How do you control how much you eat?

sammyantics
sammyantics Posts: 191 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I know I'm not alone when I say this, but I have an unhealthy relationship with food. I use it as a comfort, I eat when I'm not hungry, etc. etc.

What I want to know is how do other people control their portions? I'm not talking about meticulously weighing out food and prepackaging 5,000 meals ahead of time, because I won't ever do that, it's just not a sustainable way for me personally to live my life.

I'm talking about knowing when to stop eating, and finding the will to actually do it. When my boyfriend and I cook, we typically make enough for leftovers, but when I finish my plate, my brain says 'go to the kitchen, eat the rest.' Thankfully he is very diligent about stopping me, often before I even realize that thought train has left the station.

But, how do I get to that point on my own? I want to be able to tell myself that I'm not hungry anymore, so I don't have to rely on him to do it for me.

Case in point, I picked up a burrito bowl for lunch. I ate the whole thing, knowing full well that the last time I did that, I felt way too full and my stomach hurt for the rest of the day. So now I'm sitting here, wishing I'd eaten less, wishing I had the restraint to not stuff my face whenever my boyfriend isn't around to protect me from my own disgusting eating habits.

I've come really far in my journey to eat better, but this has been an ever-present hurdle and I would love to hear how you've overcome similar problems.
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Replies

  • Chewitz
    Chewitz Posts: 217 Member
    Drinking more water especially during meal times helps me
  • sammyantics
    sammyantics Posts: 191 Member
    Chewitz wrote: »
    Drinking more water especially during meal times helps me

    I need to get better about that. Thanks!
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
    I have to weigh my food so I can know when to stop. I know that this meal in front of me is exactly 300 calories and I will not be hungry after it. If I am I usually drink 16oz of water and wait 20 minutes and reevaluate if I was really hungry or just thirsty (99/100 times I'm usually just thirsty)

    I come from Binge Eating Disorder and weighing food and knowing exactly how many calories are in front of me is the only thing that has worked for me.
  • fannyfrost
    fannyfrost Posts: 756 Member
    You are not alone and its not easy to do. Even after you do it, it is so easy to slide back. I did.

    One trick a lot of people do is wrap up 1/2 of the portion before you even start. That would work with burrito bowl, get an extra plate, put the amount you wish to eat on the plate and the rest goes into the refrigerator.

    Even with dinner, wrap the extra planned for leftovers before you sit down. put it in Tin Foil and ready to store. This will stop you from going back.

    Clean up immediately, done eating, put the plate and flatware into the dishwasher and clean it all up immediately! don't sit with food in front of you (that is the hardest part)

    My trick is to eat tons of veggies, which can be really hard sometimes. However, I fill my plate with tons of veggies and smaller portions of the other stuff. This helps. The urge to munch, carrots work.

    Eventually you will eat less, but its not a perfect science. You still have to think about it. You have to say stop. I actually don't get that full from those things so the veggies fill me up. It takes lots of training to have the right portion and say no more. I actually had to go hungry for a while to train myself. I am eating less now, but I know I could easily slide back and have to make an effort to say NO to desert if I am full. say NO to the extras. The worst is when the extra food sits on the table too long and you are staring at it. So tempting to eat more.
  • ScrAgnX
    ScrAgnX Posts: 368 Member
    I don't do well with throwing away food, if it's on my plate I feel obligated to eat it ("Starving kids in Africa" syndrome). I try to avoid having it on my plate, or getting it packaged before I start eating.

    I have to pack my breakfast and lunch and avoid going out to eat for lunches. For dinner we either portion it from the pan into dishes (i.e. quarter pasta and sauce into 4 bowls) before eating, or divide it in the pan if it's a casserole, pizza or whatever.

    If I do go out to eat then I should (I'm not good at it) portion my meal in half and box the other half for left overs; the alternative is making sure I order something that I can eat entirely without going over my calories.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    I have what I think of as meal templates and once I've eaten them, I am pretty much done. For example, for supper I'll have 5-8 ounces of meat, 1 half cup serving of a starch (mashed potatoes or rice usually) and then as many veggies as I want. I don't really eat a whole lot of casserole or mixed together foods (lasagna, burrito bowl, etc.) so it is easy for me to think it out that way.

