Dear Zoe: I am also writing down my daily tally of food eaten. If you’re curious, it’s under “portion control attempts by Helen”. I know I’m starting to sound repetitious in this forum but I’ll give this advice again because it seems to work for weight loss and control. Eat more at breakfast if you can.
From your list above, I can tell that you are running a daily energy deficit (unless you binge) and this is probably the largest ’cause’ of giving into your urge to binge every few days. The other largest cause usually has something to do with a welling-up of negative emotions.
In your quest to drop the last 11 pounds, I know the temptation is to cut out about 500 calories a day because this is what most diet specialists advise…as a means to lose 1 lb/week. In my experience, this is what deprives me of the energy and satisfaction I need to resist binges, so this plan always backfires and I don’t keep that lost 1 pound off.
If you can accept a slower rate of weight loss, for example, 1 lb per month, then you can you eat a food plan that equals your actual daily energy need subtract 100 cals. If you want to lose 2 lb/month, then subtract 200 cals from the daily energy needs.
There are daily pressures and tensions that each one of us faces. Try to co-exist with the ones that are not so ‘serious’, rather than trying to temporarily smother the unpleasant sensation with food. Work on the serious issues. The key word here is “try”. Like the advice in other logs, if you do overeat despite trying to not…move on and eat the next regular meal instead of punishing yourself with calorie restriction…like others have said in their logs, skipping supper or dinner sets them up to binge the following afternoon.
