Trying to eat normal amounts but end up grabbing more??

AcceptingNormal

Whenever I try to intuitively eat and just stick to what I now know is a healthy, normal amount, I get the urge to grab more food afterwards. It's like I know I don't need more food, my stomach is satiated, but I just ALWAYS end up grabbing a second serving, or on my good days, two more pieces of fruit to keep from grabbing a whole other serving of whatever it was I had. I feel like I'm just eating too much now. I don't know how to eat normally and accept when a meal should be over.
"Doing something else" or "distracting myself" never works because after every meal the only thing i'm usually supposed to/expected/NEED to do is study. There's really nothing else.

Would this be considered too much food for someone to stay slim, who lives a sedentary lifestyle?

Today I had:

Breakfast: 2 bowls muesli with 2 non-fat yogurts and an apple. (I had a second serving)
Lunch : 1 tuna/corn/tomato/carrot/ olive salad (large bowl)
1 soy burger (3.5 oz) with boiled carrots
1 apple
1 greek yogurt + 2 cups puffed wheat cereal

and it's only 4 pm. And I really want a snack but feel like a fruit will be too much fruit for the day, and also some nuts will NOT fill me.

Francl27

No clue. Log it and you'll see.

Chaotic_Weevil

It depends on your serving sizes, but muesli is quite calorie dense, so likely.

If you are a volume eater and are struggling with limiting yourself, you need to at least pick lower calorie options like vegetables or egg whites

astrampe

Muesli is full of sugar and wont keep you full...Eat more protein
Not sur how much Muesli you had, but even if it was 2 cups, the food you have mentioned dont look like much.....

gothchiq

"intuitive" doesn't work for me and never has. It may not work for you either. Just measure and log everything; get used to eating what's allotted to you for calories/nutrition rather than what you think you want. I know it sounds grim but it's either that or gain all the weight back.

nxd10

That's more than I would eat, but I'm older than you. Muesli has a lot of calories in it.

Habits are hard to break. Grab a glass of water. When I was in college, I'd sit and chat, eat my dinner, chat some more, and go back for second helpings. Then I wised up and went back for a salad without dressing.

It's hard to break the habits that got us overweight in the first place. That's why people gain. But you have to do it. You say you 'can't do it'. Sure you can. You just haven't learned to yet.

morgiee_lynne

Sounds like you are consuming a lot of sugar. That may be why you are always craving a second helping of it. I would try to cut back on the sugar and you will see your urges decrease as well most likely.

chouflour

If you're in recovery for an eating disorder, these are good things to talk to your therapist about. From what I understand - your experience is normal after long periods of low caloric intake and will stabilize. Right now you body may just need more nutrition (and possibly more fat) than it's used to getting.

BusyRaeNOTBusty

That really doesn't seem like much food at all to me. How many calories is it? Are you getting enough fat, protein? How tall are you? How much do you weigh?

mshepard83

My #1 problem has always been my inability to stop myself from getting seconds. I am an emotional eater, 100%. I have been through diet after diet, I woke up one morning and decided I was a vegan (didn't last more than a couple of days), I've done everything. I even joined Overeaters Anonymous, but I couldn't stick to anything. Then one day, I started meditating, and focusing on becoming more aware / present in my body, and I could see how my desire to keep going back for more food was my way of coping with any emotion (from stress to boredom, even excitement and happiness, i.e. family gatherings). I kept working on being present in my body and recognizing these emotions, and only then did I realize that I was trying too hard to control them, and that I needed to return to simplicity.

There is a great book called The Zen of Eating (here is the link on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Zen-Eating-R-Kabatznick/dp/0399523820 ). I've also been writing a blog about my personal experience with this issue, if it helps at all, which shows how I've struggled with this for over a year, and how I'm finally on the right path, and still going strong!: http://monicaweightlossjourney.blogspot.com/2013/01/facing-facts.html. Anyway, you can do this; it's not as simple as waking up and deciding "this time will be different"; you have to look within, but you can do it!! Best of luck to you!!

