How do you know you're done?

emnk5308

Instead of eating from the container you separate one serving for yourself and when its gone, its gone. That is the advice.. =( It is hard to follow.. I've eaten an entire family sized bag of doritos in a day before.. Even if I'm full, I can still have a desert, and entire desert.. It is more of will power thing. Get yourself a small serving and tell yourself when its gone, I'm done.

jerber160

when you stick in a fork and it comes out clean an easy..

Venturin

I simply stopped eating all junk food because I want to lose weight more than I want to eat a cookie.

cbirdso

You are not alone! But with me it isn't just goodies...it is all food. I belong to the clean plate society. I find it nearly impossible to leave food on my plate. It always SHOCKS me when someone says, I can't eat anymore. I'm like WHAT??? I CAN always eat, but of course for weight management, I CHOOSE not to eat more than a predetermined amount. If I had short term memory loss, I would never know when to stop eating because if I make a body check, I always feel about the same, whether I stuffed myself or haven't eaten in a while. Oh well....

njmp

Sorry I forgot to ask...where did the other half of said cookie go??? Just askin...like for curiosity's sake. Not like I want it or anything. Cause that would be weird.

Hezzietiger1

100 calorie packs.

MB_Positif

For me it helps to just take only what I "should" eat. If I want to only eat half the cookie, I break it in half and wrap up the other part for later or give it to someone else.

mom2mozart

Most of the time I just give myself a portion. If I want chips, I count them out. If I want cookies, I count them out. When my portion is done, I'm done. I know that each bite has calories and I just allow myself to eat what I've portioned. That is not to say I haven't eaten too much on occassion. However, I usually feel physically ill when I do. I don't like that feeling. I don't like to feel too full. I find that drinking while eating treats helps. I savor a cup of coffee, tea or milk with my treats most of the time. It helps me feel satisfied. I also try to eat my snacks/treats slowly so I can enjoy them longer. Little bites allow you to feel like you are eating more. I never understood why people gobble down goodies. The whole point is to taste them. Unless I'm starving, then I could probably over-eat. I try to eat regularly when I'm awake so I rarely get to the point of feeling famished.

littlepinkhearts

I can do this with all things chocolate. My friends at work used to laugh at me when I bought a chocolate bar from the machine, took a bite out of it then stuck it in my lunch bag for another day. A chocolate bar usually lasted me at least a week. I can do this only because i'm not a big fan of chocolate. I would eat them only for a treat and for the other ingredients in them mostly, such as coconut or whatever.

wild_wild_life

I believe this is a brain chemical thing. This is not a character flaw. I recently read of a study, can't find it now, comparing the activity in the reward or pleasure center of the brain when anticipating or eating something sweet. Overweight people had more brain activity when looking at and anticipating the food and less when eating it, whereas thin people had more when actually eating it (or something to that effect).

I know for myself, the anticipation is very strong but actually eating the item isnt always satisfying so I often I feel like I need to keep eating more in order to be as satisfied as I think I should.

Tl;dr: Blame dopamine

irefusetoquit

Don't get me wrong, I face food challenges every day at my parents. Cakes, cookies, pretzels, donuts, ice cream, etc.

A few years ago when I started researching food and nutrition and saw the breakdown of some foods, I was absolutely turned off by it.

But do I get tempted? YEAH!

Why do I not go for the sweet stuff?
BECAUSE ITS NOT IMPORTANT TO ME ANYMORE.
THAT is how I got my weight up to 176pounds years ago, and I don't plan on going back there. So I avoid the foods that got me there.

Oh yeah, how do I know when I'm done? When my brain says ENOUGH (no matter how little I've had) I put down the fork.

ralexander82

Another thing, I find it's easier to do portion control, when I measure it ahead of time. Make your own 100 calorie snack packs when you first open the package. If I don't do that, I tend to eat the whole thing at once. Typically, I only do this with "bad" foods like chocolate or whatever. Then when I finish the bag, it's not bad, because it was a single serving.

I do that too, my husband thinks I'm crazy for doing it, but my kids and I are controlling how much we eat much better when they are in individual baggies

fitandyoga

I used to have the same exact problem. But I learned to discipline my self. I just started cutting myself off from all the things I can not stop. I still don't eat pasta because I am not disciplined enough to take one bowl and stop. Start off with something that isn't something you are obsessed with and but you still like it. For me, it's soda. I still like a can or two of soda but it's not something I can't stop drinking. I practiced only taking half a can and learning to say no. It was pretty easy because I was not obsessed with it. Then go on to something more harder. If you don't think you can do it, learn to say to yourself "If you can't discipline yourself, you don't get it." Its all in the mind

sarahrbraun

I have heard of people who will order a piece of pie/cake or whatever, eat the portion they *should* eat, then dump the contents of the salt shaker on the remainder so if they mindlessly take a bite, it tastes HORRIBLE.

LOL. I don't have to pour salt on stuff--I have a six year old who will eat his, then ask for a bite of mine...then hubby wants "just a bite" and next thing I know, half of it is gone!

REET420

I only buy small one portion sized junk food for this reason. I have to eat it all.

mcjmommy

It has been a HUGE help to me to log everything that I eat. I had no idea (didn't want to know) how many calories I was consuming before I started this lifestyle change. Last night, we were at Rain Forest Cafe and my mother-in-law ordered the Volcano and I just said I didn't want any. I knew a little bit would just make me want a little bit more

smhammons

Throw half away and then the tempatation is gone:laugh: and hopefully your not digging it back out of the garbage::bigsmile:

amalthea23

I am the same as you!!!!!! It's lonely out there, being this way. I am small by many's standards, and eat more than people twice my size easily. Makes a 1,200 calorie a day limit VERY difficult.

I feel like I'm bottomless! There are certain foods that, for me, defy physics. For example, I can eat ENDLESS quantities of dirty water hot dogs. ENDLESS. I'm never full. I find that insane.

rudegyal_b

my problem exactly, im a bottomless pit

cloud2011

My (thin) son is exactly like this. He will have a slice of birthday cake and leave half of it there, and all of the icing if it tastes too sweet.

I can do that with other food, but usually not with chocolate. I can be happy with one serving at a buffet (not that I go to them), or at a big holiday dinner. But chocolate cake, I will usually want more than a slice.

Unfair!