Coming to Terms with Eating Smaller Portions?

superstacker007

Hello everyone,

Thanks to everybody for sharing their stories, pictures, and advices. The support and knowledge of this community has greatly helped me in starting my weight loss journey.

I now know that calorie counting and eating less carbs is important in losing weight. Eat smaller portions, and move slightly more.

One of my ongoing problems is my ongoing attachment to food. I love food and its taste. Food represents formal celebrations, personal victories, family gatherings, and fun outings with friends. Food should never be wasted. The time that grandma spent in baking muffins should never be wasted.

How do I learn to change my relationship with food? I feel similar to an alcoholic who is learning to live life with less alcohol.

Thanks to everybody for their replies!

judiness101

You do not need to limit your carbs to lose weight. Eating food with a lower GI can help with the hunger, but the weight loss is done with the total calories.

If you like to eat bigger portions, you can try cutting down (or cutting completely) snacks and save your calories for meal only. Low calories vegetables are also great if you like big portions. You can fill a good part of your plate with that.

cwolfman13

I still celebrate occasions and such with food...nobody got fat because they celebrated an occasion...people get fat when people eat like everyday is an occasion.

PeachyCarol

Okay, firstly, cutting carbs is not important to weight loss. Cutting calories is. You can still have carbs, but you need to watch portion sizes.

To ensure that you're not eating too little, don't set too lofty a goal for yourself. Choose to lose 1 pound a week instead of two.

To ensure that you're on the path to success, buy a kitchen scale and weigh all solid foods. Choose accurate data base entries and log them into your diary here. You can verify your choices through the USDA web site or through nutritiondata.self.com. Meausure out all liquids you consume and log those.

To be happier and sated with less food, SLOW DOWN. Concentrate on taking smaller bites. Chew each bite thoroughly, emptying your mouth completely before taking the next bite. The longer it takes you to eat, it will give your body a chance to recognize natural satiety signals, and you will be satisfied with less food.

Good luck!

eileensofianmushinfine

I'm going to disagree with the others in that I've cut carbs (pasta, rice, potatoes) out -- almost completely through my trainer's instructions. I've increased my protein and fat intake and find that, since doing so, I don't get cravings late in the day. I still celebrate special things with food -- like Valentine's Day - but I try to plan ahead to leave some extra room in my daily meal plan for it. One of the things that I've embraced is the concept of "Food is Fuel" for your body....and yet, at times, it's meant to be enjoyed and savored.

Liftng4Lis

You don't need to give up anything. You're still going to eat and love food, just not to the point of excess. All things in moderation.

SwankyTomato

Yea, it sucks. I love food as well. You just stick with it if you want to lose weight.

I cut things in half then save the other half for later.

Ninkyou

I still eat EVERYTHING I ate previous to losing weight. I just eat less of it and keep it within my calorie goal. And yes, move more.

SilverRose89

cwolfman13 wrote: »

I still celebrate occasions and such with food...nobody got fat because they celebrated an occasion...people get fat when people eat like everyday is an occasion.

So much this.

callsitlikeiseeit

cwolfman13 wrote: »

I still celebrate occasions and such with food...nobody got fat because they celebrated an occasion...people get fat when people eat like everyday is an occasion.

^^^ this!

jgnatca

Present your food on a smaller plate. Take pictures and blog about it. Eat slowly, mindfully enjoying every bite. Your idea of normal gradually shifts.

I realize now I used to take seconds because I did not pay attention the first time. I was trying to recapture the feeling. So pay attention the first time around and you can actually have more pleasure with less food.

seltzermint555

Plan and then plan some more. Today in the middle of the day I had a 10 oz frozen custard peanut butter sundae. I went mall walking for an hour after work and I ate low calorie high nutrition breakfast and lunch. My husband's making homemade pizza with very low sodium, super thin crust, a little bit of cheese and TONS of vegetables on top. I'll even have a beer. A beer. Not the 3-4 beers I might want.

FutureMrsEssman

cwolfman13 wrote: »

I still celebrate occasions and such with food...nobody got fat because they celebrated an occasion...people get fat when people eat like everyday is an occasion.

This. Everything about this is true and made me literally Laugh Out Loud.

DKG28

As far as "grandma's muffins"-I've learned to immediately freeze extra portions of such food gifts. The don't go to waste and I'm not tempted by them sitting on the counter with my brain saying "Don't let them go stale".

mymodernbabylon

I do eat everything I want but not in the quantities I used to. It's taken some time to get used to knowing what a good portion size is, but now I can go to my in-laws and request the smaller sized portions (they used to try to feed me as much as my husband and it contributed to my weight gain). I enjoy every bite and feel satisfied versus 'full'. Perfect.

