I want to sort of "announce" my plan here with the hopes that that will make me stick with it. In the past i've always fallen off the wagon after 1, 2, 3 months. This time that is NOT going to happen. For at least the next 11 months (a year from my start date) i am going to do the following at a bare minimum:
1) Write down everything i eat.
2) Eat STRUCTURED meals and snacks Monday through Friday. No constant/endless snacking. Weekends are a little crazier so i don't have a specific plan for those, as every day is different.
3) No binging EVER AGAIN. I know what is a binge for me...it is a LARGE amount of food, like 2000-3000 calories in a sitting. And it is out of control eating. I am allowed to have large meals, go over my calories, whatever--but NO binging EVER again.
The rest could be subject to change. Right now i'm eating 2000 cal/day. I'm hoping to slowly drop 5-10 pounds in the next year, but if i stay at 150, i'm ok with that. So i don't need much of a calorie deficit--what i need to do is stick with a plan and NEVER binge EVER again.
My plan, starting next week or in a couple of weeks, is to add additional 1500 calories over the course of the week. So essentially i'm zigzagging my calories. It could be 500 additional calories for 3 days of the week; 2500 calories for those days will still be at or below maintenance (which is roughly 2800 by my best estimates). Or it could be 3000 one day, 2500 one day, and 2000 the rest. I'll change this up if i feel it's appropriate. I used to eat well over 3000 calories per day while maintaining, so this should still put me in a slight deficit.
And if, god forbid, a binge happens, i will neither starve myself the next day nor go on another binge. It used to seem like those were the only two options!!
Thanks for letting me share