How do you control how much you eat?

Mr_Knight

sammyantics wrote: »

But, how do I get to that point on my own?

I have goals more important than just the number on the scale. For example, I'm training for a triathlon, so I have "no choice" but to eat smarter and move (a lot) more. I know what size I have to be to be unimaginably hot in a Brioni suit, so my choices have to be consistent with the goal.

The number on the scale falls out of that.

jgnatca

From my diabetic training, I plate my food. First goes the vegetables, filling half the plate. Then the carb, one of the quarters, and the protein in the final quarter. That's my plate; that's my meal. The mind and the stomach eventually get in sync.

Mollynoodle

You don't have disgusting eating habits. It's just that you find food comforting and some foods are addictive! When I overeat (and I do - a lot!) I use MFP to pay a penalty by doing exercise! I had a crisp sandwich today so the dog got took out for an extra hour! Good luck

yelliezx

I pre-log and occasionally weigh things, but usually I guestimate. I have learned by my last binge session that if I deprive myself then I'm going to eat everything in sight. If I work things that I want into my calorie allotment for the day then I can still eat what I want, just less of it and that satisfies me. If there's something that I want to eat but it pushes me over my calorie allowance for the day then I guess I'm taking my *kitten* for a walk to make up for it.

LMS120yesIcan

Drink plenty of water, prelog your meals, after filling your plate put left overs immediately in fridge so they get nice and cold, always divide restaurant portions in half and put half in fridge or better yet the freezer and if you screw up like I did today add additional exercise so you don't end up in the red. As my eating habits improve, my cravings are not as strong.

sammyantics

HappyCampr1 wrote: »

Relying on your boyfriend to stop you is a very bad idea. You're placing all the blame on him for when you mess up. It is not his responsibility to tell you when you've had enough. That's what MFP is for. Until you learn to tell yourself to stop, you have to trust the numbers. You have to let MFP tell you enough is enough. Don't make your boyfriend do it. It's not fair to him and it's not going to help you in the long run.

I really like your take on planning/measuring food ahead of time. it sounds smart and totally manageable, so thank you!
I just wanted to clear the air on the bf thing, though. I don't rely on him, or even ask him to do that. he does it because he knows i'm trying to be better about my eating habits, so when he sees me straying off track, he nudges me back in the right direction. If I didn't want to worry about what I was eating, he wouldn't care either. it's not a reliance thing, but you make a good point. I don't want it to turn into that either. thanks for your thoughtful response

PeachyCarol

I will definitely add to the preplanning/prelogging recommendations. Even if you don't want to weigh your food, just having a set idea of what kind of portion you're going to consume and a plan will be a good step.

Another issue I haven't seen addressed that I sort of picked up on in your initial post was a way for you to tune into your hunger signals to be able to stop yourself when you're full so you're eating because you're hungry, not because you want food. There's a difference.

I've made the transition myself, and it was easy, but it took some mindful behavior. First? SLOW DOWN when you eat. Second? Take small bites. Chew each one thoroughly, and make sure that your mouth is completely empty of food before you take your next bite. If you do this, you'll give the satiety hormones time to send signals to your brain that you're satisfied before you've stuffed a lot of food into your face, instead of stuffing lots of food in, then having those hormones slam into you after the fact.

While you're practicing this mindfulness, you'll have to get used to a new feeling. A feeling of having "just enough" instead of feeling stuffed. That stuffed feeling? That's what got people like us who've had whacked out hunger signals into a situation with overeating in the first place. Learning to stop when we've had "just enough"? That's a good new habit to develop that will give us the body we want. That's what I kept telling myself while I was getting used to a new way of feeling full. It worked over time.

WeddedBliss1992

i think there is a very psychological aspect to this for me personally. i felt that my body betrayed me in so many ways...it all goes back to when our baby died. i had gained so much weight with the pregnancy, and then had to have a hysterectomy and gained even more. then started menopause...gained more. then i started medications, gained even more. i just got so angry with my body that i didn't care what i put into it. i have just recently started to really get care and concern for myself. therapy is helping. i'm not saying you are a psychological mess like i am (ha) but i really have noticed that the past 2 years have been a journey to where i am now. i can now get honest about what i have allowed to happen to me. i can stop beating myself up and realize that i am worth stopping after 3 bites if i'm full, and i am worth throwing out left-overs instead of eating them.

wreckzrainer131

I eat what I'm supposed to and then immediately brush my teeth. Not hungry after that.