    For breakfast, I have one breakfast that I eat 4-5 times a week and then another one that I throw in there a couple of days. And for lunch I have a template of what I eat too. I serve the food up on my plate or throw it in my lunch bag and once it's gone, it's gone.

    Also, I'm a big fan of eating as much as I can while losing. I don't usually get more hungry than "oh, it's dinner time" type of hunger. I exercise 6 days/week and I eat those calories back, which gets me to 2000+ calories a lot of times. Yes, my weight loss is slower because of it but it makes it more tolerable for me. I get very grumpy and can't concentrate when I try to cut past 1800 or so. It just doesn't work for me.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
    Actually portion things out...so instead of pulling out the bag of Gold Fish crackers and just digging in, I use my food scale to portion out an acceptable serving and then I put the stuff away. I use my food scale to portion out most things....I don't just eat from packages, etc and I don't hang out in/around the kitchen when I'm not actively cooking something or otherwise preparing snacks/meals.

    I also plan my snacks into my day. I also don't keep things in my house that I have difficulty controlling myself with
  • allenpriest
    allenpriest Posts: 1,102 Member
    I pre-log many meals to help me make better choices. I also measured out things I eat regularly and put those into the serving dish so that I could visualize what a cup of cereal or one serving of ice cream looked like. In restaurants I will frequently get a take out box with the food and then put a portion into the take out box immediately to get it off my plate.
  • cavia
    cavia Posts: 457 Member
    If I'm awake, I'm hungry. The only way I know when to stop is by weighing my food and prelogging my days. I was extremely skeptical of weighing my food and did so reluctantly in the beginning. It's made all the difference and I was surprised how easy it was.
  • alexistexas33
    alexistexas33 Posts: 121 Member
    I was struggling with this for maybe the first 3 weeks. It was a shock to eat so much less. What I ended up doing (you all are going to disagree with me but it works for me) is that I am obsessed with bubble gum-double bubble to be exact. I bought a huge tub of it and when I have that urge to eat when I shouldn't I grab a handful of gum and just start chewing.
    Because the calories in gum is so low that you can keep eating it and eventually you'll get tired of chewing so the craving will stop.
    Dunno, it worked for me and has been working. Lost 33 pounds in 13 weeks because of this method (btw don't starve)
  • Chewitz
    Chewitz Posts: 217 Member
    sammyantics wrote: »
    Chewitz wrote: »
    Drinking more water especially during meal times helps me

    I need to get better about that. Thanks!

    Your welcome
  • punkuate
    punkuate Posts: 127 Member
    Asher_Ethan wrote: »
    I have to weigh my food so I can know when to stop. I know that this meal in front of me is exactly 300 calories and I will not be hungry after it. If I am I usually drink 16oz of water and wait 20 minutes and reevaluate if I was really hungry or just thirsty (99/100 times I'm usually just thirsty)

    I come from Binge Eating Disorder and weighing food and knowing exactly how many calories are in front of me is the only thing that has worked for me.

    I'm similar. I need to know the calories so I can tell myself that not eating the extra means I lose weight and eating it means I don't. Be honest with yourself and your food diary and you can stay in deficit.
  • sammyantics
    sammyantics Posts: 191 Member
    I
    fannyfrost wrote: »
    get an extra plate, put the amount you wish to eat on the plate and the rest goes into the refrigerator.

    That's so smart. if it's near me, even if i close the box and put it aside, i always reach for it again in minutes.
    Thanks!

    Thanks to everyone for your input. Going to go drink a big glass of water right now. All this talk of being thirsty made me realize I am.
  • sammyantics
    sammyantics Posts: 191 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I also don't keep things in my house that I have difficulty controlling myself with

    I try to do that too. So effectively, I don't keep food in the house. haha
  • Altagracia220
    Altagracia220 Posts: 876 Member
    When cooking, don't make so much that you have leftovers that way you aren't tempted to finish the leftovers. Just make the one serving for your BF and yourself. That's just one thing you can do of course.

