Marie from NZ wrote to me saying: I have just read your book and putting the tools into practise and for once feel a HUGE relief around the whole issue and am very excited about the future of my weight journey.  BUT I have so many questions but topical right now is how to deal with the ‘binge’ feelings and actions that still occur esp mid-afternoon onwards – it is my danger time.  This has become MORE dangerous as I have my high sacrifice foods in the house (am a stay at home mum) for morning tea time.  I have already eaten through (in one sitting) my whole supply of cheezels for next week!!! In some ways am feeling more out of control.  Help 🙂

Thanks Marie for raising this critical issue. This is very common in the early stages as your mind is still operating on the lifelong hangover belief that you still really aren’t allowed to eat cheezels (or whatever). So when you make them available your mind thinks ‘I’ve got to make the most of this opportunity.’ This will improve over time as your mind come to see that you really can eat whatever you want. But in this transition phase of ‘food relationship recovery’ you are at risk of overeating the foods you love. The solution? Pause Points. What has no pause points? A big packet of cheezels. Surprisingly the solution is provided by the food manufacturers (you won’t hear me say that very often!)

The pack on the right is for the smail ‘variety’ packs – each with only 100 Calories (not that I want you to count calories). This is what a great pause point looks like. To start a second packet you have to go back to your cupboard, take it out and open the second packet. It’s not the work involved to do this – it’s the fact that it creates a space in which you decide if you really want more. Effective pause points include making your favourite muffins (not too big) and freezing them so you only defrost one at a time (to binge you have to really love rock hard ice-cold muffins and have good teeth!) There are all sorts of ways to make pause points – get creative. The ultimate pause point is a shop. Just buy one portion e.g. a small chocolate snack bar and take it home – make sure it gets the full savouring treatment. Ultimately, no one can stop you from overeating if you’re committed to it, but creative pause points are the way to manage the risk.