But I like to feel full?

What kinds of food are you eating? I find a high volume of food helps me considerably-meaning a ginormous salad works better than a yogurt & piece of fruit for lunch. I stick with foods that are of calorie-dense, have lots of fiber & throw some protien in the mix and I'm good. I frequently get comments about "you're going to eat ALL that?"-yep, and I'm going to consume about 1/4 as many calories as you ("you" being the person commenting on my food intake) and NOT be hitting the vending machine in an hour because I'm hungry.

I am the same way so this 6 small meals a day nonsense does nothing for me. I like to eat a meal, then be full (not uncomfortably so, but noticeably full). I eat three meals a day, plus snacks. My definition of "full" has changed since I started MFP. Also, since I started counting calories I have not felt "stuffed" or anywhere close to that since I don't eat to that excess anymore. This has lead me to really know what it feels like to be adequately full as opposed to stuffed. Adequately full is good, feeling stuffed makes me fat

I like to feel full I don't now why but I feel like if I'm not full I haven't ate enough yet. How do you get over that? I try eating small amounts through out the day and I always feel like I need more because I like the feeling of being full not stuffed but full... I have played with my calorie intake for months now and exercise I still haven't figured out what works for me

I would say stop eating small amounts all day and try a couple of big meals. I found that eating many small meals left me feeling like I was never satisfied and really never worked for me long term. Now that I'm pretty much doing a 16:8 intermittent fasting, I have 2 large meals a day - at about noon and about 6 p.m. I have a small snack during the afternoon if I need it and then often have dessert or a snack at night when the calories allow. You could do something similar even if you don't want to do IF. You could do about 30-35% of your daily calories each for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with no snacks or very light snacks, or you could do 2 larger meals, 35-45% daily calories each and the remaining calories for small snacks if needed.

One thing that has helped me with only having the 2 larger meals and one or two small snacks is to accept that hunger is not an emergency. That means that I don't feel like I need to run and eat the second I start to feel hungry. Often I will start to feel hungry between lunch and dinner but not want to spend the calories so I don't eat. It doesn't hurt me and it has actually helped me keep my calories in check (but I still eat about 2000-2500 daily).

it comes with time... itsa chnge to your body, so it has to adapt.

I don't know if there's any science behind it, but to feel full, I like to eat warm/hot meals, add stuff to make my food more spicy (crushed red pepper in my lentils last night), drink a lot before I eat, etc.

Also, one thing that's beginning to show dividends is eating 5-6 smaller meals (instead of 2-3 larger meals) throughout the day. My stomach seems smaller and so now I'm able to feel full with less food.

Whatever you do--good luck.

That's exactly why I do Intermittent Fasting. I eat 2 big meals between 12pm and 6pm and I'm never hungry. Well, that's not true. I get hungry right before 12pm.

Drink more water ... When your full of water you don't need to eat as much to get that "full" feeling.

Good luck

:drinker: :drinker: :drinker: Chug waterr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited to add smiley guys

There's many different components to feeling "full." They can be really subtle, and they differ from person to person.

-The stretching of the stomach
-The repetitive feeling of things going down the throat
-The visual feedback of seeing a plate of food become an empty plate
-The pleasure of familiar flavors on the tongue and smells in the nose
-The hormone that gets released once food enters your duodenum and small intestine that gets sent to the brain to tell you to stop eating
-The increase in blood glucose once the food enters the bloodstream (for some food, this actually starts in the mouth with an enzyme called amylase -- not all food has to get digested in the stomach or intestines to increase blood glucose)

Which feeling of "full" do you feel you need? They all can be combated in different ways. If it's just the actual stretching of the stomach, then drink water. If it's the pleasure of familiar flavors, eat slower. If it's the small intestine hormone, just wait a few more minutes. Etc.

WBB55 I think your comment has helped the most.

Glad I could help put it in a new light! I'm a real "sensual" person, as in I like to feed all my senses. So I guess I hit on this when I read it once as the reason I never felt "full" and, frankly, felt depressed and deprived. But then thinking logically about it, I realized there was a difference between "I'm hungry" and "I don't feel full" and "I'm starting a new habit that my brain and body isn't used to. Maybe I can help 'trick' it into being satisfied somehow."

I help with the feeling of deprivation of taste/smell by learning how to make flavorful, palate-satisfying foods. Specifically tons of roasted garlic, sauteed onions and fresh ginger root seems to work for me. I get more pleasure per mouthful this way, in my experience.

The "I must see a plate empty itself of food" visual feedback can be met (I swear to god) by watching other people's plates empty. Or just being VERY mindful of the food vanishing from my own plate. Actually sit there and watch it while you eat it. Or filling it with salads, so it does empty -- just you don't consume many calories watching the food disappear.