Spiderkeys

I do it everyday, no effect with my weight, what I do is just minus 200 calories off my 2,200 limit, that leaves me with 2,000 every day. If I "accidently" go over a bit. I don't need to worry. If you eating more than 200 calories over everyday, then well your eating habits are out of control.

pkw58

The only thing that got me off "seconds" was really amping up my protein % . I also had todo the controversial "eliminate certain foods" till I learned how to maintain and still eliminate or limit "certain foods". Some people successful can just count calories of anything to lose or maintain their weight, I have to count and keep my proteins between 30 and 40 % of my calories to not end up "starving".

alesia9

i thought I was the only one who would go in on healthy items. Just because its grapes doesn't mean to eat the WHOLE bag today lol. I've learned a lot about portions by getting the 21 Day Fix portion containers and workouts. Anyone interested in knowing more let me know.

stealthq

It's impossible to know unless you tell us how tall you are and how much you weigh.

That would be within my maintenance even if I didn't exercise, but I'd have to be conservative with dinner and have something like a small serving of baked fish and steamed broccoli. No snacks. But, I'm short, older, and pretty lean at this point.

I can tell you that if you're constantly hungry, you want to stay away from mueslis and cereals. Lots of calories, little satiation. Go for things that are higher in protein, higher in fat. Higher in fiber works for some (not me) - but that's worth a try, too.

Think of foods that you eat where you only want a small amount and are satisfied. Some of them probably won't be 'diet' foods, and some will, but who cares. You don't need to eat much of it - that's the whole idea. Canned tuna works for me - it's a taste thing. I like it, but only so much and I'm done. Dark chocolate works for me, too, but less so as a bar as when it's in other things. Could be a Starbucks skinny mocha, or a dark chocolate mousse, or hot chocolate. Satisfies the need for a treat - hits sweet, protein (milk), and hedonism all at once.

sljohnson1207

Where is the protein and fat? No wonder you are so hungry. This seems like an awfully carb heavy diet which can trigger cravings in some people.

Maybe try a more balanced approach of 40% cals from carbs, 30% carbs from proteins, and 30% carbs from fats.

CajunBarbie

Try upping your protein (beef, fish, egg whites, turkey, chicken) and reach for fiberous carbs (veggies). Even for breakfast. It's more filling and if you do want more or you're still hungry, eat more veggies.

wmcmurray61

I don't know if this will help you but it sure helped me. When I first started trying to lose weight I kept a little notebook. In it, every time I ate, I would write down what I was feeling BEFORE I ate it. Not WHAT I was eating but how I really felt. Was I happy? Angry? Sad? Bored? Or was I truly hungry? I did this for about 2 months and in the process learned that I was only really, physically hungry about a 1/3 of the time. It helped me learn that I was an emotional eater and it made me stop and think about what I was doing before I ate. It also helped me to learn what "full" really feels like. After that I started really measuring and logging my food choices. It worked for me. Maybe it will work for you, too!

SingingSingleTracker

Log your calories in vs. calories out. (CICO)

Otherwise, it's like trying to put gas in your car's tank with no fuel gauge needle in your car to tell you if the tank is full, no idea how big the tank is to begin with, and no numbers on the gas pump to tell you how many gallons/liters are being dispensed and no idea what it costs.

Know your numbers!!!!

Then get back to us.

AcceptingNormal wrote: »

Whenever I try to intuitively eat and just stick to what I now know is a healthy, normal amount, I get the urge to grab more food afterwards. It's like I know I don't need more food, my stomach is satiated, but I just ALWAYS end up grabbing a second serving, or on my good days, two more pieces of fruit to keep from grabbing a whole other serving of whatever it was I had. I feel like I'm just eating too much now. I don't know how to eat normally and accept when a meal should be over.
"Doing something else" or "distracting myself" never works because after every meal the only thing i'm usually supposed to/expected/NEED to do is study. There's really nothing else.

Would this be considered too much food for someone to stay slim, who lives a sedentary lifestyle?

Today I had:

Breakfast: 2 bowls muesli with 2 non-fat yogurts and an apple. (I had a second serving)
Lunch : 1 tuna/corn/tomato/carrot/ olive salad (large bowl)
1 soy burger (3.5 oz) with boiled carrots
1 apple
1 greek yogurt + 2 cups puffed wheat cereal

and it's only 4 pm. And I really want a snack but feel like a fruit will be too much fruit for the day, and also some nuts will NOT fill me.