    Try not to buy goodies that you know you will over eat for a while until you are sure you'll have the self control.

    Focus on what you prefer: To lose a few pounds this week? Or to eat all the food including the leftovers?

    You are always going to have cravings like this you just have to make yourself understand that it's not worth it to over-indulge in something.

    Create small goals for yourself, like the one above. For example this week focus on losing 2 pounds and what you are going to do to achieve this goal. Do it every week and the success and pounds lost will add up.

    As for the burrito bowl you mentioned, do you make it yourself or do you buy it at a restaurant? If you make it yourself make a smaller portion. If you buy it at a restaurant, throw a little bit out before you start eating it so that you won't get tempted.

    Obviously I'm no expert, but these are some things that have helped me.
  • avskk
    avskk Posts: 1,789 Member
    edited May 2015
    I pre-log my meals with appropriate amounts by weight of everything, weigh to that amount as I'm preparing my food, and stop eating when that's gone. I leave a lot of room for snacks (seriously, when I plan a day of meals I leave about 50% of my daily calories for snacks) so that if I need to kind of... sit and nosh in front of TV, or add a pastry from the office cart to my breakfast, I can do it without going overboard. I've also devoted a lot of attention to learning my body's satiety signals and needs, so that I know -- for example -- I'll feel most satisfied with a carb-y breakfast, a fatty lunch, and a protein-heavy dinner. Finally, once my individual satiety needs are met, I focus on planning my meals to be well-balanced, which for me means lower in carbs and higher in fat and protein, with plenty of vegetables to hit my micronutrient needs.

    I do all of that, every day, but I'd say the two most helpful bits are pre-planning meals while leaving a LOT of calories for spontaneous snacks, and learning my own body's rhythms and needs. The first one is easy and you can start today; the second will take a month or two of experimentation.
  • sammyantics
    sammyantics Posts: 191 Member
    jazmin220 wrote: »
    Obviously I'm no expert, but these are some things that have helped me.

    I love your ideas! One night, we had some leftover pasta, and my boyfriend refused to let me put the rest away because he knew I'd probably sneak a bite. It was kind of funny, but also really made it clear to me I need to work on it.

    I like the small goals thing. I'm about 2-3 lbs away from dipping below 200, so I think I will aim to lose 2 lbs this week, like you said.
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
    If I make something that I know will have left overs, I will put the leftovers in a tupperware right away. Otherwise, its fair game. I also find that you should never let your partner dish out your food. They almost always give you an equal portion to them. Since I'm not a 6ft tall dude, eating the same portions as my husband was part of what got me here.
  • lavaughan69
    lavaughan69 Posts: 459 Member
    I usually make enough for leftovers, but it's quickly packaged to use as my lunch the next day or if there's enough I'll prepackage two lunches. My brain is very slow to react to the food I eat so I don't get that full feeling either right away. So what I've discovered is if I eat my meal and just wait 10 minutes before going back into the kitchen my brain catches up with my stomach. Other than that, it's all about measuring and weighing for me. I'm starving right now but I know I'm having a steak for dinner so need those calories later. Oh, and it's Friday, so I also see a rum drink or two in my future ;-)
  • Altagracia220
    Altagracia220 Posts: 876 Member
    sammyantics wrote: »
    jazmin220 wrote: »
    Obviously I'm no expert, but these are some things that have helped me.

    I love your ideas! One night, we had some leftover pasta, and my boyfriend refused to let me put the rest away because he knew I'd probably sneak a bite. It was kind of funny, but also really made it clear to me I need to work on it.

    I like the small goals thing. I'm about 2-3 lbs away from dipping below 200, so I think I will aim to lose 2 lbs this week, like you said.

    Glad to help :) Onederland is amazing, once you get there you'll never want to leave. My boyfriend is the same way, it can be very helpful at times haha.

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