How to know when to stop eatting
 

I've been extremly hungry, growling stomach and everything, then taken 2 or 3 bites and have felt full. I always eat past the full feeling, and never know when I should stop, I usually just eat the meal I had planned, which I know isnt good. But I don't think I could truly be full after just 2 bites.

How do you personally know when you should stop eatting a meal.

Maybe I should start saving the rest of the meal then finishing it in an hour or so. Start eating just tiny portions through the day instead of meals. Does anyone do anything like that?

Well, assuming you have nice planned meals with proper foods in the correct amounts for your program, you should eat all of it if you can. No, you are not full after two bites. But if you really feel like you're stuffing yourself, you could save the rest for a snack later.

It's important that you get all your food in according to the plan you're following. You don't want to get to the end of the day and not have eaten enough.

Jay

I follow an exchange plan, so I can eat my food in any amount I choose. I chose a minimum of exchanges (about 1500 calories) and added optional exchanges (up to about another 500 calories).

I always felt that I had no hunger "off" switch. To me the sign to stop eating was feeling a bit overstuffed (and if I wasn't paying attention - until my stomach hurt).


I decided that I was going to try to shrink my stomach and learn to recognize "real hunger" by deliberately eating extremely small amounts at a time. 3/4 to 1 cup of food or less. One apple. One carton of yogurt, one cup of roasted vegetables..... Sometimes I was eating every hour (and it's not something that's very easy to do "on the go"), but I think it did help me learn to distinguish more subtle hunger cues - and it has definitely helped me shrink my stomach. I call it my "imitation weight loss surgery." I knew that I had been successful in shrinking my stomach, when a frozen dinner (the measly 8 oz ones) seemed like the perfect amount of food. I always hated the portions on those things, thinking a "normal" person would need two or three of those to make a "decent sized" meal.

By trial and error, I learned that my most reliable hunger cue is not a feeling in my stomach, it's much more subtle. My husband usually notices it before I do, and says "have you eaten?" I'm still struggling to recognize true hunger, until it's "too late," as when I go too long without eating, I feel nauseous, like I'm going to pass out, and very, very irritable.

I try not to go more than 3 hours without eating, especially eating small mini-meals, and may always have to go by the clock more than my internal cues. So, don't worry much if you haver trouble knowing when to start or stop eating, if you're counting calories (or something else).

If you're trying mindful eating, the books may help you recognize hunger and satiety (but it didn't work for me, I'm still not very good at recognizing the cues).

This is what I've just started doing. So far it's worked for me but it's only been one week so it may be too soon for me to tell if this will work for me long-term.

I eat constantly when I'm not hungry. Mostly when I'm bored. That's the only reason I've gained weight. Eating more than I need. I realized in order to lose weight I need to get my eating under control. I've decided to eat only when I'm physically hungry. You know, when your stomach is rumbling. Then when I do eat, I eat enough to stop the rumbling but not enough to feel stuffed. And I stop at the point where I feel a little satisfied... like I know eating any more isn't going to make me feel better.

So as a result, if I ate a full plate of pasta, now I eat half.

I do eat breakfast though, whether I'm hungry or not. It sets me up for the rest of the day in a good way.

I guess this is intuitive eating. If I want something, I ask myself, does my body need it or does it just want it?

So far it's working great. But we'll see *fingers crossed* I hope that helped a little :)

I did this the first time I decided to lose weight. I really cut my portions down. It worked pretty well for me. You really get used to eating less. Just be sure you guys are getting enough nutrients and getting exercise! That's what I didn't do the first time around. Now I'm doing weight watchers to help me keep tract better. But I lost bye first 30lbs that way. It is good to get to know when you're hungry and to not fill yourself up too much.
Keep up the great work guys! Do it healthy though! :flow1:

I still have a hard time telling if I'm full or not, so I just eat really slowly and usually save half of my meal for an hour or so later. I think I'm more of a snacky person, though.

Another trick I've heard of is to pay attention to whether or not you sigh while eating. I thought it was crazy, but I notice that when I'm getting to the point of being full I'll sigh and kind of start to play with my food vs. eating it.

I also let myself eat the good parts first. That way I'm not just eating most of the meal to get to the parts I like.

i split up my food to where i'm eating the right amount of food for me at the right time of day. so when i make some food i usually eat it all :D

I definitely follow my hunger cues and eat intuitively. I plan out my food for the day, but I eat when I am hungry, up to a planned number of calories. If I feel full earlier, I stop and save that food for later.

Like the others have said, it is important to eat a minimum amount each day. I don't seem to have a problem eating at least 1400 calories following this method.

Sometimes I eat 3 larger meals with just a snack or two, and other times, I find myself eating every hour - only a small amount.

One other consideration - I find I do best when I balance each eating occasion with some carb/protein/fats. I find eating carbs alone can trigger carb cravings and make it difficult for me to stop when I am full or when my portion is gone.

I really hard time with intuitive eating. I sometimes have the same problem--a couple of bites and I feel full. Or I eat a whole meal and still feel like I could eat more. When I try to eat that way, I also feel constant guilt that I should really be eating less. It's just far too stressful for me, so I've given up on it.

Instead, I plan out all my meals for the day and eat according to the plan,without worrying about whether I'm full or not. None of my meals are particularly large. Even dinner, which is usually my largest meal, generally comes in at under 400 calories, so I don't have to feel guiltly about eating the whole meal.

I don't worry about trying to figure out if I'm full halfway through a meal. My meals are only 200 to 400 calories anyway and frankly, I need those calories whether my brain thinks I'm full or not. Of course, I wouldn't eat to the point of discomfort, but it's pretty hard to get to that point on a 400-calorie (or smaller) meal.

I also plan a lot of snacks during the day. I will sometimes skip a snack if I'm not hungry (or eat an extra snack if I'm hungrier than usual).