The psychology of needing to eat until stuffed - a discussion
Replies
-
cmriverside wrote: »I have the same problem with peanut butter, and I've read the same thing over and over on this site - so it is something about peanut butter.
Sugar, fat, and salt! Lol it's soo creamy good...5 -
I appreciate this discussion. I have struggled with borderline binge eating, eating until I am stuffed, etc. most of my life. I have made progress but still laps and am still uncovering all the reasons for the behavior.
At the very least, I have identified triggers that contribute to a binge and habits that mitigate stuffing myself. Look forward to reading more comments.1 -
psychod787 wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »I have the same problem with peanut butter, and I've read the same thing over and over on this site - so it is something about peanut butter.
Sugar, fat, and salt! Lol it's soo creamy good...
No sugar or salt in the peanut butter I buy. Straight-up peanuts only. I watch it being ground.
There can be a connection to needing fats, but that's not my issue either. I am always over on fats - without the peanut butter binge.
I don't want to drag this thread off-topic, but peanut butter (or even just peanuts) is a problem for me as a food. Deliciousness might be it, but I don't binge on yogurt and it's creamy fatty delicious, too.
I think it's psychological (full circle!) and just a throwback to my childhood as a comfort food.4 -
cmriverside wrote: »psychod787 wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »I have the same problem with peanut butter, and I've read the same thing over and over on this site - so it is something about peanut butter.
Sugar, fat, and salt! Lol it's soo creamy good...
No sugar or salt in the peanut butter I buy. Straight-up peanuts only. I watch it being ground.
There can be a connection to needing fats, but that's not my issue either. I am always over on fats - without the peanut butter binge.
I don't want to drag this thread off-topic, but peanut butter (or even just peanuts) is a problem for me as a food. Deliciousness might be it, but I don't binge on yogurt and it's creamy fatty delicious, too.
I think it's psychological (full circle!) and just a throwback to my childhood as a comfort food.
It happens to me whether its All Natural saltless PB (just peanuts) or some kind like Skippy with additives. I also eat a high fat diet (40% fat) so I don't think its a fat issue either. I didn't even really eat it as a kid either which makes it even more strange to me.
Whyyyyyy PB whyyyyyy????
Okay back on topic....... 4 -
I'm not going to read this whole thread, so I don't know if anyone already said this...
But I don't think there are as many emotional reasons as people seem to think.
Speaking for myself at least, I eat till stuffed because I was blessed/cursed/born-with a BIG 'OLE APPETITE.
Since I was a happy, normal, loved little child. I always finished my plate (I would lick it clean for crying out loud), and if my little brother wasn't finishing his portion, I would have it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
...until I noticed this wasn't cute, lol, then I tried to avoid it. But I could still do it, you know? I just chose not too to avoid da looks.
I just have an unfortunately big appetite. It's a trait. Nothing led me to this.
And throughout this journey, I occasionally fall back and binge my *kitten* off... and I feel like being an alcoholic or drug addict must be very similar
. The way they react to and handle those substances differs from their peers.
So, in a way, I feel lucky that at least the thing that I lose control of is food and not more harmful stuff... but I also feel unlucky, because the people that surround me weren't born with this messed up love of eating.
Well, anyway, that's me. I'm sure others do have emotional triggers that cause their overeating.4 -
Keladelphia wrote: »kommodevaran wrote: »
I'm using the term hyper-palatable foods less and less, but I do have the idea in the back of my head that food should taste good, but not too good - it helps. I have found that I need to work for my food, I want to be hungry enough to bother with preparation and chewing. My appetite is actually a good guide - I know that when I'm ready for just about any food, I'm hungry, whereas not really in mood for anything but candy or chips, but strongly so, I'm not hungry, I just want "something"; and as I am well nourished and warm and safe, figuring out what that "something" is, is hard. Most days I eat normal, ordinary foods for most or all meals. I deliberately reserve treat foods for special occasions, which doesn't have to be more special than "Saturday" - finding the balance here is so important and quite difficult; when I grew up, treats were "bad", according to my mother, who never said so explicitly, but implied that treats would ruin my health, and absolute abstaining was commendable.kshama2001 wrote: »IHaveMyActTogether wrote: »Maybe you are eating hyperpalatable foods?
They literally figured out that really sweet foods will taste too sweet after a few bites, and really salty items taste too salty after a short while.
So they found a point where the fat, salt and sugar ratio was just so that you keep eating them past your satiation point (think potato chips and cookies), what food scientists call the "bliss point." That's why you have sugar and salt in things you wouldn't think would be needed in either (salt in candy, sugar in tomato sauce).
If you notice you only gorge on certain TYPES of foods, that might be the issue.
For me, an example is potatoes. I can eat one baked potato and not want any more. I don't need to use portion control on baked potatoes. But I've had to intentionally portion control chips and fries, until I naturally eat less of these than before.
