I have curious ideas on absolutism (cold turkey quitting). I believe it is as much a loss of control as an alcoholic. You are trading one extreme for another. While it may be healthier, rigid adherence to an ideal is as mindless as indulgence. And it is unforgiving: if you have one drink, you break your streak and give up your chip (or whatever). I think it is likely to encourage one to go on a bender after one mis-step because, well, the first drink is just as bad as the 10th - so why does it matter if I have nine more?

I believe absolutism is unnatural and unforgiving. We are humans. We make mistakes and we exist on a spectrum. Instead of preaching that "all is lost" after a single mistake, we should teach people that one mistake isn't the end of it, and that the damage is minimized if you don't beat yourself up about that mistake and you keep on trying to do your best. That's how we approach healthy food habits (or should).

Beating ourselves up because of a single misstep - you are stupid, you failed, you are dumb - encourages people to go off-roading when they lose the path, and then find it again. How about if you lose the path, that's okay, just try to find it again?

Moreover, I believe absolutionists exhibit a complete lack of control over themselves by having to ascribe to absolutionism. A lack of control over oneself, in alcoholism, is the same as a lack of control over the illness.

There are some people it works for. But I view it as unreasonable and hard to stick to.