My issue with eating is overeating. Not necessarily stress eating or emotional eating or binge eating (although I've done a bit of all of those), but I simply have no control over how much I eat. You could set me in front of a cake and tell me to eat as much as I wanted, and I'd likely eat the whole pan. And it doesn't really matter what food it is, I'd do the same thing with an endless bowl of the healthiest salad. I don't have the natural reflex to stop eating when I feel full. Usually I don't even notice that I feel full until I feel physically sick. I have said that my I'm-full mechanism is broken. Or it was never there to begin with. Calorie counting has been my crutch. I rely on it to tell me what appropriate portions are and the amount of food I need each day.
I plan my food for the day either early in the morning before I've eaten anything or the night before. And 99% of the time, if it's planned, it will be eaten. I can't remember feeling full and satisfied so I just decided not to eat that planned snack. I'll eat the planned snack, because I am entitled to it, it's planned. Even if I am not hungry.
Well the last week or so, it's almost like I've developed the I'm-full response and automatic self control (as in, not relying completely on calorie counting). There's candy and snacks in my apartment (fiance is now home from Iraq), and I don't find myself to be tempted at all. Even when I have room in my daily calories for a little treat, I ask myself "do I want a piece of candy?" And I find myself intuitively giving a resounding "No thanks!" for an answer. How odd...when have my tastebuds ever declined an offer of candy? We went to Chinese buffet the other night (planned cheat night). Old Megan would have destroyed about three heaping plates of Chinese food (while sneaking bites in the buffet line, of course). Well the other night, I got a modest sampling of some of my favorites and didn't feel compelled to finish. I took a bite of everything, set the plate to the side to be picked up, and went back to get a small plate of fruit as dessert. On my scheduled free-for-all night! Last night I had a bowl of oatmeal with blueberry yogurt mixed in as my planned evening snack. I LOVE oatmeal, and oatmeal with yogurt mixed in is like heaven to me. Well I ate half the bowl and simply couldn't bring myself to finish it. I was almost annoyed with myself. This was a planned counted snack, I had every right to finish it. But I didn't want to. So I didn't.
I can't remember if I have ever left food on my plate simply because I was full or done eating. But suddenly I've lost the desire to eat eat eat until I'm stuffed. I still have a good appetite, but I have seemed to have developed a full response out of thin air. Maybe it's just a brief anomaly that will pass. My girly week is coming up...we'll see if I still have it then, hehe.
But anyways, those of you who are prone to overeating just because there is food in front of you, were you ever able to develop some normal intuition when it came to when to stop eating?
Much like you, I've been know to eat, and eat, and eat. It could be chicken nuggets, cake, tacos- you name it, and I used to overeat like crazy. It's like how people describe party-eating, when you just keep reaching into the bag or bowl of chips and eating vs. getting yourself a little plate. By the end of the evening, you discover you ate the entire bag! I still have that problem when I eat BBQ chips, but that's about it.
I also do not have a I'm-full-reflex. I rely on calorie counting and portions to tell me when I'm supposed to be full, then fill up on water, and while it works, I never truly feel full, although I'm never really "hungry" either. A few weeks ago, two maybe, I went out to eat at a chinese buffet. I was fearing the worst.
I filled my plate with 2-3 pieces of broccoli in cheese (it was the only kind they had, strangely enough), some type of chicken, asparagus, and I think I had 1 of those little puffy donuts. I'm sure I had something else but I can't recall. Anyway, my second plate was a much smaller one, filled with a delicious salad.
I ate, and felt satisfied, and was done. The old me would have gone up for thirds, plus desert, and loaded up on starches and sweet-sauced foods.
It's a strange thing to actually look at your plate and think "yeah, this ought to do it" when just a couple months ago I was eating three times that. So I completely understand what you mean. Some days I still find myself wanting to and trying to over indulge, and some days I let a few pieces of candy past my lips, but really, I have so much more control than I used to.
I turned down a bag of skittles the other night (I LOVE skittles), burgerking, and chocolate cake. Because I wanted to. I didn't even feel tempted. Now that's something.
Sometimes I have the response and sometimes I don't. Most often it takes a good half hour after I eat to actually kick in. Then there are times like at last night's dinner that I do not want to eat at all. I had the tiniest piece of chicken, like 1/4 of the already butterflied breast. I served myself 1 tablespoon of sweet potatoes and 4 string beans. DH complained it was too little, but I only served myself anything at all to "eat" with the family. I was not hungry. But that's rare.
I dont' know when I am full and I am not sure I know when I am truly hungry. I eat by the clock and if I didn't weigh and measure everything I would overeat. That said, it depends on the food I am eating and whether I feel "full." I ate pasta last night and I had a slightly full feeling - not the stuffed feeling I used to have after gorging on pasta, but I knew if I ate more it would qualify as overeating.
Not really. Well, I think it's there, but I don't think I recognize it until I'm so full I'm sick. I also don't feel hungry unless I'm stomach-growling, STARVING hungry. I just have to remind myself to eat, and remind myself of how much is enough. Kinda relying on my head instead of my tummy to let me know. If I do it the other way I'll end up stuffing myself!
But anyways, those of you who are prone to overeating just because there is food in front of you, were you ever able to develop some normal intuition when it came to when to stop eating?
Nope, not me. Maybe it stems from my Super-morbidly-obese history. The ONLY way I can stop eating (junk) is if I never start. To this day, I ALWAYS clean my plate and I never miss a meal. That is why a Cheat day would have not worked for me during the losing stage of my healthy diet. And even now, after 16 months of maintaining a huge loss, I can not do sugar in moderation.
