Help-how do I slow down when eating

judymoving

Need some advice, came home yesterday famished and so I grabbed a piece of lunch meat (bad for me) and swallowed it down right away, while preparing dinner. I made a chicken breast, romaine salad, and potato for me and my boyfriend. I ate so fast that I couldn't even believe myself. When done, I felt so stuffed and ill. Are there any tricks to keeping yourself from doing the pig-out when really hungry?

PS- yes I was eating small meals throughout the day.

sympha01

From your brief description it is hard to tell what is triggering you to eat like that, and even what exactly about it is bothering you (salad + chicken breast + potato does not sound like too much dinner, out of context. 1 piece of lunchmeat does not sound like a massive diet-buster). I'm hearing three actually different problems:

1. You ate unplanned food (the lunchmeat) and feel bad about it.
2. Once your planned food was ready, you ate it too fast.
3. You felt uncomfortably full after eating, suggesting that you feel you ate too much.

So, as for 1. Is this typical for you? Do you often get home too hungry to wait for dinner to be prepared? Don't let yourself be hungry, of course that can lead to binging. There's an easy fix for that. Move calories around in your plan to allow for a snack to eat while dinner is getting ready (probably best to raid your dinner budget for this, since you said you felt so full after dinner). Since based on your story it sounds like your body might have been craving protein, I'd recommend 1/2 oz serving of nuts or nut butter (typically 90 cal), or a piece of light string cheese if you eat dairy (50 - 80 cal, depending on brand). Both are very good at satisfying the raging munchies fast because they've got protein and some fat. Measure your serving out before you start eating it, and put the rest away.

As for 2. Eating slower. You're going to have to find what works FOR YOU, but it sounds like mindfulness might be an issue for you, i.e., it's a psychological thing and you really might have to make a really conscious effort at least for a while to be truly aware of your feeding speed. Counting how many times you chew each mouthful might help with that. Putting only half of a serving on your plate at a time -- forcing you to go back to the kitchen for seconds -- will also help you stay aware of how fast you're eating. (You're not eating your meal at the kitchen counter, are you? If you are, stop. Eat sitting down.) If you want a physical way to slow yourself down, try eating with a baby fork / baby spoon. Even better, chopsticks. My nemesis is cheetohs -- even when I'm not dieting, I always eat cheetohs with chopsticks now. Slows me down great (plus it keeps my fingers from getting orange).

3 -- you felt uncomfortably full after eating because you ate too much too fast. Meal planning is really what you need here. If you're not already do this, then at least for a few weeks (i.e., enough time to establish a rhythm for you; I'd recommend 5 weeks because that's generally understood to be the "habit-forming" threshold), budget and plan your calories for each meal and snack for the day in advance (or at least 75% of your calories if your lifestyle requires some flexibility even in the relatively short term). Keep track of when you feel hungry and when you feel full so you can adjust the balance of calories in each meal over time.

One final thought -- you didn't mention how long you've been at this, or what your daily calorie goal is. If your daily calorie target is not actually dangerously low, physical hunger pangs tend to subside after 4-6 weeks of dieting for many people, especially those of us who are obese. Doesn't do anything for psychological hunger, but the physical feeling of hunger does tend to back off for many, many people. It comes and goes. For instance, in my case I was crazy hungry for about 3 weeks, then I was okay. Then about 2 months later I was physically hungry again because my body was reacting to a change in my exercise regimen even though I had upped my calories to compensate. That also calmed down after a couple of weeks.

Oh, and one more final FINAL thought. Again, your diary isn't open but make sure you're getting plenty of your daily calorie budget from protein and fat. I personally am NOT a low carb person AT ALL (toast and pasta and potatoes 4evah!); I'm just saying that if you're getting at least 0.5 grams protein per pound of bodyweight and >20% of your calories from fat, it will help enormously with controlling hunger. (My own macro targets are 135 grams protein, 25% fat, and the remaining calories -- about 45% of calories -- left for carbs; that's what seems to feel best in my body these days).

Zombieinkpot

Excellent advice, sympha01.

I drink 3 glasses of water with every meal and I have found that on the nights I'm really hungry if I drink one or two glasses while I'm preparing dinner, it really helps me slow down and eat my meal more slowly. I also try to be thankful for my meal and really savour the first few bites, this has also helped me to slow down my eating when I'm really hungry.

judymoving

I agree with Zombieinkpot that is great advice sympha01.

To answer to some of the factors in this famished mode, I have only been back at MFP for the last three weeks. My daily goal is 1510 calories a day. of which I am averaging slightly below that. I have also made major reductions in my carb intake. I haven't given up completely but do understand the ability to eat protein to help curb the hunger pains.

I liked your statements on the time it takes to curb those large moments of "Boy am I hungry". My week 3 has been terrible due to this. I was keeping on schedule, but I think my body is starting to say... no no no we like this layer of fat here. :flowerforyou:

I always sit at the table when I eat, and set a place for myself. I make it an event. I have also stopped any type of drive thru dinner in the car. As for true meal planning, well that is an area I need to work. I normally will pull some type of meat out of the evening or morning for dinner with my boyfriend. As for side dishes, those are usually decided when we both get home from work. I am working on smaller bites, and really tasting the food. My sodium intake is entirely to high, so this new thought process of tasting the food has helped curb my desire for the salt shaker.

Thanks again for the input.

Zombieinkpot

I have only been back at MFP for the last three weeks.

You are doing great, judymoving. It's about making small, consistent changes. That way you don't use up all your willpower at once.