Thread: Stopping when full is so difficult

You'd think it would be easy after just over a year on slimming world but feeling fed up and frustrated that I still have to concentrate and put so much effort in stopping eating when 'full'. I still have physical stop and remind myself I've eaten enough not to hungry. Why hasn't it become easier after all this time? Feel upset that after all this I still have to try so hard to eat in the right way.

Does anyone else have this experience or feel the same way?

Yep. I really struggle to stop, sometimes - I don't think I'll ever get over the mentality that if it's on my plate, I have to eat it. And it doesn't help that my eyes are bigger than my stomach, so I have such a bad habit of dishing up too much food!

One thing I find definitely helps is smaller sized dinner plates. Another is, when I'm dishing up dinner and I know that there's more than me and my boyfriend should reasonably eat, to put one portion in a tupperware immediately. Otherwise I'm liable to either pile the plates high, or come back for seconds so I don't 'waste' it!

I guess for me it also helps to remind myself that I've had disordered eating for over 20 years... so one year on SW isn't going to fix that, even if I am sooooo much better than I was. I am a work in progress!

Like most people I was brought up taught to eat everything on my plate. I HATE to leave waste as usually it's not enough that can be left for next days lunch, it would be thrown away.

Weirdly enough I never eat too much, I think I never get full (if thats possible) even though I have good sized meals.

What if you were to cook but only serve half of it up? That way you'd have to think & consider if you really NEED the rest there & then or could you save it for when you are hungry.

Also, do you eat fast? I eat slow, I taught myself to. Between mouthfuls I try to put down my fork & concentrate on what I'm eating. That way it gives me time to register if I want to eat more rather than eating for the sake of it being there.

I'm coming up to 2 years and it's not getting any easier! I totally agree with all suggestions so far - smaller plates and not putting so much on them! You're definitely not alone and personally I don't think I will ever change so it's all down to how you manage it. Good luck x

I completely agree I have always been someone that clears their plate and who also eats far too quickly, one of the main reasons that I have got to the size that I am.

I too agree with using smaller plates as you think you till have a nice full plate of food.

I have tried to slow down when eating and also concentrate on eating rather than watching TV etc.

I think these things have taken along time to be automatic and will take a long time to be broken, I am hoping that if I keep on telling myself to slow down and that it is ok to leave food on my plate it will EVENTUALLY become second nature.

Good Luck


xxxxx

Originally Posted by frankied

You'd think it would be easy after just over a year on slimming world but feeling fed up and frustrated that I still have to concentrate and put so much effort in stopping eating when 'full'. I still have physical stop and remind myself I've eaten enough not to hungry. Why hasn't it become easier after all this time? Feel upset that after all this I still have to try so hard to eat in the right way.

Does anyone else have this experience or feel the same way?

I've learned to recognise when I'm full, but I don't actually feel it. I used to eat until I couldn't move, I would be aching, and sometimes even the aching didn't make me feel like I was full.

Eat slower and drink water or squash after every few bites, this helps me to feel the fullness, and now I sometimes don't eat everything on the plate because I know it has filled me up. I do sometimes go on to eat more a little while later, like fruit or yoghurt, but I'm not eating until I ache anymore.

It's weird because I think before, when I ate until it hurt, I would feel upset that I had eaten so much so I would keep eating thinking that would make me feel better.... Sorry not really advice, just sort of realised that.

I think it's part of the nature of food addiction, I know that it is for me, I struggle every day and still eat until my plate is empty, I know I will have to work on that long term but at least in the short term, while I have my terrible appetite habits, at least I have much much better eating habits and I am losing weight, albeit not as fast as I could.

I have a similar problem too. I've always had a big appetite. As a kid I was very tall, problem was, when I suddenly stopped growing at 14, the appetite didn't dwindle and since then I've gradually increased in size. I was taught to clear my plate too. Another of my bad habits is I don't drink what is considered enough. for example, yesterday I had 2 cups of tea, the squash I consumed while I did zumba (2/3 of a 500ml bottle) and half a pint of it before I went to sleep. The drink before sleep I was forcing down me as I didn't feel thirsty, but knew I needed fluids in me.