My friend in college used to say, "I have no full button." She was skinny as a rail, but I think it was the coke.
I know when I'm getting full, and can leave food on my plate -- if I get up and walk away. When I linger at the table after dinner, I wind up picking and picking until I'm overfull. So, now I take my plate to table if I want to sit at the table with my family for a while.
Also, I have a "no snacking while reading or surfing the net policy." I can mindlessly gnosh away without even noticing how much I've eaten... until I'm stuffed.
i know when im full, it is an awesome feeling!! now i haven't reached that point where you are to where you don't feel the temptation as you did before. i have been there in the past but not yet this time. its great because you start to feel like hey i actually have some control over this,,and its actually getting better..cool feeling. im happy for you!!
But I think my lack of one was chemistry related. Because I have IR/PCOS I was hungry if I ate too many carbohydrates.
I think now, after a lot of trial and error, I'm figuring out what works for my body chemistry and supplementing that with vitamins/minerals and the psychological side of it, and now, I can look at food (chips or cake or whatever) and not finish it or even take that option.
The fact that I was salivating at the thought of cottage cheese and a peach yesterday for my snack (when I could have easily stopped for fast food, gotten a cookie or bought a chocolate bar) is actually amazing. But I was craving THAT, rather than a cookie or fries or chocolate.
I will never be called someone who "eats like a bird" or is "ladylike" in her appetite, but yeah, if all's well with me, I get a feeling that I wouldn't describe as full, but as rather a loss of interest. I've had my taste, it was good, yeah, but I'm done, and getting through the remainder of what's on my plate is going to be a chore -- one that I don't want to bother with just now. Onto other things.
Notice, though, that I did qualify that by saying "if all's well with me." If I have a general feeling of anxiety, or feel stressed, the natural controls won't necessarily kick in, and I have to resort to external measures of control to keep my portions on the healthy side. I am capable of eating without thinking, just to work my jaws.
(Maybe it's some buried memory of infantile sucking at the breast for comfort that still makes this happen. I don't know. But it's partly a mouth thing, more so than a stomach thing. Chewing gum can propitiate it.)
My hunger and satiety cues are all out of whack, and probably always will be. I'm getting better at reading my hunger levels, but not to the point that "intuitive eating" is possible.
I had to learn to avoid feeling full. If I reach the point that I'm physically and mentally satisfied with what I've eaten, I've eaten too much. I have to stop when I'm still a little bit hungry, because it seems to take about 30 minutes for the food to completely register with my body and brain. I try to eat slowly, and that does help somewhat.
Maybe I'll eventually learn to read my body better, but may always need my food journal as back-up (and I'm ok with that).
I do not have the "I'm full" response, unless I've way overeaten and I'm uncomfortable.
But I have noticed that I am much more likely to get the "I'm satisfied" response. it's not that I'm full... it's rather that I'm just not interested in more. It has more to do with the satiety factor of what I've eaten, rather than the volume. I used to go for volume, and ate until I felt full (uncomfortable). That's changed, thank God.
Not having the "I'm full" is my biggest issue. If its there I will eat it. Dinner is done when my plate is empty or I feel like I'm gonna bust. If I bring a healthy lunch to work and bring a yogurt for dessert I have to have the yogurt - I can't wait an hour even if I know I am not truly hungry. I want to smack myself for my lack of willpower, its truly ridiculous. I will even over eat healthy things - I can't bring "emergency" snacks to work becuase I will eat them just becuase I know they are there. I keep 100 calorie bags of micro popcorn for my emergency snack becuase I am not a popcorn lover so I would actually have to be starving to go there. Even when I was really gung ho in the beginning and sticking to my plan perfectly I still was a plate cleaner. I'm telling you I am like a dog.... if I am not eating food I am thinking about food, its insane. I don't know if it has anything to do with the fact that I have obsessive compulsive disorder - maybe I am obsessing over the food. But I take prozac & wellbutrin and that keeps the OCD well controlled so you'd think it would control the food thoughts as well.
I admire those of you who have found your full reflex!!!!
I rely on adhering to a calorie budget. CC is the only thing that could have ever worked for me. It's forced portion control. THAT budget is what guides me as to how much I should eat.
I plan my days food in advance and I can't recall ever not eating everything I've planned for. Down to the last bite, lick, crumb. There is no such thing as leaving anything on my plate. I've allotted for it, I'm eating it.
I am also not one of those people who NEVER forgets to eat. Even during times of high stress.
For me, there is a closed box of cookies or an empty box of cookies. There is no in between.
Which is why almost all of my splurges are done OUTSIDE of my home, in a controlled setting. I can't keep the goods in my house.
I have gotten somewhat better about my splurge meals. I mean I do know when to stop, I just don't necessarily DO stop. This is something I've been working on greatly and just recently, I've improved upon it.
And of course these splurge meals NEVER could have occurred for me while I was in the losing portion of my journey, or here I'd sit some 4 + years later STILL in the losing portion of my journey, if I were still alive that is.
Calorie counting - how I love thee.
Last edited by rockinrobin; 10-18-2010 at 12:26 PM.
Did you ever develop the "I'm full" response?
I also don't feel hungry unless I'm stomach-growling, STARVING hungry. I just have to remind myself to eat, and remind myself of how much is enough. Kinda relying on my head instead of my tummy to let me know. If I do it the other way I'll end up stuffing myself!