cincysweetheart

--Portion it out according to your calorie goal and PUT THE REST AWAY! That does best for me. I was not an emotional eater… but I ate simply because I liked food and it was there. At restaurants… ask for the doggy bag up front!
--Drink lots of water… before and during meals.
--Good nutrition and listen to your body! Pay attention to your macros. Learn which foods make you feel satisfied (a different feeling than full) mentally as well as physically. Pay attention to how certain foods feel physically.
--Trust your calorie goal. Force yourself to stop… at least in the beginning. Your body will adapt. You will feel less hungry and you'll find that certain foods (or just eating too much in general) just doesn't agree with you. Overtime that feeling becomes less and less desirable to the point that you'll find it's just not worth it.

flrancho

- Drink more water before meals.
- Log in your calories before you eat them. Put away anything extra.
- Stick to serving size suggestions (or even halve them) on anything pre-packaged you eat.
- Weigh and measure all your foods.
- Use a smaller plate, it looks like there's more on it when you have reduced portions.
- Eat more slowly and really enjoy what your eating.
- Save calories for healthy snacks throughout the day.

19SarahJayne85

Hi Sammyantics,
I plan ahead of meal times and snacks. So like on my diary here I would plan out my daily food and stick to it, I log everything out and try and exercise when I can, I walk everywhere and burn between 90-600cal in just walking. Even to work burns 90cal there, 90cal back.
I chew sugar free gum/mints to try supress eating in between meals.
I try not to eat after 8pm, however this is hard because once my kids are in bed I wanna eat - so I have toasted seed mix, fresh fruit, fat free yoghurt at the ready.
I drink water as much as I can and take a packed lunch to work full of wholemeal/whole-wheat healthy foods.
Chocolate is my down fall, so I eat kids size bars as treat only really or so long as its in my calorie budget.
If its a bad day I pick myself up, I dust myself down, I take a look at my fat photo and my goal jeans and realise how far I have come - 71lb lighter with no medical aid just walking and portion control.
Good luck in your journey!
By all means add me if you'd like us to support and encourage each others x

BuckyArden33

plenty of water and keep 3 days worth of meals made and boxed in the refrigerator

Alluminati

There are people that have lost weight on MFP who don't weigh their food and practice intuitive eating. I couldn't do it when I started but I can do it now if I wanted (i still weigh because I don't mind it). The scale trained me on portion sizes, btw. If you're not at that point yet, maybe you can weigh and pre-plan for a short period to get an idea of portion sizes and can recognize the "eating til you're not hungry" feeling which is very different from the "eating til you're stuffed" feeling.

Ame_ly

For me portions have never been a problem, either being junk food or a salad but I'll try and give ya some advice anyways.

Drink tons of water since a lot of people mistake thirst for hunger and before you actually eat your main meal eat something like a salad, especially radishes. You'll feel up on low cal veggies so this way you'll avoid overeating.

Even if you don't find it sustainable, you should try and weight your food and make them ahead/pre log them. You'll need to push yourself harder, it's only you that you're up against. If you can convince yourself you can do it, you're already halfway there.

Jenskiski

I weighed and measured at the beginning and still do if I'm eating something new, but generally once you get used to it you get darned good at eyeballing sizes.

The big thing at home is not to bring serving dishes to the table. If I portion out my food in the kitchen and make it inconvenient to have just a little more, I stick to plan much better.

Eleonora91

I've usually found that I succeed the most when I log my calories ahead, but I know what you mean when you say you can't do it all the time for the rest of your life. I guess I will eventually give it up too! Even when I wasn't dieting, but only trying to mantain by myself, I didn't count calories, but I knew how much food I needed. I used to decide what I wanted to eat before eating, for example, I knew a bowl of salad with a certain quantity of tomatoes, olives and a single piece of bread was going to be okay. I knew I could add a dessert or stuff like that. I knew quite well how much I needed because I was remembering it from the time I was counting calories. I didn't count calories exactly, but I had a good idea. If you have the chance of cooking your food separately at each meal, that's better. I try to never have leftovers and I also try to never have too many treats around if I know I'm not going to be able to stop. I would also suggest you to choose what to eat carefully. If you're eating something that's particulary palatable, and you get leftovers, you'll be more prone to eating a double portion. Whenever I eat something I particulary like, I try to make smaller portions, so I won't feel compelled to eat more of it. If I'm making 2 portions of salad or pasta, I'll most definitely not feel like eating it all at once, especially if I'm already actually satiated. Choosing your foods carefully will also help you to feel full and not willing to reach for more food - I used to start my meals with a simple salad or raw vegetables or fruit so that I would get tired of chewing and eating, and I wouldn't feel the need to have extra treats or portions. Try to combine each advice you've gotten so far so that you can find what works for you. Unfortunately when you use food as a comfort it's hard to get rid of that state of mind, the only thing I can assure you is that once you find out that food doesn't really make you feel better afterwards, it will start to happen much less.