Quote:
Originally Posted by llladynasti
I ate a mid-size but healthy breakfast and i feel so full. I hate the feeling after just eating, unless Im just going to be sitting around. ....
I obviously give food too much power: I hate it and wish it didn't exist at all. This is how I quit smoking, but I can't quit eating altogether. There has to be a healthy balanced place in my life for food as nourishment.
But why do its effects have to be so wicked?!
The effects of eating do not have to be unpleasant, nor do you have to view food as ONLY nourishment in order lose weight and have a healthier and more pleasant relationship with food.
I used to believe that eating had to be uncomfortable. I didn't recognize "full" until I felt unpleasantly stuffed. I thought that "full" meant being at least slightly uncofortable. If I didn't feel unpleasantly full, I thought I was still hungry.
I've learned that if I've eaten to the point that I'm eveb a little bit uncomfortable (or I would be uncomfortable doing anything more active than just sitting) that means I ate too much.
I also learned that what I eat contributes to discomfort. Carbohydrate foods with little or no protein and fat tend to make me feel sluggish and uncomfortable or they give quick energy which then drops just as suddenly. On an empty stomach, carb-only foods (even fruit, but especially sugary/starchy carbs) make me nauseous after eating. This has been true since I was a small child. Even as a young child when I couldn't have been more than 7 or 8 I remember being unable to eat sweet breakfasts. Sometimes my parents would take us for donuts after church and I would just drink my milk, and I'd take my donut(s) home to eat later in the day because I couldn't eat sweets on an empty stomach or I'd feel nauseated.
Probably a sign that I had blood sugar issues even then.
I didn't learn to eat "comfortably" until I learned to eat much smaller portions of less carb-rich foods.
I had to break myself of the habit of associating only discomfort with being satisfied. That happened by accident. I'd read a magazine article suggesting that one could mimic the effects of weight loss surgery by "shrinking" your stomach. The strategy was to never eat more than 1 cup of food at any time and to space meal/snacks far enough apart to allow the stomach to empty before eating again (I forget how long that was supposed to be. I think somewhere between one hour and three).
I decided to give it a try, and I was absolutely shocked. At first it was miserable, because I missed being "full," but over time, I started realizing how much better I felt (usually I noticed it most after eating a "regular" meal and then feeling miserably sick). The longer I went without overfilling myself, the more uncomfortable it became to eat until "full." And my stomach did shrink.
I knew I'd really made a change when I noticed that 10 ounce frozen dinners were just about the right size (when for most of my life, even when I was a young teenager, I had always thought frozen dinners were "ridiculously small).
I still celebrate with food. I still love food, but I do look at it differently. I decided I was going to "pamper myself" with healthy, tasty food rather than "punish myself" by depriving myself of food. I also stopped looking at healthy food as punishment food (which wasn't too hard, because I'd always loved pretty much ALL food), but I started looking at fruit like I used to look at high-calorie treats. Instead of looking at high-calorie food as "special treat" food, I looked at healthy food that way - I started "splurging" on exotic fruits and vegetables rather than on high-calorie treats.
It was hard to break old habits, and I still find some bad habits are harder to break than others. And some that I think are gone will sometimes resurface, but for the most part I feel really good about most of my choices.
I used to hate the person I became when I dieted. I was sad, angry, miserable, with extreme moodswings. Now I've found a way to incorporate habits into a wonderful life, rather than desperately hoping I could tolerate the misery long enough to get the weight off. Now I never feel like quitting because I've made weight loss fun, interesting, and exciting so there's absolutely no temptation to quit. Giving up unpleasant stuff is easy, but who voluntarily gives up the good stuff in their lives. I've made dieting and exercise "good stuff" so there's nothing to quit.