Worse is if I homecook scallopped potatoes (no cream, just thin sliced stewed potatoes and seasonings), it's like a bottomless appetite for it. I can go three potatoes and still want more. My scallopped potatoes recipe has a bliss point that allows me to eat far larger quanties than I would otherwise. Portion control doesn't "work." I just end up eating as much as is available.
Best wishes on figuring out the source of your eating past fullness and overcoming it!
Is that from "Salt, Sugar, Fat"? Fascinating book!
When I eat 400-500 calories of chicken, broccoli, and potato, or Thai Beef salad, I am full, but not overstuffed, and have no urge to eat more.
When I have hyper-palatable foods like pizza, I want to eat and eat and eat. It's a real challenge to not. Having a large salad with pizza helps.
This continues to stick with me, and is something I need to be more mindful of moving forward in order to see how much merit there is for me. I believe that when I'm going well and in a good groove with my eating, I'm eating a lot of foods I like, but very little that I *really* like, if that makes sense. Maybe that's my version of moderation.
I also wonder more generally...
I frequently see people on the boards say they eat whatever they want as long as the numbers (cals and/or macros) work out, and that if they want xyz food, they find a way to fit it in. I get that, I've been able to do that in the past at times, too, so I'm not arguing that. However, I do wonder if any of those same people have chosen to avoid/significantly restrict certain foods because of what could be a slippery slope.
Yes, it's kind of semantics, but word choice can reflect attitude... and context and nuance can be important.
I consider myself one of those people that says I can eat whatever I want as long as it fits macros/calories and that I make whatever I want to eat fit these calories/macros. When I make that statement though I do always feel I should note that what I "want to eat" about 80% of the time is meats, veggies, fruits etc.
There are however a few select foods that I do significantly still restrict due to the slippery slope you mentioned. Peanut butter is one of these foods for me. Though I still consume it and make it fit into calories/macros I never keep it in the house. For whatever reason I can have peanut butter outside of my home and consume a perfectly reasonable portion and feel satisfied. The second I keep it in the house I could eat half a jar in a sitting before stopping. I find this phenomenon particularly interesting because the few foods I seem to have trouble moderating aren't even my "favorite" foods or foods that I initially crave to eat, they just seem to be foods I have trouble stopping eating once i've started. I've always attributed it to a greater dopamine response to those foods but I've always wondered if there was another reason.
Thank you for posting that... I appreciate the perspective.0 -
There is 2 things for me funions and code red mt dew.. I have cut both. I can eat crispy onions and some cherry soda, but combine the two above... non-stop eat still stuffed.2
-
Crunchy/salty is my deliciousness trigger. Especially potato chips. Not satiating at all and I could down a bag in one sitting, so my caution radar goes off whenever I'm eating them. I have to portion them out and watch my behavior closely.2
-
I don't know if this has been brought up yet- but I considered myself to be a binge eater for many years. I could eat so much food and always seemed to be hungry, but I never related to other binge eaters because there wasn't an emotional reason...I just really, really love food! That being said, I was pre-diabetic and was told by my doctor that my blood sugars being out of control were likely the reason. Sure enough, once my blood sugars were stable (controlled solely by diet), the binge eating totally stopped. Since then, I just don't have the urge to eat a lot anymore- I still stuff myself on holidays, special occasions...but the urge to eat a lot on a normal day is just totally gone. So, it is not a bad idea to have your blood sugars checked out if you tend to eat large amounts of food but don't feel like there is some emotional issue making you eat.5
-
I also have appreciated all the thoughtful comments on this thread. Reflecting over the past few days, I've realized that, for me, overeating happens in 3 contexts:
1) accidental - e.g. we recently went to an all inclusive vacation place where portions were small (presumably to reduce waste and let guests try lots of things). I was mindful of portions and pretty reasonable all week. There were two dinners, however, where I thought my portions were ok but when I got up from the table, it was, "Opps, I misjudged and ended up over-full." This almost never happens at home where I'm weighing portions.
2) planned - e.g. banking calories for a celebration/holiday. It's overeating but I planned/compensated for it.
3) unplanned, willful, out of control - that IDGAF binge way past the point of satiety. I've been trying to figure out why I do this (and the situational "triggers") for a long time. Sometimes I have an appealing eating plan where adherence feels easy. And sometimes I have an equally appealing eating plan and I just go off the rails.
I'm a numbers person and have tracked CICO for several years (maintained my weight several decades). I know how many calories I need. I always COULD eat/drink more and usually want more, like just about every day I would like more. Most of the time I decide to have "enough" even though I would like more. I think it is when my cognitive reserves are low for whatever reason, and consequently my self control/discipline is depleted, that I willfully decide to consume more than I need. I honestly have failed to correlate it to any specific situation. Alcohol certainly disinhibits eating more, but that's usually 200-300 calories for me vs. a full on can't-get-enough binge. I'm a work in progress.2 -
I remember reading and seeing a report showing how people do not feel satiety the same way, even as children. Some people will eat as long as food is there and some will only eat when hungry, even if offered with food. It's chemical reactions and not more vs lack of will power: you don't need will power when you're not even tempted (though some people are tempted and resist, which requires will power, but that's learned)
Add emotions, possibly trauma, learned behavior and other factors to not really feeling satiety, and the grind of daily life and some people will just eat until stuffed.
