Shrinking stomach
 

Everyday for the last 2 months, I've packed my breakfast and lunch for work. Which is a win win. Keeps me from going up stairs and spending money and also keeps me from pigging out. We have the best cafeteria ever. its like a food court, any food you can possibly want, sushi, tacos, wings. so it's best I avoid it like the plague.

but now I've noticed that since I've been doing this, (i normally eat oatmeal and water in the morning, wheat and turkey with yogurt and bottle water for lunch, and a cup of fruit (mostly grapes since I love them) for mid afternoon snack). I get full quicker. I remember when I first started just eating a sandwich and yogurt for lunch left me feeling hungry. I had to seriously resist the urge to buy something else to eat. Now, I can't finish the entire yogurt container and usually leave about a 1/4 of the sandwich because my stomach starts to feel stuffed. I know the less you eat, your stomach gets smaller, but now I'm worried. I know if my calorie intake drops too low (because i'm eating less) it could stall weight loss efforts. What can I do to combat this?

I used to eat mini meals and experienced the same. Often, I would just have half each hour (ie sandwich at 11, the rest at 12). You can have your "main" foods in the cafeteria and if possibly something smaller just a bit later when you are back at work (a little baggie of nuts always did the trick for me, or a kashi bar)

The incredible shrinking stomach is actually a dieting myth. Your stomach will always be the same size. What does change is the way you feel when it becomes stretched with food. Back in the day when I could go to burger king and eat a whopper, a king sized fry, an order of fried cheese sticks, and wash all that down with a dr pepper, I could finish all that food, and feel not even full. Not hungry anymore, but not uncomfortable at all. Now, I doubt I could even finish just a whopper (havent tried in close to a year). It is not that my stomach has shrunk. It is the same size as ever, but it is not used to being distended at all, so it reaches the discomfort zone much sooner than it used to. I don't think this is something you should worry about much, nor force yourself to eat beyond that comfort zone. It could open the door to a lot of bad old habits. I don't do the staggered eating: IE little meals all through the day. I dont find it even remotely satisfying, but in your case, perhaps this would work for you. a lot of little snacks throughout the day could fill out your calories better than trying to eat beyond your full comfort zone.

Thanks for the advice guys. I don't find a bunch of small meals satisfying either. I can see myself being pretty damn hungry. I may try what sacha suggested though, eat part of my meal, then eat the rest a bit later.

TornadoSiren i do have a question for you. I notice you and I are around the same height. I'm 4'11. I always embellish and say 5ft. How difficult is it for you to lose weight now that you're pretty slim category but have not yet reached the goal you set forth? The weight is shedding now, but I wonder what happens when I get closer. At what point does it stop being a 10 lb a month weight loss and become more of a 2-5lb month? Or is that a myth also? Like it doesn't truly get harder to lose weight the smaller you get. I'm sorry if those questions are stupid. I'd just like to know. I'm aiming for 125lbs. I dont want to be super skinny, i think that's a good weight. idk i'll gage it when i get closer.

Originally Posted by ksmommy:
Thanks for the advice guys. I don't find a bunch of small meals satisfying either. I can see myself being pretty damn hungry. I may try what sacha suggested though, eat part of my meal, then eat the rest a bit later.

TornadoSiren i do have a question for you. I notice you and I are around the same height. I'm 4'11. I always embellish and say 5ft. How difficult is it for you to lose weight now that you're pretty slim category but have not yet reached the goal you set forth? The weight is shedding now, but I wonder what happens when I get closer. At what point does it stop being a 10 lb a month weight loss and become more of a 2-5lb month? Or is that a myth also? Like it doesn't truly get harder to lose weight the smaller you get. I'm sorry if those questions are stupid. I'd just like to know. I'm aiming for 125lbs. I dont want to be super skinny, i think that's a good weight. idk i'll gage it when i get closer.

When I originally set my goal I had it set to 130. I honestly did not see myself aiming for 115. It seemed incredibly low. I changed it to 115 shortly before I hit my original 130 goal. I suppose if you figure the slight difference in our height, our goals are really close to the same BMI. I don't get out of overweight range till 119! But like you, I have no desire to be "thin". I prefer a little more rounded to my body. About your question though..My weight loss seriously started to slow down right around 140. Like you my first 50 pounds went at the rate of close to 10 pounds per month. Sadly, I dont see this anymore, durn it. I am now losing about a pound a week. I won't say it has gotten harder, because I still eat about the same as I did when I first started, and exercise about as much. Although the last month or so, I have had to cut back on the exercise a bit, simply because of time restraints I did not have when I first began, but I still get in 4 days a week. But with the lower calories my body needs now at 129lbs, I simply cannot create the deficit I could back in the beginning. So harder is not the right word, simply slower. I will say this though. I am good with the slower now. I am at a point now, where I feel healthy, and while still definitely chubby, I do not feel "fat" anymore, and even if it takes me another year to lose, or even if I did not lose another pound, I would be okay with that. The difference between what I was then, and what I am now, is more than enough to keep me contented while I slowly whittle away these last 15 pounds.

Most stalls are caused by taking in too many calories, not too few, so I would definitely not be concerned about that.

I would just make certain that the foods that you''re eating are nutritious and that you're drinking plenty of water.

The desire to eat less is a good thing! :)