Do you stop while you still want more?

laur357

In all honesty, I always want more. Of everything. It's taken me about two-three years of reduced calorie eating to not enjoy the feeling of being stuffed. Doesn't matter if it's pasta, salad, ramen, tortilla chips, whatever. It's psychological, and I'm very aware of that.

The easiest for me is to not keep it in my house and eat certain foods only on social occasions. I haven't banned anything, but I know I shouldn't keep a family sized bag of chips and dip at home. Salty snacks and I still have issues. I'm not content after I eat five bites of nachos. I'd rather eat them until I feel disgusting than eat just a few, so they're now very limited in my diet.

With meals, it's a lot easier now that I don't want to feel super full. I pick a portion and eat mindfully. (I've always been a slow eater, but now I'm infuriatingly slow. Sorry, dining buddies. I'm going to enjoy the hell out of this burger and eat each spear of asparagus with tiny, methodical bites.) I'm sometimes still hungry or know I could eat more, but I'm ok with that. I can just stop and know I'll get to eat later. Again, this took a very, very long time.

kommodevaran

For me, meal planning is a way to combine instant (or at least not distant) gratification with long term goals. It feels illogical to plan for something that is of no benefit to me. When I meal plan, I look for foods that gives me both pleasure and nutrition. I don't usually value foods that just gives pleasure, high enough to bother to try to fit it in. I really don't want it. Eating foods I know provides no benefit, is just an impulsive action. Planning helps me avoid many impulsive destructive actions. I still get tempted, and I still surrender, but not as often.

angmarie28

I am a chip aholic, no joke, i can eat a whole bag (big) no problem , so i buy my husband chips that i dont like. I also buy mini bags to take to work sometimes, and no im not satisfied, but it helps me somewhat. chips are by far my biggest down fall

Afura

kommodevaran wrote: »

It feels illogical to plan for something that is of no benefit to me. When I meal plan, I look for foods that gives me both pleasure and nutrition. I don't usually value foods that just gives pleasure, high enough to bother to try to fit it in.

This makes me think of those people that say don't use food as a treat, we're not a dog. We're animals, we're highly motivated by things, which includes food. I still have chocolate, but now it's evolved into more of a treat - not an everyday occurrence. I enjoy it more, and still make sure to fit it into my calories.
For regular meals, planning and prep cooking is the safest bet for me, otherwise it becomes a run to fast food, and yeah sure curly fries what the heck and then a 1k calorie meal. Dangit.

cross2bear

Its all a mind game, isnt it?!! I too agree that I tend to use my calories like a budget, and I want the best that my calorie money can buy. So I have to mentally assign the value of something and decide if its worth it. Or, if I just exercise a bit of restraint, I can have something even BETTER tomorrow. Or at the end of the week. Thats how I keep my excess eating of anything under some control. I also have found a few substitute foods for ones that that I absolutely love, and I know that I can have them everyday (and often do) but the one portion is satisfying enough. I also play a little game with myself. For example, I have a portion of food measured out (lets say my beloved Kellogs Special K cracker chips, salt and vinegar flavour). I have some almost every night while hubby and I compete on Jeopardy. I will only have a chip during the commercials. Or when Alex says "Daily Double" - remember the drinking games played at school? Kinda like that!!!

lemurcat12

kommodevaran wrote: »

For me, meal planning is a way to combine instant (or at least not distant) gratification with long term goals. It feels illogical to plan for something that is of no benefit to me. When I meal plan, I look for foods that gives me both pleasure and nutrition. I don't usually value foods that just gives pleasure, high enough to bother to try to fit it in. I really don't want it. Eating foods I know provides no benefit, is just an impulsive action. Planning helps me avoid many impulsive destructive actions. I still get tempted, and I still surrender, but not as often.

I guess I think of pleasure as a benefit and I also have a hard time separating out food that provides just pleasure vs. nutrition -- it leads me down a path of weird pleasure denial and overdoing it.

For example, let's say I decided my common post dinner treat of 200 calories of ice cream was "just pleasure." For me, that leads to the thought of whether cheese is just pleasure (what's the difference, really?), and if so should I really add it to my omelet or pasta since I can make those taste good without it. And that line of thinking tends to lead to the thought that I should minimize the mainly for pleasure aspects of cooking (which would include oil and butter, beyond a minimum, fattier cuts of meat, so on, since I could get the "benefits" of those foods without the extras). I'm better off just thinking of food more holistically and trying to focus on both eating an overall nutritious balanced diet with adequate protein, lots of vegetables, healthy fats, whatever it is my nutrition goals are, and freely including somewhat more decadent foods as part of the mix, whether that means a little piece of high quality chocolate or some ice cream in sensible amounts or cheese or butter or occasional pulled pork instead of just lean meat or a dinner out at a Mexican restaurant on occasion.

