Post
by Nicest of the Damned » Mon Aug 01, 2011 9:35 pm
I try to avoid "just one more" situations, because I know I tend to overeat in those situations (OK, "will damn near inevitably overeat"). My strategy is to avoid such situations if at all possible. I try to make clear rules for when I have to stop eating, rules where you're either following it or you're not, and which one it is is obvious. I don't do well with nuance or shades of gray, in diet questions.
My restaurant rule is one entree, no appetizers, sides, or desserts. If the meal does not fit that paradigm, you order something that costs about the same as one entree. If I want a piece of bread, or a chip with salsa, I have to wait till my entree comes, and put it on the plate with my entree before I can eat it. (Yes, really.)
I don't worry about the size of the plate, since I have trouble with spatial reasoning and can't look at a plate and know its diameter or how it compares in size to another plate without measuring it (I'm usually miles off when I try).
I also try not to eat out very often, not more than 2 dinners and 3 lunches a week, and no breakfasts out.
One suggestion I've heard, if you don't want to eat everything that's on your plate, is to mark off half of it (or some other fraction) before you start eating, and say you're going to take that home. You can ask them to wrap up half of it for you before you start eating, if that's what you need to do to keep from eating it. If I get to the point where I feel a need to cut back on what I eat in restaurants, I'll probably do something like that. It gives you a clear rule on when, exactly, you need to stop eating, which is what I need. My "eat till you're full/satisfied" instinct is clearly broken, and cannot be relied on, so I need clear rules that I can't talk my way out of.