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12-22-2009, 11:03 AM
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#1
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Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 1999
Posts: 8,974
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Do Our Stomachs Actually Shrink?
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Last edited by Meg; 12-13-2016 at 06:49 PM.
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12-22-2009, 11:21 AM
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#2
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onedayatatimer
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 3,277
S/C/G: 224/ticker/145-155
Height: 5'9.5"
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That is SO interesting! That DOES shed light on the reason why binge eating is so difficult to control (it is for me). But info is power and now, I think I'll be even less likely to binge, knowing that it is stretching out my stomach so much. I thought the stomach gets more stretched out from daily excessive eating, but this is a real eye opener!
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12-22-2009, 11:39 AM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Pacific Northwest
Posts: 2,088
Height: 5'11"
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It makes perfect sense to me that our stomachs can get "stretched out" by overeating. I have really tried to be conscious over the past year or so how much I've eaten, and when I think back to the quantities I used to eat it amazes me. On Thanksgiving, I went back for a big plate of seconds. That was quite normal for me in the past and wouldn't have phased me a bit; this year, I felt uncomfortably full clear into the next day so that really illustrated to me that my stomach just isn't as comfortable holding that much food anymore.
That could also explain why people frequently feel hungry when they first start dieting; there just isn't the volume there anymore. Folks who experience this problem should heed RockinRobin's (and others') theory about low-calorie, high-volume foods.
Interesting!
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12-22-2009, 12:42 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: California
Posts: 7,097
S/C/G: 197/135/?
Height: 5'7"
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I feel like the way I eat does enlarge/shrink my stomach, comparing how I used to live and eat with now. That effect is definitely helpful when you're eating right . But, I find that it's still secondary to the mental game. If my mental game is on, I'll cope with the challenges whatever they are. If it's not, my stomach shrinking isn't going to save me. Still, I'm all for amassing as many things that help as I can .
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12-22-2009, 12:56 PM
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#5
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Never want to go back!
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 2,804
S/C/G: 338.4/190.8/165
Height: 6 ft
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Very interesting, Meg!
As a hardcore binger, I could put those "professional extreme eaters" to shame and rarely felt full. And reasonable amounts of food hardly put a dent in my hunger. I was an out of control bottomless pit. I felt crazy when I'd eat with friends and family who would lean back and complain about how full they were and I felt like I could eat the rest of what they hadn't eaten and hit a drive through on the way home.
Now, it doesn't take much for my full sensor to kick in. What a difference. With working "I'm full" sensors I feel like I've gained control of a runaway train. I think that's why I tell people just starting out that if they can hang on and work their plan for a month, it begins to feel so much more doable. Who knew there was science behind that advice?
Last edited by CLCSC145; 12-23-2009 at 12:26 PM.
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12-22-2009, 01:14 PM
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#6
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Soul Cyster
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: California
Posts: 4,487
S/C/G: 235/seeticker/135
Height: 5'3"
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I totally think my stomach has shrunk! I look back at how I used to eat and how I eat now and am amazed at the food difference- for me to weigh less this year than when I started last year is a first for me
Now small quantities totally satisfy me whereas before I'd look at what a "normal" person ate and would think there is no way I could do that.
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12-22-2009, 01:18 PM
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#7
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Workin' It
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Wherever I go, there I am...
Posts: 7,841
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I've been thinking about this recently, actually. I have also noticed that I eat a lot less than I used to before I feel full and icky. A good indicator is a high volume chicken curry dish I make from DHs recipe. At one point two years ago I had started splitting the competed dish into two servings - a 1/3 and a 2/3 - for myself and DH, and still didn't feel full when I was done with my 1/3 portion. Now I serve myself 1/4 of the recipe and am often close to full before I'm finished.
On the other hand, I can eat an entire pint if ice cream now where I couldn't in the past. I don't understand that one.
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12-22-2009, 01:42 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: California
Posts: 7,097
S/C/G: 197/135/?
Height: 5'7"
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I think I do get full faster now, but also ... I'm a lot better at noticing full, I'm a lot better at letting go of non-hunger reasons to eat, and I'm a lot better at telling the difference between hunger and cravings and habits/triggers.
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12-22-2009, 01:44 PM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 5,629
S/C/G: HW/232 SW 215/ CW 133/GW 120's
Height: 5.7 and 1/2
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I have a friend that weighs 370 pounds and she can never believe that I eat as much as I do. She is amazed by 6 egg whites and a plate of stirfry vegetables and claims she cannot eat as much as I do. I don't know--I guess I have a hard time believing that she can't.
