in my opinion and from my experience.. It depends on what healthy off protocol item you are eating. Also when you talk about binging that means to me eating a lot of calories at once and usually is not protocol foods. The beauty of the hcg protocol is that when done correctly it allows the hypothalamus to rest. It does not have to make the day to day decisions about what to do with the fats and carbs we are eating. Whether it needs to burn them or store them. Because we are eating low fat and low carb, the hypothalamus rests. This is why people often are cold while on the VLCD. The hypothalamus also has some control over body temperature. When the VLCD with hcg is over and the person begins eating fats again (still relatively low carb), the hypothalamus wakes up and says "hey.. I need to burn these fats for energy." The body is no longer receiving the flood of calories from stored excess fat that it has converted to energy. The body becomes a fat burner which is something we want it to be. Use those fats rather than store them. For many this metabolism reset, enables them to eat a higher amount of calories than they could before the protocol. When someone is cheating with foods in P2 that create an excess of calories be it fat, carbs, etc. That reset can't happen. The rest doesn't happen. The hypothalamus is still up doing it's job.. and the body is lazy.. it innately wants to burn any simple carbs and sugars first. It has to be retained to work otherwise. I think most of use who have been very overweight will always have to watch what we're eating in some fashion. I don't think I will ever eat willynilly with total disregard for what might make me gain a bit here and there and what doesn't. There has to be a balance and a pattern set so that I can maintain within a range. Part of this journey is learning how your body reacts to certain foods and combinations of foods in maintenance. That knowledge is key to keeping the weight off.