I will discuss this idea with a psychologist as well, but I was wondering if anyone of you has tried something like this, and what you think about it in general.

The background of the idea is the following: many of us who tend to overeat have some triggering foods that set the whole overeating-process into motion. The reasons for this jump-start potential into overdrive can be complicated or trivial: It might be a comfort-food from your childhood that you always ate when your parents were fighting, or it might just be that one type of chips that taste so good that you cannot contain yourself. But if the relationship is very emotional, is there a way to say goodbye to this relationship, without having to ban the specific food altogether? That is the question I am asking.

In my specific case, there are a lot of sweet foods that I associate with my late father. He loved me very much and did the best he could as a parent, but I think he contributed to my difficult relationship with food. After my parents split, I would spend every other weekend at his place. He would buy lots and lots of these sweet foods to spoil me, because he knew I loved them, and because he did not have a lot of time because of work to spend with me, this was his way of saying that he loves me. At the same time, he was always emphasizing how in shape he was for his age, make fun of overweight people, and try to lure me into activities with promises like "you will lose 2 lbs today if you come hunting with me" and stuff like that. So I desperately wanted to be thin, while at the same time unable to resist all the tasty foods he bought me over these weekends. It usually ended in a all-or-nothing situation: I ate all the food at his place, and then told myself to start fresh with my diet on Monday.

I have managed to lose most of the weight I've put on during these years (dropping from 78 kg to 61 kg currently) and I only want to lose 1-2kg more (I am 26F and 161cm tall). But I also avoid the foods my dad used to buy me completely, and this makes me kind of sad. I want to have them without the fear of starting a binge. So the idea is this: Buy the specific food, but only one. Then choose a specific date and time when I want to eat it. And then I will eat it, without any further distraction (no TV, no phone, etc.) and write down or record otherwise the emotions that come along with it. In short, just mindful eating. If I eat the whole tub /packet, etc. I won't beat myself up. But I suspect that by sitting with my emotions through eating the food, I will have some sort of inner dialogue that is beneficial for me and will give me the realisation that I don't need to eat the whole thing.

Any thoughts and comments about this idea? As mentioned before, I have a trusted psychologist with whom I will discuss this as well, but I was wondering about the thoughts and comments of this community. Thanks a lot for reading the whole thing!

Short version: I want to break the emotional relationship I have with certain foods (because they potentially trigger binges) by mindfully eating them, and not restricting their quantity, facing my emotions while doing so. Good or bad idea?