I wonder if it might be helpful to put posts like this into a forum called ‘Ancillary Programs’ or something.
I think that’s how it’s been handled on other plant-based boards.
Like, i think it’s true that not everyone feels the need to use a McDougall-style approach in conjuction with something ELSE, like intermittent fasting, or intuitive eating, or Bright Line Eating.
But I would bet that those who believe they DO need additional support from something else, are probably correct in their assessment. Like, do you suppose that they were thriving on a straight McDougall approach before they started exploring?!?
I think it may be like people with particular physical conditions (such as physical disease processes or food allergies) who simply need additional refinements particular to their condition. I may not need to avoid tomatoes, but if they make your autoimmune condition flare up horribly, then it would seem weird for people to gang up on that person, and be like, “The regular program works just fine! Just stick with it! You don’t need additional refinements.”
People who have deeply ingrained food patterns around binge eating have a bit of an addiction to the act of overeating. A person who overeats in a snowball pattern —they kinda pick up speed as they go, rather than be like “the first piece of bread felt really great, and now I’ll stop, thanks”. With binge eaters, the snacking on one slice of bread, may lead to two more slices of bread, and then they’re rummaging around for even MORE food to eat, whether that’s on- or off-plan food.
So, in some ways, I believe there is a behavioral disease process with a person who has binge eating in their past, and some additional supports can be helpful. BLE isn’t my thing, but neither is Alcoholics Anonymous. But just because I would never binge on alcohol doesn’t mean I should encourage alcoholics to keep alcohol in the house, or to tell them that they could work around alcohol on a daily basis, just because I can do so (in bars and restaurats).
It just seems weird to say, “Hey, why don’t we just leave your binge patterns unaddressed?” It wouldn’t really address the underlying behavioral problem. The underlying behavarioal pattern, really is that there are people who are somewhat addicted to stuffing themselves, or somewhat compulsive (at times) about eating past full and that’s one thing that needs to be brought back into line (through abstaining from binges).
Changing the foods we eat is the ONLY fix a person needs, when the only problem is that they are choosing the wrong foods.
When there is an additional problem, people often seek an additional way to address that.