Feeling full issues

Why do you need to feel full?

I know what helps me feel full and not feel hungry soon after is to always have the three basics in every meal...carb, fat and protein (no particular order). There is some science to this as hunger is linked to glucose supply to the brain. Carbs give you quick supply of glucose but it also wears off quick. The higher the fibre in the carbs, the longer they will provide energy. Protein takes longer than carbs to convert to energy, so when the supply from the carbs tapers off the body starts feeding the energy from the protein. Finally, fats take the longest to convert and they step in to keep the brain ticking over. So the way to feel full and not feel hungry soon after eating is to have all three in a meal. Now I'm not saying eat 1/3 of each! Nooooo. I mean feel free to scramble an egg, and eat with buttered toast. Or throw a handful of nuts and high protein seeds on your oatmeal. Add a few cubes if ham or a hard boiled egg or some grilled chicken to a lunchtime salad. Etc. I find if I eat a bowl of cereal for example...I don't feel full and get hungry for lunch around 10:30. But if I eat a balanced breakfast it can be 1pm and I'll be like...gee I should eat even though I am only starting to feel a tiny bit hungry...

Protein and carbs for sure. If you're just starting out and have it at 2 pound loss per week could be too low for you. Perhaps up it up to 1 pound loss per week. If I'm in-between meals and I feel a pang of hunger then I just jump straight for the water! Sometimes what we think is hunger is actually thirst

I think we're so conditioned to the notion that we must feel 'full' or satisfied by the foods we eat that we think if our stomach doesn't feel 'full', we must be hungry. We've been slowly conditioned to eat until we're stuffed by the 'super-sized' portions of most restaurants and fast food places, and buffet style restaurants are the worst offenders. If you compare a typical restaurant meal from 20 years ago to a typical restaurant meal today, it is appalling the amount of food we eat today in a single meal. This is also happening in our homes when we cook. I collect antique cookware and bakeware, a standard casserole dish from the 50's and 60's was enough for 4 generous or 6 medium/small portions. It measures about 10" x 6" and holds about 5 cups of food. Starting from around the mid-70;s through today a 'standard' casserole dish is a 9" x 13" which holds 10 - 12 cups of food, but we use this to feed a typical family of 4 - 6 people, generally with little or no leftovers.

I also eat way to fast most of the time, eating more than I need to eat and before I realize it, I've eaten so much my stomach hurts. There are some studies that have theorized that we don't 'taste' what we're eating after about 3 - 5 bites anyway, so why just shovel it in when I'm not getting any 'yummy factor' that makes my brain tell my pleasure center I'm now satisfied. I'm trying to train myself to eat slowly and intentionally when it's something that I can easily binge on, so I'll eat less and get the satisfaction of eating something I really enjoy, without overeating. I'm also slowly training myself to be very intentional about portion sizes, and am trying to get back to a reasonable portion for the type of food I'm eating.

One thing that is helping me get off the "I must feel full to be satisfied" habit is to:

1. Own the fact that if I want to lose the weight I've gained, sometimes I'm going to 'feel' hungry. I try to distract myself, rather that tell myself I "can't" eat anything, I'll tell myself I'll read, or clean a room, or do one of my hobbies for several minutes, then if I'm still just too hungry to stand it, I'll eat something. I always make sure I drink a glass of water while I'm doing my 'first I'll do this' thing, and typically I get engrossed in what I'm doing and find I don't end up eating, or I have given myself enough determination not to eat anything until it's actually time to eat. Many times I find that the 'hunger pangs' go away while I'm doing my activity!

2. If I'm craving a certain taste (salt, sweet, fried, etc.) and, of course, I'm trying not to eat the typical calorie laden foods associated with those groups, I'll tend to overeat anything else to satisfy myself so I'll stop craving that taste. As weird as it sounds, sometimes I'll eat a bite or two of what I'm craving really slowly, really savoring every taste, then stop. I get the satisfaction without the excess calories. The danger here is if you are a food addict (and I am a sugar addict, big time) if I'm craving sugar and I eat one piece of candy or something sweet, I have to either have an accountability partner to help keep me to just eating that one bite, or only have one bite of the thing I'm eating so I can stop.

Sorry for such a long post. I've been fighting this war with food for so long, I think I've made 5 star general sometimes! LOL! Good Luck on your journey! You can succeed!!

I mean, everyone will say protein or carb, but everyone has a different macro balance that helps them feel satiated. I never feel comfortably full unless I have some healthy fat in my meals. Carbs make me feel kind of bloated and still hungry? I'd play around with your balances until you find something that works for you.