How do you get used to smaller portions?

isabelk

I find that a huge bowl of broccoli with yogurt poured over it fills me up and then I can eat all that I want... only I'm already full so it's just enough to satisfy my brain and not enough to cry over.

ElaineDianne70

I'll be totally honest with you here Kookla...and it's probably not going to be fun to hear....

I didn't. I changed what I ate. I am a hungry human being so now I eat a boat ton of food but it is different food- veggies, fruits, green and leafy.

If I tried to eat "regular" food in the correct portions I would starve to death.

I do occasionally eat something like pasta or ice cream and either I save it for a day I can eat a normal serving (from a restaurant or weighed out in the kitchen in terms of ice cream) due to an intense work out, but I make sure that I'm already full on something else first- like a salad or a healthy dinner.

I hope that helps.

Exactly what I was going to say. I don't worry about the correct serving size of pasta, chips or ice cream because I don't eat them. (or eat them VERY rarely).

I eat small meals frequently throughout the day. Basically just enough to take away the hunger, but then I'm hungry two to three hours later, so I eat again. For example, this morning I had Kashi cereal with almond milk, 2 hours later my shakeology with a banana and peanut butter, two hours later a handful of almonds, and now I'm eating my chicken breast on a salad and I'll eat half a sweet potato for my carb. About 3pm I'll have an apple and protein shake. Then I'll have dinner which will be 4-6 oz lean meat and some veggies.

cbirdso

I'll be totally honest with you here Kookla...and it's probably not going to be fun to hear....

I didn't. I changed what I ate. I am a hungry human being so now I eat a boat ton of food but it is different food- veggies, fruits, green and leafy.

If I tried to eat "regular" food in the correct portions I would starve to death.

I do occasionally eat something like pasta or ice cream and either I save it for a day I can eat a normal serving (from a restaurant or weighed out in the kitchen in terms of ice cream) due to an intense work out, but I make sure that I'm already full on something else first- like a salad or a healthy dinner.

I hope that helps.

This is me, too. I had to entirely change WHAT I was eating in order to feel satisfied. It has taken about a year for me to be able to eat a small portion of something 'regular' and not grab for more, but that is because I eat well throughout the day, never skipping meals and eating low glycemic, high nutritional, whole foods.

PonyTailedLoser

I need big portions so I eat lots of what is super healthy but not necessarily what I crave and have a single serving of the not great for me foods every now and then. It helps tame the hunger and you get used to it in time.

hrgarry

It is very difficult. First, you have to change your idea of what "satisfied" is. I used to think I wasn't satisfied unless I was so full that I was uncomfortable. I've started to accept that satisfied is not full at all. If how hungry you are is a scale of 1 - 10 where 1 is very, very hungry and 10 is stuffed, you should ALWAYS be between 4 and 6.

I try to tell myself it's only food and we need it for fuel (that doesn't always work for me). I also know what my reward is when I eat the right portion size and the right foods. I get to fit into my size 8 jeans and feel good about myself (I used to bust out of size 18's).

MinnieInMaine

I'm still working on this too but have found a few things that help:

1) Increase your veggie side serving or add veggies to casseroles. At lunch, have veggies and/or fruit instead of chips
2) Start using whole grain pastas and brown rice - more bang for your buck. I'm a big fan of SmartTaste by Ronzini for pasta
3) Eat a healthy snack in the afternoon to help keep you full before dinner. I like having greek yogurt and some fruit - good combo of carbs and protein!

Edited to add: when it comes to ice cream and chips, I just have to avoid them for the most part. The only way I'll have ice cream is to go to a stand and get a small soft serve. The only way I'll have chips is when I occassionally buy a snack size bag to go with lunch and they must be baked lays. If I have a carton of ice cream or big bag of chips in my house, I cannot stay away!

kristanickerson

I'll be totally honest with you here Kookla...and it's probably not going to be fun to hear....

I didn't. I changed what I ate. I am a hungry human being so now I eat a boat ton of food but it is different food- veggies, fruits, green and leafy.

If I tried to eat "regular" food in the correct portions I would starve to death.

I do occasionally eat something like pasta or ice cream and either I save it for a day I can eat a normal serving (from a restaurant or weighed out in the kitchen in terms of ice cream) due to an intense work out, but I make sure that I'm already full on something else first- like a salad or a healthy dinner.

I hope that helps.

That would be my advice too and to add to that, i've started drinking flavored tea (with nothing in it) after my meals especially if I don't feel satisfied yet. My favs are Chai, Ginger and Apple Cinnamon...but there are tons to choose from.

Creiche

You really do get used to feeling satisfied from smaller portions with time, rather than being totally "full". What helped me early on was to make sure I ate plenty of protein and fiber to help me feel full...and you can generally have more of it than you could for the same number of calories in pasta or bread. Now my stomach has shrunk to the point where I really only want to eat a portion of what used to be a normal meal for me. You'll get there!

Also, I've found that drinking water with a meal helps me feel more full.

MrsCon40

1. Measure and log what you eat BEFORE you eat it. It's a powerful motivator to keep your portion sizes under control.

2. Drink lots of water.

3. Eat lots of high volume, low nutrient food - roughage.

4. Make sure you are getting otherwise appropriate levels of protein and fat. Use the roughage to reduce the carb quantity, not protein and fat.

5. Accept that "full" is not "stuffed".

6. Persevere... it does get easier! Especially when you see your efforts paying off on the scale!

123456654321

I'll be totally honest with you here Kookla...and it's probably not going to be fun to hear....