Sued0nim

Where you used to have a bigger piece of meat or more chips, put vegetables

Where you used to have a full slice of cake, cut it in half and add some berries

Change up the proportions of the food you eat and you don't need to cut volume that much if you don't want to

bunnypy

jgnatca wrote: »

Present your food on a smaller plate. Take pictures and blog about it. Eat slowly, mindfully enjoying every bite. Your idea of normal gradually shifts.

I realize now I used to take seconds because I did not pay attention the first time. I was trying to recapture the feeling. So pay attention the first time around and you can actually have more pleasure with less food.

^^this, mawn if u need to, and maybe get a glass ot water before every meal, before u knw it ur stomach will b small and getting full on small portions!

Pootler74

rabbitjb wrote: »

Where you used to have a bigger piece of meat or more chips, put vegetables

Where you used to have a full slice of cake, cut it in half and add some berries

Change up the proportions of the food you eat and you don't need to cut volume that much if you don't want to

Was coming here to say just this. It's called 'volume eating', where you swap some of the fat/carb food for non-starchy vegetables or fruit. This has lots of benefits - the water and fibre fill you up, you get all those vitamins, and it has fewer calories.

In my case it also seems to have had the effect of making it unpleasant to eat large portions of fatty carby food. I ate too much a couple of times - amounts that were normal for me before - and felt SO awful afterwards that it's pretty much put me off doing it again. This has taken about three months.

Make sure you're also getting enough fat, and plenty of protein - you'll need smaller portions of those to fill you up.

It can get easier. As a person who used to eat a pint of ice cream (AFTER an entire deep pan pizza), I tried an experiment last night. Instead of weighing out my ice cream, I weighed the whole tub. Then I ate from the tub with a spoon, the old fashioned way, and stopped when I'd had enough. (I know! Seemed hard to imagine just a few months ago!) Weighed the tub again, and it turned out I'd had two scoops worth. Which is a normal portion, right?

Believe me, I was wondering exactly the same as you just a few weeks ago, and posted a question about switching from volume eating to smaller portions. But the adjustment seems to be coming mostly on its own.

Sophiasmomma

I think *most* people here LOVE food and volumes of it or we wouldnt be here logging every taste we take
I now look for volume foods.
Example:
I know how tiny one scoop of ice cream is.... and well its sad So what I usually do is make a chocolate protein shake with low calorie almond milk and freeze it. Its a huge mug for 130 calories and takes me over half.an hour to eat it satisfies my sweet tooth and mentally "I ate alot"
I also do this with greek yogurt. I buy the big containers of fat free measure out one cup then load the top with a fruit of my choice. For 200 calories it looks hige and takes alot longer to eat than one of those tiny containers of yogurt.

Ellaskat

You don't have to waste food to eat less. I cook all our meals and lunch is usually leftovers. Learning how to freeze dough or cookies muffins etc helps too. I love always having leftovers because it means I cook less and my grocery bill goes down. What's not to like?

Wiseandcurious

I agree that we all probably love food, but one can find a happy middle ground with the taste/volume thing. It's much the same principle as value/money: you have a budget (your volume and/or calorie requirements) and a desired object (taste, satisfaction) and can evaluate the two to get the best result for your budget.

I like what rabbitjb said above and it's essentially what I do too: I prefer to have a small serving of the original sky-high calorie count ice-cream with a "side" of fruits than a large pint of substitute, a small serving of high-calorie pizza with a side of salad than, oh I don't know, a whole cauliflower crust pizza...

The point is though, there are options. Each and every one of us has faced the dilemma and has chosen their way to tackle it, by high-volume fillers (veg) or low-cal substitutes or small portions of exactly what you crave, and probably for most people it's a specific balance of all three. You just have to find your sweet spot OP. It will only take a few weeks!

melodyesch

I'm just over 6 weeks in and it DOES get easier. When going out or doing something out of the ordinary, I budget my calories to have whatever treat I want.

One thing, though, last night I was going out to dinner with my DH and some friends. I did budget my calories through the day for this large meal that before I could eat with no problem. But last night, I was stuffed. STUFFED, on the portion of food that would have been no big deal six weeks ago. I kept eating because I wanted it and I had budgeted for it. And I felt like crap all night, even though I didn't go over my calories for the day.

So even though I've got the calorie counting down very well, I still have lessons to learn about my relationship with food and about listening to my body. I need to recognize when I'm comfortably full and to STOP EATING. A little really does go a long way.

eileensofianmushinfine

<<That's fair enough. I take it you'll be cutting out carbs for the rest of your life though?

If not, how do you propose to deal with any cravings when you reintroduce them?>>

I have a feeling that I will really limit my carbs for the long haul. As of right now, I don't really miss them -- and that does surprise me. I have added sweet potato back in, but I don't have any cravings for them. I try to get carbs from the beans and vegetables that I eat.

For me, I do look at this as a lifetime change. Carbs (rice, potatoes, pasta) of these types will be limited. I feel much better than when I was eating pasta almost every day.

