reduce your guilt and help with overall sustainability. Plus, if they are planned for, they won't be binges anymore, but completely under your control.
For me, binging comes in phases. I agree with you. It does seem to matter what type of food we eat. My boss ordered pizza a couple of days ago. I ended up eating 3 slices plus a serving of Caesar Salad. That's a TON of calories. And all I wanted to do was keep chewing. That extended into the evening and my attempts at a low cal dinner ballooned, leaving me about 300 cals over my daily limit.
Despite that, I have been making good choices all week and I KNOW it will pay off - eventually I will get past this initial hunger hurdle and feel full on my usual meals and my urge to binge will decrease. It worked for me in the past few months and I know it will work again. What I did learn then was that it was helpful for me to plan for some splurges. It decreased any sense of deprivation. I want this to be my way of eating for the rest of my life. If I don't intend to cut out cakes, cookies, etc forever, then I am not going to cut them out now. Or it's highly likely that I will yo-yo and regain the weight.
On the good side, I dropped a pound (mostly bloat weight) on the scale this morning, hitting a new low for the first time since my mid-March vacation! Logging WORKS for me. I have learned that when a craving comes, I do have a hard time saying an absolute no. So it's often better to just eat a small portion of it. Was still munchy after dinner last night and reached for DH's yummy organic energy bars. He handed me 2 delicious oranges instead. After guzzling those, I still ended up consuming the energy bar and it was SO GOOD. Next time, if it works out in my calorie counts, I'm just going to let myself eat a small portion of whatever I am craving (if i'm not craving anything too horrendous).