Not saying you should think of it this way, of course, just why it wouldn't work for me.

blues4miles

drabbits2 wrote: »

There are several foods I cannot have in the house or I would eat the entire thing, no self control at all. Again, not trying to start a "no foods are bad" thread again, it's just me. Pie? I could eat the entire cherry pie, so if we need a pie for an event, I get apple because I don't like that enough to spend my calories on it. Portioning is helpful too--as lots of other folks have mentioned. With treats I have to remind myself that a) this particular food is not going to disappear from earth if I don't eat ALL of it RIGHT NOW and therefore b) I can have another normal portion tomorrow. I do that with cookies (my all time favorite binge food). Pace yourself--one a day instead of the whole package in two days.

Mindset--it helps me a lot to think of my daily calories as currency and how am I going to spend them. Also if I found the time to work out, I really don't want to cancel that out by going home and eating all those calories back. I don't have that kind of time to waste!!!

Very true for me. I don't keep candy in the house unless I plan to eat it all that day. Which is fine. I just know I can't portion certain things out. Like chocolate candy, gonna eat all of it. Ice cream, probably gonna eat all or at least too much of it.

I still eat fast food burritos and hamburgers on a regular basis. I plan them out when I will have a light lunch and can afford the calories. Sometimes I realize it is a mental craving, and like the post above remind myself that today is Monday and I am gonna eat that burrito on Saturday. I don't need to eat it today. It will still be there Saturday. I am not cutting burritos out of my life permanently. That means sometimes I can wait, I don't need to have all of the food every day. But there is still some struggle, in ye olden times I would have gotten a burrito and something else and felt stuffed. Now 9x out of 10 I am good at just getting the burrito. Thanks to retraining my stomach, I usually regret getting something else (feel full/unhappy). That doesn't mean I still don't make that mistake, it just means I make it less often than before.

Also definitely helpful to think of my calories as budget. Spend on absolutely what I want. Sometimes you have to pay the bills (blah, lean chicken breast tonight, BO-RING!) but not gonna waste $20 on a t-shirt I don't even want. Not gonna eat a high calorie meal that isn't absolutely worth it.

stealthq

It depends on my mindset and whether I'm in good condition. Normally, I can stop at 100 cals of just about anything and be content. I'm assuming you mean when I'm not actually hungry and needing a meal.

When I'm not in good condition (too much exercise on too few calories and not enough sleep), then I tend to overeat or find myself searching through the cabinet for something to munch on.

Also, when I'm feeling deprived. A family member decided to do a low carb diet not long ago. I visit them and stay over on the weekends. When I'm in their house, I follow their rules so I while they were on this diet, I was stuck with low carb, too. Sunday nights then found me back at my house on the sofa eating Oreos (or whatever equivalent) until I was just starting to feel uncomfortably full. About half a bag.

kommodevaran

lemurcat12 wrote: »

kommodevaran wrote: »

For me, meal planning is a way to combine instant (or at least not distant) gratification with long term goals. It feels illogical to plan for something that is of no benefit to me. When I meal plan, I look for foods that gives me both pleasure and nutrition. I don't usually value foods that just gives pleasure, high enough to bother to try to fit it in. I really don't want it. Eating foods I know provides no benefit, is just an impulsive action. Planning helps me avoid many impulsive destructive actions. I still get tempted, and I still surrender, but not as often.

I guess I think of pleasure as a benefit and I also have a hard time separating out food that provides just pleasure vs. nutrition -- it leads me down a path of weird pleasure denial and overdoing it.

For example, let's say I decided my common post dinner treat of 200 calories of ice cream was "just pleasure." For me, that leads to the thought of whether cheese is just pleasure (what's the difference, really?), and if so should I really add it to my omelet or pasta since I can make those taste good without it. And that line of thinking tends to lead to the thought that I should minimize the mainly for pleasure aspects of cooking (which would include oil and butter, beyond a minimum, fattier cuts of meat, so on, since I could get the "benefits" of those foods without the extras). I'm better off just thinking of food more holistically and trying to focus on both eating an overall nutritious balanced diet with adequate protein, lots of vegetables, healthy fats, whatever it is my nutrition goals are, and freely including somewhat more decadent foods as part of the mix, whether that means a little piece of high quality chocolate or some ice cream in sensible amounts or cheese or butter or occasional pulled pork instead of just lean meat or a dinner out at a Mexican restaurant on occasion.

Not saying you should think of it this way, of course, just why it wouldn't work for me.

