[yosame]

I'd argue that it's harder to quit compulsive eating than it is to quit compulsive smoking. You can't go cold turkey on food

[nathan_douglas]

What does “going cold turkey on food” look like here? Because I’ve quit a pack-a-day-for-ten-years nicotine addiction, and I’ve dieted by slightly increasing exercise and slightly decreasing caloric consumption to produce a daily deficit of about 250-500 calories in line with mainstream medical recommendations, and I can tell you which I found harder… and it wasn’t drinking diet soda and walking around the block in the morning.

[johnnyanmac]

I suppose the cold turkey equivalent here is intermittent fasting. Disciplining yourself to ignore the most basic instincts of survival and eat at a specific time.

I never smoked nor fasted, so I can't really compare the two.

[GeoAtreides]

That's true, you can't go cold turkey on food, but you can change what you eat. Gorging on fats and proteins and high density foods (nuts, cheeses, legumes, olive oil, eggs, etc) will have a very different effect than gorging on fats and sugars (pastries, white breads, soda etc.)