Quantity Eater

[Lovetotest]

Hi everyone,

A few weeks ago, I did a nice clean two week induction. But the day after day 14 I binged on crap.
I am back on day one today. I want to get this right. I want to make this a wol not something I just do for a few weeks, months and then binge on sugar. This is what I have done for years!

I am a quantity eater. At 369 lbs, I seem to need a lot more food to feel satisfied. Here is sample of my breakfast which is far from where I want to be, but it is better than doing the white flour and sugar deal...

3 eggs 240 calories
2 hot Italian sausage 500 calories...it went down so fast!
4 pork breakfast links 200 calories, they weren't even all that good!
2 large cups of coffee with at least 1/4 cup of half and half in each. 200
I enjoyed my coffee...

As you can see, this is a lot of food. And I know we are not counting calories, it is about the carbs, but still, calories do matter if I want to lose weight!

Any suggetions on what do to eat less of the foods allowed and feel satiated. Some of the quantity eating is induced from me wanted to taste more of it because it tastes good to me. Also, feeling full not just satiated keeps me from eating foods off plan.

I am open to all suggestions on how to stop consuming so many calories per meal. I am trying to figure out why I need to feel really full to feel less afraid of the carb monster....

Thanks for you help.

Linda

[KittyMomma]

Re: Quantity Eater

Just a thought, have you tried eating more eggs?

I tend to eat about 4-6 per day, and they are good at filling me up.

Keep in mind I'm still in extended induction so I'm not a AkinsBible-thumper or a guru like alot of the people here.

Maybe also add some cheese to your morning. I like my eggs scrambled with some shredded cheese melted on top.

[not2late]

Re: Quantity Eater

Take a deep breath and do these things...

1. Eat slowly.
2. Eat smallish bites of food. Take no more than 1/2 inch of food on your fork/spoon.
3. Put your fork/knife/spoon down after it conveys the food to your mouth. Keep both hands flat on the table while you are chewing. Do not lift up any eating utensils until you've swallowed.
3. Chew the food thoroughly and swallow it completely before taking another bite. This will allow you to fully taste the food.
4. Pause between bites. Count 5 seconds between bites. You know, one-one thousand, two- one thousand, etc.
5. Only put 1 serving of each food on your plate at a time. So for your breakfast, you should only put 1 egg, 1 sausage, 1 or 2 pork sausage links. After you have finished that amount. Ask yourself, do you still feel hungry (ie, is your stomach growling like you haven't eaten anything in 3 days). If not, put the remaining food in the fridge and step away from the table. If you are are still hungry, serve yourself another serving of the food. Eat 1/2 of that and ask yourself are you still hungry. If not, put the remaining food in the fridge and leave. Continue re-evaluating yourself. And always know that if you are hungry between meals you can eat.

By the way, 1/4 cup cream for 2 cups of coffee is way over the heavy cream limit for Induction.

[cathyjobob]

Re: Quantity Eater

Take a deep breath and do these things...

Good suggestions not2late. My fiance' and I tend to eat a large quantity of food also...something we need to work on as well lovetotest, don't feel alone. I think it stems from the whole clean you plate, or else thing from childhood.

[Lovetotest]

Re: Quantity Eater

Thank you for your great suggestions. I do need to slow down when I eat. I am going to take your suggestions about chewing my food completely. I have bad habits about eating and doing. Sitting down and paying attention to what I am putting in my mouth needs to change too!

Yes, the half and half amounts are way over the top. What I have come to find out is that I hate the taste of coffee, but I like the energy it gives me. I only drink one or two cups of coffee a day. But I need to learn to measure the amounts of half and half or not use it at all.

Thank you for taking the time to post to me.

Linda

[2big4mysize]

Re: Quantity Eater

the biggest part of being a successfull Atkins loser is learning to only feed your hunger not the empty room in your belly nor your emotions. Once you begin to understand yes I can still hold more Atkins legal food BUT my hunger has been fed and I need to stop you will be there.


another thing you can do is put the fork or spoon down between bites this will slow you down some too.
and once the appetite suppression licks in from your ketosis you will be amazed that you are even having to use the 6 hr rule to make yourself have that small protein carbohydrate snack cause you just aren't hungry and it is late afternoon.

you really are going to be amazed how much your hunger will shrink. I know when I started i was having almost 4000 cals a day but when I started using ww.fitday.com to log my foods a few months later I was below 2000 cals and never hungry for lunch.

happy low carbing.

[jcapulet]

Re: Quantity Eater

Hi there,

Everyone's given great advice so far. My only thoughts are that if you cook/prepare in smaller quantities, you'll in turn, eat smaller quantities.

A long time ago, and friend and I were on a mission to lose weight (low-calorie aka torture diet). She brought up a good point once, which I'm sure is an old saying. She said "So, do you eat to live; or live to eat?" You could, if it helps, bear that in mind if you think you have more food on your plate than you should.

Hang in there! We're all here to help you out.

[Tired of Chub]

Re: Quantity Eater

HI Linda. I dont remember who said this on ADBB but it has served me well. I saw it when I was doing induction and its stuck with me, and even now, I need to rely on it at times.

There are very few things that I dont know how they taste. I know how it tastes, how it feels in my mouth and the feeling it gives me. -Ive had it once, I dont need it again-

Everyonce in awhile when I want "MORE" of something and I know Im not really hungry but in a case of the wants, I tell myself that Ive had it once, I know how it tastes. if I still want that particular (legal) food in an hour, I can have some.

You can do this. Megs gave some great advice on slowing down!!

[Bren]

Re: Quantity Eater

a couple of changes that I made and have worked for me.

I always use a smaller plate (never a dinner plate) and I never CLEAN my plate. Why did our parents think we always needed to clean our plate?
There is always food left on my plate.

Always eat at the table. Does not matter what you are eating. Even if it is a handful of almonds. I have to sit down and eat with no distractions. I actually find it stops me from eating alot as I do not want to sit at the table for five minutes.

I found I had alot of bad habits to clean up. One was the grabbing something and eating on the run or sitting in front of the TV. Or the other one I was famous for was grabbing the container (be it nuts whatever). Always measure out the exact amount you should have.


FYI........all these apply in a "perfect world". But, I do the best I can!

[Mothercooter]

Re: Quantity Eater

a couple of changes that I made and have worked for me.

I always use a smaller plate (never a dinner plate) and I never CLEAN my plate. Why did our parents think we always needed to clean our plate?
There is always food left on my plate.

Always eat at the table. Does not matter what you are eating. Even if it is a handful of almonds. I have to sit down and eat with no distractions. I actually find it stops me from eating alot as I do not want to sit at the table for five minutes.

I found I had alot of bad habits to clean up. One was the grabbing something and eating on the run or sitting in front of the TV. Or the other one I was famous for was grabbing the container (be it nuts whatever). Always measure out the exact amount you should have.


FYI........all these apply in a "perfect world". But, I do the best I can!

great advice! I never even thought of using a smaller plate. Starting that right now!

[RachelnLa]

Re: Quantity Eater

OH boy, I can so relate! I'd get two candy bars one to gulp down because it seemed as though I could not wait and the other was to enjoy the taste. All the advice given is very good. It's true, once ketosis kicks in you will be able to eat less and as your body shrinks you will need less. Emotional eating. It is something I worked with almost on a daily basis at first. heck, I could always find an excuse to eat Now I deal with it when I have a really emotional day. For me, Atkins is mental and physical. I'm discovering why I eat the way I do, make changes, try new things, etc. I'm learning a lot that's for sure.

If you are just starting.. eat until yyou are full - not stuff - just full. You can always eat more later. There will always be food there or a way to get some.. plan ahead if you must with snacks, etc. Once you feel secure that you CAN eat more you will notice a change.

Best of luck to you!!!!!!!

[not2late]

Re: Quantity Eater

I agree with Bren, use smaller plates. It fools your mind into thinking "Gosh look at all this food piled on my plate!" When it is either the same amount or slightly less. If you drink tea or coffee and would like to cut down, you can use smaller cups.

I posted this a long time ago, but my mom divided up her china among my sisters and me. I got an 'everyday' dinner set from the late 1950s-early 1960s. Anyhow, when I unpacked the set, the china looked small. So I did some measuring and compared it to my late 1990's 'everyday' dinner set. The difference between the size of the dinner plates was about 1/2 inch. The difference between the salad/dessert plates was about 3/4 inch. The 50s-60s bowls held 1/2 cup comfortably; the 90s bowls held about 1 cup. The 50s-60s cups held 6-7 oz, the 90s cups held about 10 oz.

[2big4mysize]

Re: Quantity Eater

yep Bren is so right about the concentrate on eating when you are eating cause their is a mental side to that hunger too and if your brain is distracted watching TV or something like eating while driving you will not get the feedback that you have been eating to turn off the hunger chemicals and you can mindlessly munch your way through an entire container of something and not even realize you have.

I also take not2lates serve one serving a step further and only cook one at a time cause if it is in raw ingredients in the kitchen it takes time for you to go in and cook up another one and during that time you will be amazed that you suddenly are not hungry and just wanting it cause it is legal and you can hold it. Be espically careful when you get to OWL and are adding new foods back even the lower rung foods if you got a batch already fixed will make overeating your Atkins that much easier.
I'm sure bren could tell you about her batch of crockpot nuts and what whould have happened if she hadn't measureed out her serving and sat to eat it.

[djfmf]

Re: Quantity Eater

there are certain meals of when i eat more and some meals when i eat less, it just depends on my appetite. overall i have a very small appetite and get full pretty easily. what i learned on the diet is that you should just eat until your hunger is satisfied, not until you feel full or stuffing yourself silly. what you should do is eat half of what is on your plate and then mentally ask yourself, are you satisfied? an example would be getting an entire plate of food but only eating 2/3 of the plate because you were already satisfied. you don't ever have to finish what is given to you, the choice will always be yours. thats why take the time to eat.

[jcapulet]

Re: Quantity Eater

I wanted to add, that for me, it is a "learned" behavior to eat only until full. The reason is that all my life, I've eaten until I am full or over-full. That's why I became overweight.

So after years of eating one way, I have learned to eat differently. It just took a little time to get into the swing of it.