How do you know? Did I ever know?

Hi all,

this is a silly question, but I need to ask it. How do you all respectively know when you are full? I mean, I know I must have at one point in my life known, but it seems that this instinctive ability has been lost over the last couple of years. I can literally eat anyone under the table and have been trying for the life of me to engage in "mindful" eating for the past little while. Maybe I'm focusing too hard, but it doesn't seem so easy anymore.

I guess my questions is really if the majority of you feel satiated after your meals, and if so, do you stop because you are full, or because the portion/meal is done?

Thanks for any input!

For me, I found that restricting my portions was the first step.  If you're used to eating multiple helpings at a meal, that's what your body (and stomach) feels it needs.  If you restrict your portion size to the "correct" portion (i.e. for me, about 6 oz of protein, a cup of rice, and veggies, with no second helping), your body will get used to that after awhile.  And then, I found that I no longer had any desire to eat a full 12" sub, for example.

I dunno... I worked for me, anyway.  Also, eat slowly, so your body has a chance to tell you it's full.

Clint

I stop when the portion is done. And then 20 minutes later I am comfortably full.

If I go back for more portions, I'm miserable in 20 minutes.

I second Pbear - weighing and measuring portions has helped me to recognise when I am full.  Learning that feeling of saiety after a balanced sensibly portioned meal is something I have had to work at, but it is working

Good luck

Ax

I totally understand where you're coming from.  I'm not a big girl, but it seems like over the last few years I've lost my sense of when to quit regarding my meals.  I didn't understand how I could out-eat most of the people around me (including men) and not feel full!  When I did feel full, I could sit down an hour after a meal and have another course!

I agree with the other responses - it is about portion control.  It's about realizing what your body needs as opposed to what your mind wants.  Your body doesn't need a 2 lb burger and a large order of fries;  it doesn't need an entire pan of brownies; we don't need to eat multiple servings! 

I rarely feel "full", or what I used to think "full" felt like.  But I feel content.  I plan a 3-400 calorie meal (or however you need to portion your calorie intake), balance out the carbs/protein/fat, and have discovered that if I stop after that and give myself a few minutes to let it settle - I don't need anymore food for a while.

Like many of us on CC, you have to learn to listen to your body instead of what your mind has trained you to believe you need.  It takes time, practise, and patience - but you'll get there.

I don't think this is a silly question at all.  Most of us who need to lose weight need to train ourselves to eat the appropriate amount.  I believe that the reason we gained weight is because it doesn't come "naturally" to stop eating when we have met our energy needs.

This is why I find the food log on CC to be so important in helping me meet my weight loss goals.  I have a calorie target for the day that allows me to lose about a pound a week.  I try to spread the calories out so that I am hungry for the next meal, but not ravenous.  If I feel I am getting ravenous well before a scheduled meal, I have a healthy snack of about 150 calories (maybe an apple and a small serving of peanut butter -- something with some fiber, fat, and protein works best for me).  When I started back in late March, I lived by the numbers, and found I often needed a mid-afternoon snack.  Now it is becoming much more intuitive, and I seldom need to snack because my 3 main meals are the "right" size to carry me for 5 hours.  But, I still log everything so that I "know" I am getting the right amount.  My body is starting to be re-trained to agree, and I hope that once I am at goal I will be able to be completely intuitive about how much to eat.  But if not, the tools are still here to use if I need to!

My friends who have never had a weight problem seem to understand this naturally.  Any time they have a bigger than normal amount of food, they balance it with smaller meals -- not because they think about it, just because that is what their body tells them it needs.

There are biochemical messages designed to tell you when you are full.  Some people with weight problems actually have a problem with the cascade of events that produce those messages, which means we have a delay in realizing we are full - or we never do!  I'm not sure if that's something a doctor can confirm with a blood test, but it's possible that's part of your problem.

People here have had good ideas.  I have three suggestions, one of which will work even if you do have the problem I mention - however, it'll be hard, because your body may still tell you you're hungry!

1) Eat your prescribed amount/serving, and then wait 10-20 minutes - distract yourself with something, an online game, chores, a book, etc.  If after 10-20 minutes you're still hungry, then you can eat some more.

2) Eat more slowly.  This gives your body a chance to realize you're full and send you the messages that you're full before you overfill yourself.

3) Eat your prescribed amount/serving (plan these out during the day so you get the right number of calories) and then STOP.  This takes a lot of willpower, but the distraction technique might still help, even if you do have that biochemical-cascade issue I mentioned.

Original Post by 10bysummer:

it seems that this instinctive ability has been lost

 Never assume that it's an instinctive ability.  Think back to caveman times when food supply would have been scarce and/or sporadic.  Would have made sense to eat lots when it was available in preparation for the lean times.... probably the difference between life and death.  The caveman that pushed his antelope haunch away saying 'no thanks I've had enough' was toast.

These days we're surrounded by more food than we physically need and it's available 24/7 from every imaginable outlet.  Much of it isn't all that filling or nutritious but it's quite energy-dense.... that's a big problem. 

If you want to know what 'full' feels like get a bag of raw carrots and start eating them.  You'll quickly get to a point where you don't fancy another one.  That's what physically full feels like but it's not how you should typically feel at the end of a normal meal.  (Christmas lunch, maybe... different story)

The more you put on a plate, the more you'll eat.... So serve up a reasonable amount at a reasonable 'mealtime' and eat that.   Make sure your meal includes nutritious filling things like vegetables and a good balance of other foods. Then walk away and do something else.   Don't expect to feel full to bursting, it's OK to simply not feel hungry any more.  That's all there is to it.

For me, I measure the amount of food I take...(rough measurement)

Like say a big plate of rice with dishes makes me 100% full. I try to just reduce it somewhat and presto, when i stop eating (although I am not 100% full), i actually feel great and better after 10 mins of stopping eating.

It's worth a try.

I found an article here on reduce fat fast which talks about eating 90% full which helps you to lose weight. It's something about how to eat healthily. Wonder if it works.