Pootler74

I just realised, looking through my diary, that what also might have helped me is that I graze. I tend to eat small meals, but lots of snacks.

This is a tactic to stop me over eating, and, because I feel like I'm always eating, I don't feel like I'm dieting, so I tend not to fall off the wagon. But maybe grazing on small amounts of food has shrunk my stomach?

If I eat a decent sized meal (like tonight's half a thin crust pizza, salad, big bowl of strawberries topped with quark) I can definitely tell when I'm full now, whereas before I had no idea what that felt like.

AmazonMayan

What worked for me was to put whatever I cooked that was a true portion size (instead of 2 and 3 or more servings to get full) onto a big pile of leafy greens - any kind, sometimes raw, sometimes cooked. It works adding in more of other lower calorie veggie items too if you're not big on a salad type thing. The cooked food acted as a "topping" or "dressing" kind of and when it wasn't very saucy, I'd add something that complimented it like plain yogurt mixed with salsa or hot sauce or sweet chili sauce, or some tomato sauce, or a good vinegar like balsamic, etc. - as long as it was something lower calorie and tasty. I avoid most commercial salad dressings, but if you can work the calories in then it's no problem. I would make sure I had some of the main part of the meal and some of the greens on my fork or chopsticks (to slow my eating down).

I've found the right balance in macros to keep me full now and I don't eat the volume of food I used to on most days. I just plain can't now and get stuffed on much less food. I hardly even eat salads now since those were mostly just to add volume anyway lol. I still eat lots of veggies, they just get put into my meals most of the time. I also make sure my food tastes really good and occasionally have a little something less nutritious and I'm not missing out or feeling deprived.

DebzNuDa

I eat EVERYTHING but I eat much less. At home I eat my meals on a salad plate instead of filling a dinner plate or cup, instead of a bowl. I weigh EVERTHING including the 4 Skittles I snuck last night. Then log, log, log. I try to drink a whole cup/tumbler of water before I eat. If I am out eating I order the "Senior" menu (I KNOW I'm old!), or request a half order or choose a Kid Menu. Of course, this is all within my calories goal and I never go in for "seconds" at home or at the buffet. It took a while to condition my head but these little things have helped. Good luck!

procyonlupus

If I'm on a "I love food" day, I make my food pretty. Dress your plate, dress your food. For example my sandwich today was cut into triangles, on one of the fancy china plates with a side of 1oz Doritos and fresh mozzarella. I took my time to make my food filling (adding tomato, lettuce to my sandwhich to bulk it up easier), I decorated the plate so that by the time I sat down, I was excited to eat, and found it felt MORE filling.

kindrabbit

I am trying to learn to eat like a naturally thin person. If you talk to people who don't have to watch their weight you will notice that they eat for fuel the majority of the time and they stop when they feel satisfied. When they do have a yummy treat its usually enough to get the taste and nothing more.

My husband is naturally slim. He eats really slowly and he always leaves something on his plate, sometimes just a mouthful or two. It is a totally alien concept to me that you can feel full and just stop eating! It's a skill I am trying to learn. He does eat sweet treats (lots of ice cream etc) but he will only have 1 scoop per serving whereas a portion to me is 3 scoops! If he had his way he would eat nothing but meat. He doesn't particularly like pasta, rice, bread or potatoes and only eats veg because I make him! A good snack for him is cold meat. By copying some of his habits I am learning to listen to my body and stop eating when I've had enough. If I leave some then there's always something left if I get hungry later.

I also remind myself that once the food is bought it makes no difference whether I eat it or it goes in the bin - the money has been spent so it's not a waste of money to throw out leftovers. I would of spent the same amount of money whether I ate it or threw it away. (of course I try to re-use it)

alanlmarshall

For you, there could be some phsychological/adherence benefit to intermittent fasting. You might check into it and give it a try.

It's little frustrating sometimes to just read "all things in moderation." If I was inclined to be moderate, I wouldn't be here.

MichaelVakili

Just keep it simple ,don't develop unhealthy obsession with food and you will do fine. When I was eating in smaller portions more often I developed such obsession, but continued anyway the vicious cycle thinking that 'I was getting too soft, lack of motivation' and all sort of things. Eating in smaller portions > overeating > getting frustrated > starting all over again. After awhile I found the 'LeanGains' protocol of eating developed by Martin Berkhan. After 2 years of unhealthy relationship with food ... Learn from my mistakes and don't get caught in the obsessive circle

LoupGarouTFTs

eileensofianmushinfine wrote: »

One of the things that I've embraced is the concept of "Food is Fuel" for your body....and yet, at times, it's meant to be enjoyed and savored.

I can get behind the idea of food being fuel. I say that all the time and mean that there's no point in demonizing anything that provides you energy. However, I don't understand the concept of not enjoying food you enjoy for that fuel.