Very stupid question.

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Replies

  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    edited September 2018
    psychod787 wrote: »
    Its not a stupid question OP. Are you still fairly new to maintenance?

    Only a year in... still learning... I will always be learning. Actually, I keep saying I am going to try and gain some back. I let bf get too low, sub 10. I was a binge eater... well recovering. I have not had an episode in a long while. I just used to eat until stuffed, so all I ever knew was hungry or stuff. Never learned sated.

    I think we are always learning. If you've not had a binge in a long while it sounds like you are winning. I think with time you will learn to be sated naturally. I'm 5yrs at maintenance, still learning, still tweaking but after year 2 I did learn satiety, I suppose that might have because it was habit? it comes naturally now.

    {{Hugs}}

    Ruth
  • Evamutt
    Evamutt Posts: 2,795 Member
    I had to figure out my Maintenance cals and then split it up into two larger meals. I like the full feeling too.

    Two meals plus a small (200-300cal) snack seems to work best for me.

    I know intellectually that's enough food. Like I said in the "psych" thread, I will eat my larger meals and then wait for 20 minutes. That's how long it takes to get that message to my brain that I've eaten enough. If I don't eat more (I usually still want to) within that 20 minutes I find I'm fine at the end of that 20 minutes.

    It's about knowing over time that I'm getting the right amount of food for my weight - then trusting it.

    wow, I'm the exact same!!
  • VanVanDiane
    VanVanDiane Posts: 1,402 Member
    No massive amount of food feels as good as fit feels

    For a lot (most?) of us, a binge rarely feels good. I was often disgusted with myself while eating, not just after.

    Agreed. It still happens sometimes - usually if I've added alcohol into the equation. I log it and move on
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
    I struggle with this too. So, I just decided that unless it's meal time (and I've been observing meal times that day with no snacks) or my stomach is growling with hunger then I'm not hungry and hence must be satisfied. The only meal I tend to overeat is dinner and binges are always at night. I'm too busy during the day, so I'm lucky in knowing how many calories I have left for and after dinner.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    Sometimes I have to look at it academically, did I have enough calories for today and what I've done, so is that actually hunger or am I just wanting to eat because I want to? I'll give it twenty minutes and drink some water and distract myself and check in again. If still hungry I'll look at my macros and see if I am short somewhere and try to tailor a snack to that. So to answer, no I guess I don't know what it really feels like.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    edited October 2018
    This is something you have to learn. I have learned to pay really careful attention to how I feel later. I know that when I eat until I am full I feel gross later. If I eat until I am stuffed I feel really sick.

    I focus a lot on the enjoyable qualities of food. I also try really hard to eat delicious food. In general I find the more I pay attention to my eating and the better it tastes, the LESS I eat. I am looking for satisfaction and stimulation in food. Lousy food doesn't give me that. Good food does.

    I am told that in Japan you are taught to eat until you are half full and then stop. This works for me. At that point I start sipping my tea or chatting or playing with my salad or reading the paper. I might grab an olive or something. I SPECIFICALLY put small gnoshy things on the table so I can nibble without really eating much. I will find over the next half an hour or so I feel fuller and fuller and fuller. If I feel motivated to eat after an hour I'll definitely eat more.

    So my answer is mindfulness. Teach yourself this. It really is worth learning and you can do it!
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    xbowhunter wrote: »
    One time on a cruise ship I did hypnosis for weight loss. They kept saying over and over to listen to your body and as soon as your full stop eating. It worked great for about 2 weeks> my take away from that is the signals are there if you let them in to your physical side.... :)

    Insert sound of needle skipping off record. Weight loss....on a cruise ship? That’s a complete oxymoron.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    nowine4me wrote: »
    xbowhunter wrote: »
    One time on a cruise ship I did hypnosis for weight loss. They kept saying over and over to listen to your body and as soon as your full stop eating. It worked great for about 2 weeks> my take away from that is the signals are there if you let them in to your physical side.... :)

    Insert sound of needle skipping off record. Weight loss....on a cruise ship? That’s a complete oxymoron.

