Where is that point of satiation? You mean, at 45 years old, I *still* don’t know this? It sounds like it ought to be such an easy awareness, though probably one most of us are clueless about. I'm really seriously thinking that finding this place, is the key to healthy eating. Why do we just go into eating like it's the last time , fill our belly to the point of guilt and then just wait till the hunger comes around again. I am curious, how many of us are interested in that straight and narrow path to finding --and understanding-- our satiation point ?

You make a valid point. I used to have the problem more specifically on my "cheat day". Now, before I have the cheat meal, I will load up on some raw veggies and drink a big glass of water. I still eat like an idiot and gorge myself like you mentioned, but my thought is that it helps with the damage. I have lately been trying to slow down when I eat those meals and really savor them. I think sometimes we eat so fast that we don't give our bodies enough time to know it is satiated.

I would really love to know my satiation point, or just when to stop, when enough food is enough, but I donīt, so I just have to weigh my food and count calories, I mean if I canīt do it naturally then I have to find a method that will do it for me, and calorie counting and weighing religiously my food has done that for me!

So this thread is very timely for me. I completely blew it last night at dinner. That point of satiation is not hard for me to "recognize" but it is extremely hard for me to say enough. It is like you said, it's as if it will be the last time we will ever eat again and we just gorge. I have noticed that my biggest problems come when I eat out. I figure that I paid real money for that huge plate of food I had better eat it all! I know we are supposed to pack half for home but even then I think to myself I only want to cheat once not twice in two days. And as for ordering healthier things off the menu? and skipping soda? I have NOT mastered this yet. I have every intention of doing it but once I get there I completely cave telling myself how rarely I get to eat out there. The problem with this is that in one busy week we may eat out three times or more!

Back to what you were saying though.......YES, I do believe that once we find that point of satiation and Control to say no more we will have this weight stuff beat!

I think one of the keys is to eat slowly and mindfully. In this way we can get more taste and enjoyment per forkful. And less total forkfuls, most likely, because we will be mindful enough to know when we have become satisfied.
If we eat in a multi-tasking mode, while talking or watching TV or something else, it is harder to pay attention. As for restaurants, I pick something that will make a good doggie bag.

Just a couple of random thoughts: First, remember what some of the studies say about it taking 20 minutes for the message that you are full to get from your stomach to your head. Second, I would be willing to bet that falling on your food like a wolf has some biological component. In cave days, if we sat around and ate mindfully, something would get our food and we would starve.

What I do know, is that I am have no clue at all when I am full, and I am 65 years old and haven't learned yet. Since I have been dieting and exercising portion control, I do better. I am getting used to the smaller amount of food and don't feel like I am starving to death.

I think this satiety thing that you are talking about may be mental, not physical. We always want more to fill some emotional hole? Or stuffing ourselves releases some "feel good" hormone that is addicting? If one serving is good, two is better. Who knows.

I think if you discover the key, Hermitgirl, you need to write a book and make a lot of money.

Someone did a study and found that people assume that they are supposed to eat whatever is put in front of them, regardless of how big the plate is or how much food is on it.

If you're used to eating like there's no tomorrow, then finding your satiation point won't magically happen. You may actually have to practice stopping eating and managing portions or amounts for awhile before you can find it.

My satiation point now, having lost weight, is much lower than it used to be. In the past, I would have to be stuffed before I stopped eating. I was eating to repeat the taste, repeat the taste... Once I started seriously stopping when I had eaten the portion I had allotted myself, I discovered over time that I felt satisfied even though I was not stuffed--and more amazing, I felt full with less food. It has something to do with receptors in the stomach.

This is one reason I don't have "cheats" where I just pig out. It's the wrong model for me. Plus I list absolutely everything I eat, because my body counts it all.

I also have found that it's not necessary to keep on repeating the taste--at least with most foods. Some I just have to stay away from or make sure I have a limited amount available--like ice cream. I will eat all there is.

Like Spinymouse, I find it helps to be mindful, to pay attention to eating when I'm eating, and to go slowly.

It's an interesting thing--satiation--and it does change if you stay on plan!

Jay

Now this is an interesting question -
Gail suggests we may have evolved to eat quickly so our food didn't get snatched up away from us. That would make sense, but I wonder if it is really true, based on the way children eat. Are they just playing and observing their environment and haven't had that instinct kick in yet? Because they certainly don't seem to have much of a sense of urgency about eating. (one of the few things I find to admire about children.)

I still haven't found it. Since I eat lunch at my MIL house, and she tends to serve me like I am one of the guys, I drink one full glass of water before the meal and make sure to drink another during the meal. I usually feel full with that and about half of what she's served me.

I really wish my stomach would have gotten smaller after all this, but if I let it, it will feel like an empty barrel. I'm pretty sure that I will always have this problem.

Well... I have found it... & lost it again! (and again!)

Of all my yo-yoing thru the years, I have found that regardless of what kind of diet I choose (be it South Beach, counting calories, eliminating processed foods, whatever) it's the PORTION CONTROL that really gets me going in the weight loss arena. Eating more fruits & veggies is always a plus! - less processed food, less red meat, more fish & chicken... always good! - but the "Big P.C." is what it boils down to for me.

It seems that if my favorite food(s) are set in front of me, I will eat it. I will continue eating until I nearly pop wide open. Why? Because it tastes so darn good!!! Have I ever 'gorged' on ice cream? Well of course, that's part of what got me into this predicament in the 1st place! - but I have also gotten slap-silly-crazy on broccoli, shrimp, Kashi Go Lean Crunch Cereal, collard greens, etc.

So I have learned that PORTION CONTROL is a big ol' major factor in my weight loss efforts. Now then...my question to myself is what exactly does it take to say NO to that second helping, that extra big helping, or that two or three extra spoonfuls even tho I'm completely FULL?? Is it just will power? And will I ever learn to eat only what I need?

Great book - Mindless Eating. As someone stated above, it pretty shows that a lot of people (myself included) stop eating when the plate is empty, not when we have reached some point of fullness. I know I do this, so I used what I read in the book to help me. I put on my plate what I intend to eat and don't feel badly about eating the whole thing.

Edited to add, everything Jayell wrote is also true for me. I get full faster than I used to, I don't have all out cheat days, I am sometimes satisfied with just a taste (I don't need repeated bites), etc etc.

Well, when something piques my interest I have to investigate. So I am interested in whether we evolved to eat quickly, and I don't know, but, I have searched for info on other primates (chimpanzees and gorillas) and from what I can find so far, they seem to be described as eating slowly.

I definitely don't have a switch that goes "hey, I'm full." What I try to do is stop when I feel ~75% full (well, maybe that should be 75% less hungry ). Usually, that ends up filling me up quite nicely once everything has gone into my stomach.

Now you've got me wondering, spinymouse. Unscientifically speaking, I think the reason little kids appear to not be interested in their food is because we give them too much food. a hungry kid gets right down to business and eats. A baby at the breast is very enthusiastic. The thing about toddlers and infants is that they do seem to know when to stop. Do they loose that ability to know when to stop because the parents mess with their natural instinct? I dunno.

I have a friend who tended to eat a lot at meals, and the reason was that if she didn't, her husband would eat it all and she wouldn't "get enough." And, if there happened to be leftovers he would then eat those on the sly, so she didn't get any unless she got to them first.

So, Spinymouse, I suspect that if prehistoric women tended to eat faster, it was so that the prehistoric men couldn't take the food away from them.

Jay