i had this problem when i was only eating a TON of carbs.. once i upped my protein intake i havent had this problem.. also having a protein and a carb at one sitting helps... always a combo.
i can definitely relate to your problem of not feeling full. i would eat 3 meals a day, but HUGE meals. i would not feel full after any meal i ate, so in order to satisfy myself, and refrain from eating another full meal, i instead snacked on junk after my meal, such as cookies, chips, gushers, you name it. About two months ago, i went on a diet. the israelidiet worked like a miracle for me. what it did for me was leave 20% of my stomach open for eating food. i am still using it today, and have no regrets, because now i can control what i eat.
So, to conclude, the answer is no, you are not the only one with this problem. i have it too and there is always a way to do something about it.
I am most definitely a carb addict, my entire life I would eat the pasta, the potatoes and leave the meat on the plate. I could eat bread all day long. I started the Wonder Slim diet about a month ago, and for the most part I don't have those hunger pains like I did. For me, it is definitely getting rid of the "bad" carbs. I'm not doing the no carb thing, I don't think I could, but I only have one starch a day now. It's made all the difference in the world.
I don't have this issue anymore since I've changed the way I've been eating. Except for breakfast half of my meals at least are typically composed of vegetables, about one quarter lean protein, one quarter whole grain carb (if that sometimes).
The vegetables give a lot of volume to my food and allow me to eat more without adding a lot of calories. I'm also not eating hardly any junk. I'm generally eating low sugar, lower fat and low-moderate whole wheat carbs. I don't restrict vegetables at all (unless they have a high calorie sauce on them.) I can't eat as much as I used to. I used to be able to polish of a heaping plate of food and go back for seconds. Now I am extremely full at less than half the food I used to eat.
I'm not sure exactly why it has happened, but I have found it an extreme blessing.
Btw, Luciddepths mentioned protein and that has been proved to have a more lasting filling effect than carbs and fat.
I've found that I'm very carb sensitive. If I eat too many (the "normal" 6-11 servings of the USDA Pyramid), even if I were counting calories, I'd never feel satisfied. An hour later I'd be looking for something to munch.
As I've lowered my carb intake (and I don't need to go to drastic levels), I've found my satiety increasing and my "munchies" and cravings decreasing. When they begin again, I know I've got too much carb in my diet. It's a slow, steady process of listening to my body and finding what works best for me.
I have the same problem. I never feel full, but I do get hungry
My body does not tell me that I am full. I could eat and eat and never feel full. I usually stop eating, because I know I should, but it's not from a full perspective. On the other end, I do get hungry. I noticed this when my last daughter was born 5 yrs ago. Ideas?
What a great thread! It's an issue so many of us struggle with.
Quote:
Originally Posted by saef
Yes, my self-regulating mechanism doesn't work right. It's not exactly broken, but it's on a time delay. I don't realize that I'm full or overly full until some time after the mounds of food have been tamped down into my stomach.
My struggle is this: Why is the feeling of being full so physically pleasurable? To the point where it's almost sexual? (Maybe we shouldn't go there on a public forum ...) That's a big component of it. To be full, replete, a little sleepy. Maybe because I connect it with a feast, that is, a family gathering with a lot of food on the table? So it's finally about connecting & love? And I'm sort of chasing after that memory when I stuff myself? A perpetual after-Thanksgiving-dinner haze of good cheer & warmth? I don't know. But I know it's one of my problems. And so, like others here, I have to use outward measurements of the normal quantity of food to ingest, because I can't rely on my messed-up inward regulatory system to do it for me.
Also thank goodness for my having read about volumetrics, and educating myself about what food can be piled on the plate, and what can't. Green beans, yeah. Broccoli, sure. Clear broth soup, bring it on. But not trail mix, which is dangerous for me in large quantities. (Not even Trader Joe's, as opposed to the kind with M&Ms & such in it.)
Saef, I love reading your posts because you're so articulate. You raise a great question about the reason fullness is so pleasurable----and only to some, not to others. My husband doesn't like feeling full. Often, he will leave the table, saying, "I could eat that [what is left on his plate] but I would be too full."
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Originally Posted by Belease
I saw an interesting programme with this in it - they had a bunch of little kids and gave them lunch. Then they asked them how full they were, and most of them pointed to the diagram of the person whose stomach was full of food. Then, they started the kids off drawing and gave them a plate of party food. It was really interesting to see that some of the kids just left the food, because they didn't want it because they were full. Some had one or two pieces. Some just sat there mindlessly cramming piece after piece into their mouths until they had eaten the whole plate-full. I can categorically state that I would have been the kid with nothing left on my plate at the end. There's just something about my brain that doesn't seem to feel there's any connection between having already had food, and eating more. At times I honestly used to make myself feel ill from eating too much. But since I started controlling my calories, I've not felt that in a long time, and I really really like it!
This is interesting because it supports my belief that the main difference between those of us who struggle with our weight and those who naturally maintain a healthy weight is not so much metabolism as it is our brains. I want food more than my naturally thin husband. My hunger and fullness signals are not as keen as his.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shmead
Then, one day, I realized that they are lying. At least a lot of them are. "I'm full" is a polite social lie for "I can't eat that" because many, many thin people consciously regulate their intake, which is why they are thin. They could eat, and enjoy, the cupcake, but they had a big lunch so they don't think they should.
This sounds so dumb when I type it out, but it was just a social signal I missed. I thought everyone was wired profoundly differently than I, but I am now coming to suspect that in many cases it is not that simple.
I do think that there’s some truth to this, too. I think many people control their weight but don't announce that that's what they're doing. However, in some cases, they really don’t want it (my husband is like this).
I have that problem a lot, my parents call me the bottomless pit! Sometimes though, I feel a bit sick after I eat, but feel compelled to eat more- then the sick feeling goes away for a bit but then comes back. Do you think this is psychological or might I actually have a problem? Anyway, don;t worry about the not feeling full thing, I'm told that if you diet your body thinks that you're starving so that might be why.