    Thats true actually because I've also been on many cruises and have seen weight loss courses etc on the ships daily itinerary, hilarious eh :smiley:
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,961 Member
    edited October 2018
    I personally think it's fine to feel full as long as you actually feel HUNGRY before you fill up.
    Stop before you get to stuffed.
  • reneew62
    reneew62 Posts: 13 Member
    I seriously struggle with that. I can't every say I am full. I have eaten and it be too much to the point of sick but full is hard. Satisfied is hard too. Would I mentally like more for sure. Do I know I've had enough yep. So for me I weigh and measure everything then tell myself no you don't need it. Even at goal I have to keep this up.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,455 Member
    VeryKatie wrote: »
    I personally think it's fine to feel full as long as you actually feel HUNGRY before you fill up.
    Stop before you get to stuffed.

    That may be true for YOU.

    Some of us have to have other strategies.
  • _aenyeweddien_
    _aenyeweddien_ Posts: 102 Member
    erjones11 wrote: »
    I have to track and measure everything I consume. This is because I never feel full unless I am completely stuffed. And then if I am completely stuffed for some reason I will feel hungry again within fifteen minutes. I can't afford to listen to my body or my feeling of satiation.

    I have to work this with my brain. If I hit my calories I'm done, that's it.

    My whole overweight extended family is the same way. We call it our defective gene and have talked about it many times. It's all about control and I am in control of what I eat. By the way both in deficit and now recently in maintenance I have not exceeded my daily calorie target even once in 2018.

    I know exactly how you feel, I'm the same! If I listened to my body and ate till I'm satisfied, I'd probably eat 3 times more than I actually need, easily
  • neugebauer52
    neugebauer52 Posts: 1,120 Member
    When I think / feel that I am hungry I try to establish if I actually feel "hungry" or thirsty". If it is outside of my normal eating hours it is usually "thirsty". A cuppa will do the trick then...
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,099 Member
    Thanks for all the great responses! I have not posted on the topic, but have been reading.
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,871 Member
    psychod787 wrote: »
    Thanks for all the great responses! I have not posted on the topic, but have been reading.

    Nobody likes a post-and-runner :wink:
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,099 Member
    pinuplove wrote: »
    psychod787 wrote: »
    Thanks for all the great responses! I have not posted on the topic, but have been reading.

    Nobody likes a post-and-runner :wink:

    Too old to run ma'am! I will walk away fast!🤣
  • amy19355
    amy19355 Posts: 805 Member
    One of the suggestions I tried that was helpful is: drink a big glass of water when I first think I'm feeling hunger pangs. It was interesting how often it worked to take away the hunger pang. The source said that dehydration often mimics the feeling of hunger. Drinking enough water every day is one of my challenges; the frequent bathroom stops are what annoys me more than anything about trying to keep up.

    My binge eating was typically of high fat and high sugar cookie/pie/ice cream sorts of things. As I started to make health conscious changes to my behavior, another trick I tried for a short time was to allow the binge event, BUT, limit it to the healthy foods. What that accomplished was to remove some of the guilt that followed the binge. It also made the physical discomfort less uncomfortable afterwards.

    As I got better control of portions through the use of a digital food scale, and, planned my meals to be balanced across the macro targets, I found my desire to binge-eat was decreasing little by little.

    good luck to you, and good fitness to us all!
    amyfb
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,149 Member
    amy19355 wrote: »
    One of the suggestions I tried that was helpful is: drink a big glass of water when I first think I'm feeling hunger pangs. It was interesting how often it worked to take away the hunger pang. The source said that dehydration often mimics the feeling of hunger. Drinking enough water every day is one of my challenges; the frequent bathroom stops are what annoys me more than anything about trying to keep up.

    I've read that a lot on here. "You're mistaking hunger for thirst!" "Drink a glass of water before every meal!" Yeah, no. When I use water to deal with hunger, I end up feeling like an overfilled water balloon sloshing around and I'm even hungrier.

    Drinking water can help some people deal with hunger, but others like me, it's just a sloshy and still growling stomach.

    I guess sort of OT: I like to feel satisfied rather than not hungry or full. My eating is 90% mental. When I'm busy doing things where I can't eat, I can get by.
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