I didn't. I changed what I ate. I am a hungry human being so now I eat a boat ton of food but it is different food- veggies, fruits, green and leafy.

If I tried to eat "regular" food in the correct portions I would starve to death.

I do occasionally eat something like pasta or ice cream and either I save it for a day I can eat a normal serving (from a restaurant or weighed out in the kitchen in terms of ice cream) due to an intense work out, but I make sure that I'm already full on something else first- like a salad or a healthy dinner.

I hope that helps.

^^
What she said. It has a lot to do with the foods you chose to eat. Last night for instance, I had shrimp stir-fry (w/o any rice...just veggies, shrimp and sauce) and I was able to fill up a big heaping plate and it was still a low calorie meal. Even though it was low in calories, it was nutritious and I felt very satisfied when I was done. Had I chose pasta, chicken strips or french fries....it would feel like I was eating a lot less.

Achoooo

If I want pasta, I pair it with a big salad and eat all of that first, I find it helps. I also buy a more quality, fresh pasta, and I try to go whole wheat when I can. I'll add something like a lean chicken (maybe half a portion of a chicken breast) as well to help "bulk" it up. If I have the calories I'll also add a small whole grain bread of some sort. I can usually stick with my calories but the meal has a lot of elements to it and I feel very full when done.

callipygianchronicle

There are many good tips here.

One that I haven’t seen suggested is to keep your portions the same, but log them…honestly. If a serving is 1 cup of pasta, and you eat three cups, then log three servings. While you will feel the same fullness, you will see the full effect of your current way of eating in numbers. That’s a more powerful position for driving change than feeling like you have to be deprived and have less of something. In time, you will be able to take some of that pasta away and fill its space with things that are more filling and nourishing.

anubis609

Expanding my palate of taste to invite flavors from a variety of low-calorie foods helped me to cut down the portions of calorie-dense meals. Most vegetables are very low in calories, so you can pile up on them without significantly decreasing your daily alloted intake, plus the natural fiber content in them will provide longer lasting satiety.

Enigmatica

I've changed what I eat - choosing lower cal foods when I feel like I need to eat more. I also tease myself when I'm tempted to overdo it. For some reason it amuses me to think, "Now you're just being greedy!" when I know I shouldn't eat that much. I laugh at myself and either cut back to proper portion size or choose something else.

dawnna76

I make sure to have a big salad with my meals that are smaller portions. the extra fiber really feels the spacce and I dont miss the extra meat and potatoes!

DianaPowerUp

I'll be totally honest with you here Kookla...and it's probably not going to be fun to hear....

I didn't. I changed what I ate. I am a hungry human being so now I eat a boat ton of food but it is different food- veggies, fruits, green and leafy.

If I tried to eat "regular" food in the correct portions I would starve to death.

I do occasionally eat something like pasta or ice cream and either I save it for a day I can eat a normal serving (from a restaurant or weighed out in the kitchen in terms of ice cream) due to an intense work out, but I make sure that I'm already full on something else first- like a salad or a healthy dinner.

I hope that helps.

Great post! Exactly that. I found that if I continued to eat what I used to eat, I would have to change my portion size, which left me hungry. However, filling up on lean proteins, lots of veggies, fruit, some dairy, I rarely get hungry now. Sometimes, I can't even eat all that I'm "supposed" to eat, caloriewise.

fteale

Have fibre powder before meals. It makes you feel full and adds fibre to your diet without adding calories.

In terms of portion sizes...eat more slowly, you don't register you are full for about 20 minutes after you actually are, so it is very easy to eat a plate of food and think you are still hungry. Wait a while, have a drink of water and you probably won't still be hungry in 15 minutes.

abyssfully

Make your "snacks" bigger - for example, instead of just an apple have an apple, yogurt and a slice of whole wheat bread. Then, come your next "meal" you won't be starving so it'll be easier to accept smaller portions of food.

marji4x

I load up on veggies...lately I've been addicted to broccoli....I have the most of that. It's a LOT of bulk and filling for very few calories. I eat chicken thighs but i remove the skin and fat and still keep things tasty by adding a mustard-paprika sauce. Very filling!

I also find low-calorie options for foods I love like this mac and cheese recipe I found online (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/macaroni-and-4-cheeses-recipe/index.html)....it substitutes squash for a lot of the cheese and is still yummy! The best part is it's like 400 calories for a HUGE serving size (about a cup).

I find those rice cakes very filling for snacks....and the white cheddar ones are like 45 cals per cake.

It's a matter of finding the foods that are low in calorie and big in bulk. And eat smaller meals more often....5-6 meals a day for instance. It did take me a little getting used to the first week because I was just used to physically shoving more food in me....but I was never really hungry just getting cravings...and now I never feel hungry or deprived.

I still get cravings for candy and chocolate or whatever but those aren't hunger-based of course

I'd stay away from frozen dinners or premade stuff as much as possible because those serving sizes are tiny, too. If you make your own food you can have a lot more food and still eat under your calories for the day.

Mad_Dog_Muscle

Something that helps me is drinking a lot of water! I drink about 4 liters a day, and eat small meals throughout the day. I am no expert, but i have read this many times, but what we interpret as "hunger" can be dehydration. Most people think the picture of dehydration is someone laid dying of thirst, which it's not. When I feel hungry and I know I shouldn't be, I drink a large glass of water and wait 10 minutes. If I am still "hungry" then ya, bring on the chow!!