I'm the "not really feeling satiety" type. I will eat, graze even when no actively hungry. I was an athlete and my body got used to food being consumed continuously. A lot of my process has been learning where my satiety lies.3 -
Willpower. desire, appetite, habit, and psychological factors generally . . . are biochemistry, when you take it down to a low enough level of abstraction; and probably are partly influenced by genetics, even though we talk about them as if they were entirely separate parallel things.
No, I don't have a cite. No, I don't think we lack free will (or an analog that's close enough for practical purposes).
Yeah, this is tangent to the main point of the thread . . . but I think it's relevant to thinking clearly about some of our posts.1 -
kommodevaran wrote: »
I think this is important, it's important that we don't just assume we're all nut cases, but see how forces in our society work and the conflicts that come up when different parties have different interests. A human doesn't have many needs, but we can be convinced that our needs and wants are endless. I have been working for years with adjusting my thoughts and feelings around proper portions - the portioning in itself is easy, but internalizing it, this really is enough, is hard. Lately I have adjusted my shopping routines too, to stop filling my house with unnecessary food, but I had failed to adjust my thoughts and feelings around buying (and not buying) stuff. I have to do that now.JeromeBarry1 wrote: »The reality of having an abundance of cheap food around us everywhere we go is still a new thing in human history. Eating 'all of it' was a good strategy when 'it' was in short supply. Now, for most of the world, there is an abundance of food available. All of us have to learn to self-regulate our consumption. Some of us do that better and earlier in life than others.
Is this a psychological issue? I don't think so. Mental, yes, because we have to make the executive decision to stop while food remains available. There are psychological issues that can manifest in an individual's taking or refusing food. I'm not addressing those issues. I'm simply pointing out that the problem of overeating to the point of discomfort is probably a human feature that is controllable.
There is a psychologist, Dr. Doug Lisle, that does a lot of work in this area. In short, humans are programmed to cram when food is available to compensate for times of shortage. Today, there is no shortage. We still cram. But rather than cramming a wild goat leg and potatoes, we cram quarter pounders with cheese.
I love to eat until I’m really full, so I eat fruits and vegetables. Lots and lots of them.4 -
cmriverside wrote: »I have the same problem with peanut butter, and I've read the same thing over and over on this site - so it is something about peanut butter.
I use p butter powder, but I feel the same about having sausage in the house or hard salami, so I switched to turkey sausage, I still eat the whole pack, can't stop thinking about it but it's a lot less calories1 -
I very rarely feel truly full. when I was a teen, I ate very large amounts of food, though I was very thin & didn't start gaining till my first pregnancy. I would eat 20 chicken drumsticks at a time, I ate at Fat Ed's in SF on my 21st Birthday & if you could eat their steak, it was free. It was free for me. I would take meat out of my dad's lunch etc. I couldn't get enough food. I barely ate till I was 10 & was very sickly0
-
I very rarely feel full either. I've been really struggling with binges lately (am onto day 6 without a binge so fingers crossed this time!). I can easily eat enough food for 3 or 4 people and still not feel full. Most of last week I was eating good sized, healthy meals and still managing to put away 2 or 3 full-size packets of biscuits, entire cakes, family-sized bars of chocolate.... every day! I just really, really like eating. I like the taste of the food and I like the feeling of physically putting the food in my mouth. I think I'm always going to struggle with this.4
-
Fantastic! This is totally a solution for me to try!!cmriverside wrote: »THEN (this is important for me) I look at a clock or set a timer. I have just eaten what I know intellectually to be my "enough" amount of food, so now I wait for my brain to get the signal from my stomach/gut/wherever the message originates. I know it's going to take 20 minutes for that to signal, "FULL." So I make sure to not eat anything in the 20 minute window. I'm almost always okay and full-ish at that 20 minutes. During the 20 minutes I often want to eat more.
I often eat my full dinner and then eat something else straight away just because it is yummy and it's there.
I think setting a timer for 20 minutes will get me out of the dining room and doing something else and potentially not at all likely to interrupt myself to make more food.
0 -
I can't eat like that any more, good thing but I do have a larger brunch *& dinner, which helps with having a few lite snacks in between. After I eat my meal I tell myself to wait 20 min & if I want more I'll have some then. So far, I never want more after 20min plus water helps a lot. There's a volume eaters thread on here that gave me good ideas0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393K Introduce Yourself
- 43.7K Getting Started
- 260.1K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.8K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 415 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.9K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.6K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.5K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions