Can you eat too much??

[paulsrich]

I know that sounds like a strange question but always feel like i am eating. I know the diet is working for me as I am losing weight but eating loads.
So far I have eaten porridge, 2 banana, punnet of lychees, punnet of strawberries, punnet of grapes, 3 satsumas and an apple. For lunch i had a chicken salad, home made, and a banana and custard muller light. I love those banana and custard ones.............. What do you think??? I cant help thinking that if i am losing weight at the moment then i would lose more if I reduced the amount!!
Cheers

Paul

 

[debbywebby1970]

Hi Paul
I know what you mean..... for years we are told that if you eat more than your body needs it turns the excess to fat, yet in all the SW literature, it says things like eat heaps of this and mountains of that.... I think this is why Im having trouble getting my head around it all, it feels 'wrong' to be eating so much, if you know what I mean.?

 

[princessria]

nah your eating low density stuff it doesn matter if you eat loads, in fact i think if you do try eating less it slows down, does in my case anyways.

 

[melly_gally_mel]

I always think this, surly if you have montains of [pasta and stuff you wont lose. My dad told me bout his mate who did slimming world and rally took advantage of the 'eat till your full' thing, he would eat 12 muller lights in a row, and god knows bout the other stuff, he didnt lose though

 

[jaylou]

I would say if you are hungry, then eat, if not, then don't!

It doesn't seem to be affecting your weight loss!!

 

[debbywebby1970]

For example... today, I woke up starving, and had my brekkie which filled me up until lunch, but at lunchtime I was completely starving and had a huge bowl of pasta salad, half an hour later I was starving again and had another. Now, its one hour since I ate and I am starving again.... usually I would just say to myself 'tough', you have had lunch, now nothing til dinner, but not now. Im doing what it says and if Im hungry Im eating (all free stuff of course).... but it feels so wrong... lol... 38 years of depriving myself I guess I will feel like this. Im just a real hungry horace today. lol

 

[paulsrich]

Thanks for you words of advice people. I think i will just stick to what I am doing then. For now anyway. Just a different mindset i suppose.

 

[princessria]

the important thing is not to feel guilty hon, you are eating healthy free foods, once you get out of that mind set you will feel so much happier, you take for granted just how much you beat yourself up over food i did anyways it's so nice to feel full and not feel guilty

 

[HellieCopter]

It takes quite a while to get your head round it, especially when you've had years of guilt associated with eating.

The main thing is...if you're losing then that's fine. Don't be cutting down, feeling deprived and thus risk falling off the wagon. The beauty of SW is that you eat to your appetite.
Ria's right in that all the SW free foods are low calorie/high water content so make you feel fuller, for longer, for less cals. Not that we work in cals but you know what I mean. So as long as you're eating the right things that's fine.

However, there has to come a point where you're realistic about your appetite....otherwise you might not keep losing eating the quantities that you are.

We all have hungry days, where we could literally eat all day long and still feel hungry. Especially us girls when our lady visitor is coming! But it's not normal to eat like that. A stomach is only approx the size of a fist and you're stretching it when you eat excessively. Also, you're not addressing any of the 'issues' behind why you're over-eating.

There are tips to reducing the amount you're eating (if you want/need to). Drink a glass or water or sugar free cordial if you think you're hungry. When we think we're having a hunger pang it's often thirst - easy signals to get confused. Have a drink, leave it 10-15mins then see if you're still hungry. If you want a snack, have something superfree (basically that's fruit and veg) and that should tide you over til your next meal. Eating small amounts regularly and often is a good way of reducing the quantity of food we eat overall.

Sorry...I totally didn't mean this to turn into a waffly lecture!! LOL!

 

[debbywebby1970]

you are absolutely right there...
38 years of being told to 'just stop eating'... its hard to be told to 'eat' you know.?
My ex mother in law used to call me a 'good girl' if there was a reason that I literally had not eaten a mouthful for an entire day, not even water.... honest to God.
But then, she did think that her wee son should be married to a size zero ironing board..... GOD. ! ! ! !
Im well shot of that lot. LOL.....

 

[Fuffs]

Monster inlaw???lol

My consultant said last week, that as you lose weight, your appetite tends to decrease with it. So, do not worry if after 2 stone you do not want as much as you could eat at first. It is your body naturally adjusting. I do not want food as much as I did before I re-started at SW. I think because I know I can, psychologically that satisifes me enough. I think it is when I can't have things (like when I tried Atkins - which is a well known district of HELL!!lol)...I craved fruit and veg. No diet should tell you to limit fruit and veg!lol

I still believe you can eat as much as you like with SW, but within reason. What you ate today Paul was mainly superfree, so you can eat it until you burst. To me, mullerlights have to be eaten within reason. They are a processed food. So eating 12 becomes quite a few calories lol

I think like Helli. We have to eat to our own tummy capacity and not eat just for the sake of it. I think it then optimises our weight loss. And, we teach oourselves something about eating healthy amounts.

Now I sound like the preaching one!!lol

 

[squiddie]

I agree with what everyone's said, tell whats funny, I eat more on plan that when I'm off plan. Its more to do with what we eat and once the novelty of unlimited food wares off, you wont want as much and your stomach shrinks, like others have said, at least this is what i'm hoping!

 

[Gemma1986]

Put it this way i am always eating and the more i eat the more i loose!

 

[squiddie]

could be the foods you are eating are the type that your body uses more calories digesting the food that is in it to begin with, for example say an apple is 70 calories, your body uses 100 calories digesting it - so hey if what your doing works, keep doing it!

 

[paulsrich]

Hiya All. Thanks for all your thoughts and advice. Its nice to have support when needed.

 

[couteaux]

I say EAT EAT EAT!

I had a really bad week last week, really didn't eat enough as I was in a few situations where there were no SW options available, so I didn't have food.

Anyhoo, I didn't lose any weight this week, the weeks I eat lots, I lose weight. So this week I'll be eating plenty of SW friendly food.

As long as you vary what you are eating and getting plenty of fruit and veg and you're not replying on processed free food, I say tuck in until you are satisfied.

 

[princessria]

I READ THE OTHER DAY THAT THE ADULT STOMACHE CAN HOLD TWO AND A HALF PINTS OF FOOD !! and for ages people have been saying oh your stomache is as big as a fist, what a load of old rhubarb.

 

[anwen]

Yes, but that's because it's very very stretchy (which is also why if you eat less/more then your stomach can shrink or grow accordingly).

By and large, I think it's a good idea to take the free foods very literally (though I agree that it's probably also a good idea to focus mostly on the unprocessed things like eggs, meat, fruit etc rather than eating 12 mullerlight in a day - wouldn't a nice ham omelette and one or two yoghurts be more satisfying?) because if you limit yourself you're more likely to feel deprived and go "sod it, where's the cake??"

Also, the good thing about SW as opposed to just about every other diet plan thingum is that it allows for the normal day to day fluctuations in appetite - I very much doubt you'd find a single naturally thin person who eats exactly the same amount every day, and it's no different for us lot. Some days you might be more active or a bit ill and want to eat more or less, and SW allows for that without having to faff around with "activity points" and stuff. You're still hungry? So have some chicken, or a couple of bananas, or a yoghurt. Heck, if you're really hungry, have all three. Not that hungry today? Fair enough, just eat what you need.

 

[squiddie]

here, here! well said!

 

[LisaC]

Hi Paul,

I agree with everything above!! Someone said to me last night they want to do SW as they think Im forever eating (which made me a bit paranoid) but as said above its low density food. I'll be full for a couple of hours then fancy something else. Saying that I snack on fruit all day too.

I remember my consultant saying at my first meeting eat as much free food etc as you want but stop when you're full. So as long as you dont eat out of habit, when you're not actually hungry, you'll be fine!