i need some techniques-i need a fresh new approach.
i am vegan-so i do pretty well at selecting healthy, whole clean foods. my problem is that i don't do good with sticking to one portion of these foods-and when i eat too much of them, i will not lose weight. my body holds onto this weight and i have to be careful.
Lately i am just sucking at eating a portion and walking away-i don't want to to be stuffed, and if i am still hungry, i can select more, but i'm not "selecting" i'm scarfing without thought and i just want to break that mindset.
Usually i do the wait 20 minutes before a second portion and i do try to up my water intake as this helps me but... what are your techniques? fork down between every bite kind of things?
i'm not looking to change the world-i just need to THINK while i eat, slow down, and stop rushing for seconds.
My plan is to only eat the calories for that day so I plan what I eat ahead of time. I'm a food addict, so that doesn't always work, but that's the plan.
I've heard it helps to use smaller sized plates and smaller sized forks. I have even heard that if you make say a soup, it's very good to put it through a blender before you eat it and it will keep you full for a whole lot longer.
If I eat and still want something, I chew on gum, drink tea, do push ups, paint my nails, come to this site to read success stories or watch inspirational weight loss youtube videos.
using smaller plates/bowls helps me. also doing something while i eat. reading on forums, typing, texting, playing a game. (tv doesn't count) but something thats gonna force u to focus on something other than your food for a minute or so..
I've heard of people using chopsticks to eat with instead of a fork...that way you have to take your time eating and not just shoveling it in. That's what i do, i just shovel...horrible horrible habit!
I'm a lifetime member of the Clean Plate Club, so I am now also a member of the Small Plate Club.
I'd heard before that using smaller plates made people choose smaller portions and made them feel fuller after eating those smaller portions, so I gave up my dinner plates in favor of salad plates. I bought a pair of Lilliputian cereal bowls. I eat with teaspoons instead of tablespoons. The only thing I eat from a big bowl is salad.
As a calorie-counter, I weigh and measure anyway and don't need a smaller plate to confine my portion sizes, but I do find that eating a heaping helping of food just "feels" better than eating spread-out food on a big ol' plate. It falls into the "can't hurt, might help" category, so if you don't already do this, give it a go; you might find that it makes your meals feel a little more satisfying.
Drinking water with your meals also helps. The body processes water quickly, but it can't get at the water as quickly if it's commingled with food; it sticks around in your stomach longer, leaving you feeling more full. That's why pureed soups fill you up so well, too--water and food are bound together and your body takes extra time to "sort" it, so to speak.
I've tried the "put down your fork between bites" thing and it just doesn't work for me. It feels so unnatural that it makes me a little frantic, like I can't enjoy dinner conversation or the taste of the food because I'm so focused on how I parcel it into my mouth. It's a wonderful technique for others; for me, it feels stilted. It's the gustatory equivalent of counting ceiling tiles during sex and has about the same effect on my enjoyment of the activity in question.
But actually, I do the mini-meal thing and I find it helps because I know in another 2-3 hours I'm going to have to eat anyway, so I don't get as upset about my small portion size as I might otherwise.
I always heard chew each bite of food 33 times and put your fork down during each bite. Cut one piece of meat put your knife and fork down eat that piece then cut another bite and repeat process. Lord, Emily Post should see how I eat sometimes...
I eat 6 times a day and with my diet I can fill a good side plate with 200 calories so I don't typically get hungry between meals, rather the opposite once my body adapted to always knowing more food is coming. In the beginning It was heck changing my eating from 2 times a day binging to 6 times a day portions. Once I started eating my body begged for more even after I was full. Other then telling myself I'm not truly hungry and it is a body reaction I ate a lot of "side salads". Simple iceberg lettuce and WF dressing. I ate huge bowls of side solids after a meal if I still felt hungry. Quickly I learned that feeling led to a mildly tasty yet boring end result. It was pretty clear that I wanted more of what I was eating because it tasted good haha. When after my portion all I got was a "free" salad I stopped the cravings fast. Also helped that I only made the one serving to help keep me from being tempted.
I always make an effort to prepare meals far in advance of feeling "I need to eat food NOW." Removing the sense of urgency associated with eating lets me enjoy the taste and quit eating when I'm full.
But another tip I have (and this has taken me a long way) is I visualize all of the food I've already eaten during that day before shoveling down the food in front of me. I imagine each item, how much I ate, and what it tasted like- a mental indulgence of senses, basically. Going through what I've eaten already is a reminder that I don't need to ingest large quantites of food because I have quite a bit in me.
Where and how do you usually do your eating? Are you eating in the kitchen? Are you eating standing up or in front of the TV? Is the serving plate with the leftover portions there on the table in front of you as you eat? If so you might consider changing some of those things, to make more of a separation between your portion that you're going to eat for that meal, and the rest of the servings. You could make your eating more of a "dining" experience, plating your food in the kitchen and only bringing the portion that you're going to eat out to the dining table, if you don't do that now. That makes you a little bit more conscious about going back if you want more, and just that little extra time can help you think about whether you really want/need it.
(I admit since I live a alone I normally eat at a desk in front of my computer, and use the dining room table only for company, but I do follow a rule about measuring out my portion in the kitchen and then not going back. I also put any remainder in a tupperware in the fridge at that point, which for me is really a signal that works for, "This is not for eating at this meal anymore." I also had a sticky note that said, "Are you REALLY hungry?" which sounds cheesy but I can't tell you how many times actually being forced to think about it made me say, Uh, no, I guess not.)
Last edited by bronzeager; 05-21-2011 at 06:33 AM.
All of these techniques sound great! I also have a problem with shoveling food and not stopping when I should. I really like the idea of visualizing everything else you've eaten before you sit down to a plate. Also I have lately been focusing on the idea "It's easier to avoid taking in the extra calories in the first place than to burn them off later." I recite it like a mantra in my head over and over when I'm tempted to indulge in something I know I shouldn't have.
Your techniques for serving size/slow eating