For me, it's the pleasure that is weird, the pleasure of certain foods ("junk foods") is just "too strong" to be part of my everyday food plan. I'm not saying that I've stopped eating chocolate, ice cream, candy and chips, but I choose to reserve it for special occasions (and not "create" "special occasions" for myself, like I used to. I really did overdo that.).

I love food, enjoy the hell out of it, and I'm not very strict - I eat cheese and nuts, add butter to porridge and oil to salads, nuts and honey or maple syrup to full fat Greek yogurt, choose the fattiest meats, have parmesan on pasta, cream in Alfredo sauce, make real cocoa with whole milk and sugar, eat lots of fresh fruit. Today I had pita bread filled with tuna salad made from canned tuna in oil, mayo and chopped onion. I don't feel I'm depriving myself and I really think my menu is holistic enough I have no need for chocolate, ice cream, candy and chips; to me those are more or less nutritionally void. What I have is a "greedy desire" that I don't want and don't like.

It's about dosage and concentration - sometimes I will mix up things like (my newest invention) sesame seeds, honey and salted peanuts. My reaction to it (a sort of frenzy is the closest I get to describe it) tells me that it's "too much"; honey and peanuts mixed with yoghurt is great as part of my evening meal alongside fruit and vegetables, and I use sesame seeds and honey and olive oil on oven roasted parsnips, wonderful side to my Sunday steak - but taken out of context and destilled like that... my system can't handle it properly. It has nothing to do with "emotions" (at least, very little), it's physiological. I know I'm not the only one, that feels kinda comforting

Machka9

kommodevaran wrote: »

Many of you eat treats (candy, chocolate, ice cream, cookies, chips) often. I understand that it won't impact overall nutrition or calorie goal. I'm more interested in what it feels like. Are you content after - say - 100 calories worth? Or do you have to force yourselves to stop? Does the want decrease after you've finished?

I've never had a problem eating just one of something and then putting it away.

Perhaps it has something to do with the way I was brought up. My mother had us on a fairly strict diet. We had a certain amount of food breakfast, lunch, and dinner + a small after-school snack + a small late-evening snack.

There was no dessert except on weekends ... and then it was one small serving.

The after-school snack was one cookie and milk. The evening snack was one piece of fruit. That's it.


So even now, when I'm going to have a cookie or something, I will get out one cookie ... and that's it. The rest will be there tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day ...

kommodevaran

Machka9 wrote: »

kommodevaran wrote: »

Many of you eat treats (candy, chocolate, ice cream, cookies, chips) often. I understand that it won't impact overall nutrition or calorie goal. I'm more interested in what it feels like. Are you content after - say - 100 calories worth? Or do you have to force yourselves to stop? Does the want decrease after you've finished?

I've never had a problem eating just one of something and then putting it away.

Perhaps it has something to do with the way I was brought up. My mother had us on a fairly strict diet. We had a certain amount of food breakfast, lunch, and dinner + a small after-school snack + a small late-evening snack.

There was no dessert except on weekends ... and then it was one small serving.

The after-school snack was one cookie and milk. The evening snack was one piece of fruit. That's it.


So even now, when I'm going to have a cookie or something, I will get out one cookie ... and that's it. The rest will be there tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day ...

In our family, food="eat as much as you can"; portion control was a running joke.
My mother tried to pretend treats "didn't exist" or that we "didn't like them".

I can see where the schism comes from.

trjjoy

My boyfriend made a malva pudding on Sunday. He had one or two civilised slices. I had the rest on Monday for breakfast, lunch, and supper. That was about 80% of my daily calorie allotment, if not more. I stayed within my calorie limit for the day

lemurcat12

Machka9 wrote: »

kommodevaran wrote: »

Many of you eat treats (candy, chocolate, ice cream, cookies, chips) often. I understand that it won't impact overall nutrition or calorie goal. I'm more interested in what it feels like. Are you content after - say - 100 calories worth? Or do you have to force yourselves to stop? Does the want decrease after you've finished?

I've never had a problem eating just one of something and then putting it away.

Perhaps it has something to do with the way I was brought up. My mother had us on a fairly strict diet. We had a certain amount of food breakfast, lunch, and dinner + a small after-school snack + a small late-evening snack.

There was no dessert except on weekends ... and then it was one small serving.

The after-school snack was one cookie and milk. The evening snack was one piece of fruit. That's it.


So even now, when I'm going to have a cookie or something, I will get out one cookie ... and that's it. The rest will be there tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day ...

This is similar to me (not exactly, but learning sensible ways to include treats and not having overmuch of it when growing up, but also not having it as something "off-limits" and therefore tempting), and I think why focusing on eating just a serving works pretty well for me. So long as I am mindful and pay attention to what I'm eating, it's not really a problem.