Chaining

This post wins the award for being most put-off. We learned this ages ago but for some reason I didn't feel like writing about it.
It's a very useful skill.
Basically you visualize your behaviors as one big chain. Each one leads to the other. For example, I got up today with only 4 hours of sleep. I ate more because I was on autopilot, and then I felt overly full and purged (this didn't actually happen today, but it has in the past). Waking up with 4 hours of sleep is a link to "ate more" which links to "feeling overly full" which causes the purge. 
The goal is to break the chain. It can be broken at any link, even after a purge. 
The way you break the chain is by using skills. So in my b/p chain for breakfast, I could have used mindful eating to stop munching. I could have used thought restructuring when I felt overly full, and distraction instead of purging.
I like this skill a lot because it allows me to visualize my behaviors as a string I can cut off at any point. It's also good for figuring out what leads to what.
The only thing I'm not in love with is that it isn't really a new skill. You have to use old ones to help you out, even though you think of things in a different way.
The study is over after today, so this will be my last post regarding skills I've learned there.
But even though there are no more new skills, I still have a wealth of old ones fathering dust in my closet.

Thought restructuring
chaining
distracting
being assertive
problem solving
surfing the urge
mindfulness/being in the moment
self-monitoring
avoiding
meal planning
giving self a break
alternate behaviors
rearranging cues
changing responses to cues
slip plan

I'm planning to write them in big letters and post them on my closet so I won't forget them. 
The skills do help. If you try to use them.