Eating when you're hungry, til you're full

[msnicksmom]

I know that this is the way to go. Duh. But I don't know when I'm full. That sounds so stupid, but it's true. I CAN stop, and I do, but I'm actually not full, nor hungry either. Is that possible? I'll stop after a serving of hot dish and salad, because that seems reasonable. Then I'll eat again a little later, because I'm kind of hungry, but mostly it just sounds good. The food is just so good on this WOE.

I'm losing fine, I do know that when I get TOO hungry, I get shaky. So I never let that happen. But other times, I'm hungry, but I don't seem to get full on a reasonable amount of food.

Did that make any sense? Does anyone have any thoughts?

[Ivy]

Re: Eating when you're hungry, til you're full

Hi there. I'm still kinda new to atkins. I started 3-27-06. You are not alone!

Are you drinking enough water? And are the foods your eating fatty enough? When this was happening to me I upped my intake on Fat and found I wasnt *hungry* like before. I also found out by spaceing my meals 2-3 hours instead of 6 helped.

My problem is not drinking enough water, I just hate it (lol) I still drink it but I feel like a fish. By drinking a glass of water before I actually eat has helped that bottemless pit feeling I have. I was a snacker before. always munching on something. Its not like being hungry or full. Its more a feeling of not being satisfied *to me anyway*.



Ivy




3-27-06
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[cypressgirl]

Re: Eating when you're hungry, til you're full

It actually sounds just about dead on. You never want to have that 'full' feeling that indicates you overdid it. You aren't really doing wrong either by leaving before you are full enough because you are always able to have a little more later. Don't deprive yourself and don't pig out. Also, you will be hungrier some days because it reflects your activity level, hormones etc.

Seems you are doing things just right!

[Brook]

Re: Eating when you're hungry, til you're full

For me, learning to recognize when I was truly hungry vs feeling snacky, bored, or needy was one of the hardest things I had to conquer.

It gets easier with time

~Brook

[killerbombshell]

Re: Eating when you're hungry, til you're full

I think everybody has some off days. The past couple days I've been having a real hard time identifying "full" versus "actually hungry." Stress can be a big factor in this for a lot of people (especially me!). It does get easier. Good luck!

[2big4mysize]

Re: Eating when you're hungry, til you're full

full is not a function of hunger. the full feeling is the stretch receptors in your stomach informing your brain STOP the place is full. you can be full of water or air just as easily as full of food.

We need to learn what our hunger is and only respond with food to it and to stop as soon as it is satisfied. You'd be surprized how little food it takes to fix hunger. Try eating just 1/2 the food on your plate and walk away. if you aren't hungry in an hour you had enough and can try even less tomorrow. if you are hungry you didn't get quite enough. And how much it takes will vary day to day some days a few bites and other days a whole plate.

Overeating our Atkins is the most common reason for weight loss stoppage cause as we get smaller we need less fuel to do the exact same stuff and many large folk don't realize this and eat 30 pounds lighter exactly the same as they did 30 pounds heavier.

Happy low carbing

[Checkers]

Re: Eating when you're hungry, til you're full

I have to say that eating until I'm full is what keeps me on track. I have no desire to snack for a very long time if I eat until I'm full. After six hours I notice that it's time for the next meal and I hadn't even gotten hungry. If I don't get full I'll get that snacky feeling within an hour or two. But that's what works for me after many failures. I've tried that 'eat six small meals' thing. Instead of being satisfied all the time I was hungry all the time. It must work for some people.

[Pineapple]

Re: Eating when you're hungry, til you're full

Since I don't have a family to eat sit down meals with, I would just nibble on atkins friendly foods throughout the whole day. The entire time I was never hungry or full, a few days I was so lazy I didn't even count carbs, but I don't recommend that!

I get whoozy and shaky when I'm hungry too, it's a icky feeling!

[Pineapple]

Re: Eating when you're hungry, til you're full

you can be full of water or air just as easily as full of food.

That makes so much sense now. My friends that are still crash dieting and starving themselves fill up on diet soda, and I guess that's what the carbonation is doing to them.

[Ayria]

Re: Eating when you're hungry, til you're full

I don't know when to stop either, and can eat anytime, so I'll be having to work this out too. I get the shakes when I'm hungry and it's awful, I'm glad atkins lets you eat when you need to ^_^.

[msnicksmom]

Re: Eating when you're hungry, til you're full

Thanks for all your thoughts ladies. I did some observing on this since this post, and did find if I was anxious or tense or just on what i call "high gear" my inclination was to grab something to eat, even though i didn't truly feel hungry. But, having caught that, then the next day, I got way too hungry, because I was in high gear and didn't stop to eat. It's tough with my kids, because I will just be thinking, getting hungry, what do I feel like, but I'll wait til I put Benji down so I can eat in peace, get him napping, Nicky cracks his head on the table, Pat asks me why I didn't put something away, Nicky has hauled out his stool and ripped into something...well, you get the gist!!! I guess it's a balance I need to work out!