If you’re like me at all, you’ve probably struggled with finding the right amount of food that you can eat in one sitting to feel satiated. By satiated, I mean full and satisfied to the perfect degree. Not overly full but completely fulfilled.
Whether you have a history of dieting where you’re being told how much to eat, or you’ve self-imposed restrictions on your intake, or you constantly feel like you eat too much, being out of sync with your body’s feedback cues can cause confusion on the popular question:
When should you stop eating?
To some, that might be an easy answer. You might say, I stop when I’m full! But what does that mean? In today’s email I’m going to walk you through a few easy tips to learn more about how you can identify if you’re eating the correct amount according to your goals. And yes, your goal can be maintenance.
- Watch your phrasing. I see this come up a lot during food journal review: “I was still hungry, so I had another helping.” When assessing fullness, use words like ‘full,’ ‘satisfied,’ or ‘content’ instead of ‘hungry.’ The last time you said you were still hungry and ate more, you likely ended up feeling overfull. Saying “I’m not hungry anymore but I’m also not yet full” will likely have a better outcome than saying “I’m still hungry.”
- Practice feeling your body’s physical response to food. There have likely been times when you realized you ate too much and felt effects like abdominal pressure, bloating, discomfort, tight clothes, increased heart rate, reflux, or tiredness. You might feel these often but haven’t linked them to overeating. Start paying attention and see if these symptoms decrease when you eat less, whether by having a smaller meal or a snack to test this out.
- Learn to articulate your feelings of fullness. Eat with intention! Pay attention to what you are eating and eat one plate at a time. If you eat family-style most of the time, serve yourself and eat the one plate, checking in with yourself periodically to see how your fullness is increasing. I don’t know about you, but I’ve definitely gone back for seconds on a side that I loved when I hadn’t even touched whatever else was on my plate yet!
- Don’t fear eating less if you really think you’re overeating. Chronic dieting can lead to overeating due to fear of deprivation. Many overeat fearing hunger later, despite having full access to food. Being hungry multiple times a day is normal. Remember, you can always eat later when you get hungry, which is NORMAL!
Remember that managing hunger properly is crucial for eating to a comfortable level of fullness. When we’re overly hungry, we tend to compensate by eating too much. Conversely, eating when we’re not hungry, such as for emotional reasons, often leads to overeating and feeling overly full.
Your body signals when it’s time to eat by releasing the hormone ghrelin and when to stop by releasing leptin. These signals come directly from your stomach. Can they become disrupted over time? Yes. Can you learn to listen to them? Also yes.
If you’re ready to discover the right amount to eat, understand your hunger and fullness cues, and optimize meal timing, I can help! Reply to this email to schedule a personalized nutrition counseling session and start your journey to better eating habits right now.