I have also heard the drs. discuss on television that size of stomachs in morbidly obese people that claim to eat so little. So yes, I guess some people do have larger stomachs than others.
Last edited by Thighs Be Gone; 12-22-2009 at 01:45 PM.
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12-22-2009, 01:51 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Pacific Northwest
Posts: 2,088
Height: 5'11"
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And maybe it's not so much that the stomach stretches (although I definitely believe it to be so), but maybe we were also more accustomed to that "filled taut and uncomfortably full" feeling, and didn't even realize that it was uncomfortable. Know what I mean? When I overate at Thanksgiving, I definitely was aware of that "way too full" feeling, whereas before I would have not noticed and probably would have gone back for leftovers that night. (This year I had a cup of tea for supper on Thanksgiving night).
So maybe it's a combination: We stretch out our stomachs, and we are also more likely to fill up past the point of discomfort (or maybe the discomfort doesn't register?) when we are obese. I dunno. I still like to be full, but full means something different to me now. It means "no longer hungry", not "so stuffed that I cannot bear it".
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12-22-2009, 01:58 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: California
Posts: 7,097
S/C/G: 197/135/?
Height: 5'7"
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Windchime
I still like to be full, but full means something different to me now. It means "no longer hungry", not "so stuffed that I cannot bear it".
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That's a good way to put it.
Also, it wasn't just that I didn't used to feel full, but that I consciously ate past full and into discomfort, because there were other compelling mental/psychological reasons to put up with the discomfort. If you're using food and eating to make up for lack of meaning, pleasure and satisfaction, and to stuff painful thoughts and feelings, a little or even a lot of stomach discomfort is a small price to pay.
I'd have been willing to attribute my improved fullness sensitivity entirely to mental and metabolic reasons, so it was interesting to me that they measured stomach size in some way.
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12-22-2009, 02:29 PM
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#12
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slow and steady
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Carmel, IN
Posts: 6,121
S/C/G: 185/see signature/135
Height: 5'4"
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I have always felt that my stomach could expand and shrink. When I have to cut calories to lose weight, the first few weeks are always the hardest, and I am hungry a lot. But then my stomach adjusts, and all of a sudden I'm not hungry anymore. The first time I lost weight (the time I gained it all back) and the second time, I used diet meal replacement bars to help with that. Nowadays I would not touch the things since the chemicals give me a stomach ache, but they have fillers in them that expand to take up more space in your stomach.
I also find that for several days following a day or two of eating too much, I am excessively hungry. Not sure if that is a blood sugar issue or a stomach expansion issue though.
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12-22-2009, 04:49 PM
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#13
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Albany, NY
Posts: 8,772
Height: 5'4"
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In my opinion my overeating problem has nothing to do with the size of my stomach (which I believe can stretch or shrink). I think in my case is more of a mental issue. I actually like to feel full. There is a enjoyment on it... If I leave the table without feeling full is like I am empty—know what I mean???
So far I didn’t find a way to fix it
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12-23-2009, 09:51 AM
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#14
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3 + years maintaining
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 12,070
S/C/G: 287/120's
Height: 5 foot nuthin'
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Like CC, I also compared myself to a bottomless pit. I've said it sooo many times - "I've got a bottomless pit of an appetite". My stomach was able to hold large quantities of food. I ALWAYS ate till I was terribly uncomfortable.
I am CERTAIN that my stomach, like a balloon, was expanded at that point - and now it's mucho deflated. I couldn't eat a smattering of what I used to in the past. I get full unbelievably quickly now, which quite frankly was a great concern of mine before I even attempted to lose weight. I was actually frightened that I would always be hungry and I've said this often as well, that has rarely been the case.
So though I get full much quicker, I still rely on my pre-portioned amounts of food to tell me when to stop. Because like Windchime, I am not necessarily full - but simply not hungry - I'm satisfied. But maybe that IS full.
The findings about the bingers stomachs makes sense to me. It is of no surprise.
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12-23-2009, 10:41 AM
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#15
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Northeast Arkansas
Posts: 1,186
S/C/G: 275H/148/165ish
Height: 5'10-5'11
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I thought it was all in my head- but after a weekend of bingeing it is soooo hard to get back on track on Monday b/c of the hunger. It does make perfect sense. It also gives me a new goal (besides the final 10) to work for in 2010; NO MORE BINGEING!
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