I am exactly the same and i noticed that im worse when thirsty. When i havent had much to drink (naughty i know) i have an insatiable hunger i hardly ever feel thirsty so it's a constant battle try to remind myself to drink

I dont get this I guess I do eat more than you are 'supposed' to eat, in that I eat very big portions and I do eat because it's nice and I want to eat it, rather than because I am hungry. I eat at tea time because it's tea time, not because Im necessarily hungry. But I dont find this a problem, as if you cook the sort of stuff you should be eating it really doesnt matter if you eat it all. eg if I cook a piece of chicken and a ton of veg its really not going to matter if I eat all of the massive pile on my plate as theres what, another 50 calories if I polish it off? The chicken is the size that it is and I would be eating it regardless, so Im not gonna eat any more than that as it doesn't exist. if its curry I make exactly 2 portions of rice so thats how much Im gonna get.

If its soup or stew or whatever I put 4 ladles in a bowl cos thats how many fit in the bowl, end of, then I put the rest straight into a freezer box for another day to save having to cook again.

I can understand it in the case of stuff like biscuits or whatever, which is why I generally dont eat them as I used to find it impossible to stop when Id started, but this just isn't the sort of thing Id be eating for my tea. I dont think I really understand? I do eat massive portions, but it doesn't matter because theyre not ladled in cheeseandoilandsugarandcalories...

I understand what you mean but for me if was eating even just an extra 50calories a meal 3 x a day it would stop me from losing 1lb every 20 or so days

Originally Posted by sunnyrae

I understand what you mean but for me if was eating even just an extra 50calories a meal 3 x a day it would stop me from losing 1lb every 20 or so days

Well, we are all different
For me it doesn't because if I *didnt* know I could eat my whole meal and really bloddy well enjoy it as I do I just wouldnt be able to stick to the plan, Id be sitting there thinking how I really bloddy want x but cant have it and Id go off the rails and end up on pizza, crisps, alcohol, junkfood, whatever. I dont think the cost of 50 calories (about one apple?) really compares. 1lb more every 3 weeks? Its the difference between 7.5 stone and 8.5 stone in a year... No big deal whatsoever IMO!

I guess it depends on our individual relationship to food, how much we've got to lose anyway and all sorts of other stuff. Whatever works for each of us

Originally Posted by ermintrude

I dont get this I guess I do eat more than you are 'supposed' to eat, in that I eat very big portions and I do eat because it's nice and I want to eat it, rather than because I am hungry. I eat at tea time because it's tea time, not because Im necessarily hungry. But I dont find this a problem, as if you cook the sort of stuff you should be eating it really doesnt matter if you eat it all. eg if I cook a piece of chicken and a ton of veg its really not going to matter if I eat all of the massive pile on my plate as theres what, another 50 calories if I polish it off? The chicken is the size that it is and I would be eating it regardless, so Im not gonna eat any more than that as it doesn't exist. if its curry I make exactly 2 portions of rice so thats how much Im gonna get.

If its soup or stew or whatever I put 4 ladles in a bowl cos thats how many fit in the bowl, end of, then I put the rest straight into a freezer box for another day to save having to cook again.

I can understand it in the case of stuff like biscuits or whatever, which is why I generally dont eat them as I used to find it impossible to stop when Id started, but this just isn't the sort of thing Id be eating for my tea. I dont think I really understand? I do eat massive portions, but it doesn't matter because theyre not ladled in cheeseandoilandsugarandcalories...

Couldn't agree more....

My evening meal tonight will be smoked haddock and the rest of my plate will be full of veg. My plateful always looks massive compared to my hubby's as he doesn't eat veg and he will just have fish and mash. Even though there will be much, much more on my plate, I will be the one consuming less calories and less tempted to snack the bad stuff and push me over my syn allowance

For me recognising that I was 'full' up was one the hardest things about SW & it did take me a while to learn. I took comfort in the fact even if I did eat a bit more that I was eating good healthy food & it wasnt the end of the world like Ermintrude said. Also it is better to have that little bit more of something healthy at mealtimes than not have enough & want to reach for something else later which may not always be within syns etc.

It is something I still think about & I do make sure I have decent portions that will fill me up but I also am a great believer in having a huge glass of water or squash before I sit down to eat a meal as I know I was definitely guilty of mistaking thirst for hunger in the past.

Looking back to when I started my portion sizes have definitely got smaller & I am very careful now not to put more on my plate than what I need. Also any leftover portions make a great lunch for the next day so its saving money into the bargain too.

I dont think there's anything wrong with filling up on veg. Its prob the best thing to fill up on. I think for me personally because i havent got a lot to lose i want to be able to retrain my habits so that when im maintaining i can rely on my stomach telling me when to stop rather than having to calorie count forever.

But i understand it's different for everyone.