Put it the way a grandmother would. Eat your peas and carrots and then you can have your pudding: go in, and then the thing you have been wanting.

What the research says

In a secondary analysis of a one day acceptance and commitment therapy workshop with 83 participants, binge eating was examined as a form of experiential avoidance, done to get away from an inner state rather than purely for enjoyment. It is small, indirect and from another area of life entirely. The idea worth borrowing is that a treat can be doing a job, so where it sits in the day is not a trivial detail.

Strength of evidence: one line of research. A single study, or a theoretical account.