Everyday Systems

It might take a while before a beginning No Ser can accurately judge how much they need to eat at each meal - at least it did for me, and I still get it wrong sometimes.

As part of my overcoming bingeing, I have been learning to take notice of my internal cues re eating.

There are ways which you can use to judge whether you are eating the right amount at meal times or not, such as how comfortable your stomach feels, whether you feel satisfied after eating, and how long it takes until you are feeling hungry again. I believe that the more I cultivate this self knowledge, the more likely it is that I can learn to self regulate my eating. External cues such as how full my plate is can also help.

What I don't do is compare the size of my meal to an average "diet" meal, or to the size of meals for people who consume a lot of calories outside meal times. Except perhaps by shuddering at the tiny size of some of these meals.

(I originally posted this in reply on another thread, before realising that I wasn't even on the right thread. Durrr. Blame the hot weather.)

Great post Ladybird.

Learning to listen to internal cues is a really important part of the journey, not essential in the beginning but long term will help.

I also find meal composition impacts on how long I go between meals before feeling hungry... Again not something to worry about too soon.

Jx

I agree with Soprano about meal composition affecting how many hours before I'm hungry again. Also, it changes my ability to listen to my internal cues. For example, if I eat a high-fat, reasonably high protein yogurt for lunch, I can stop when I "feel" full, and I don't get hungry for a predictable number of hours (usually about 4). If, on the other hand, the meal was virtually anything with bread, I will "feel" full, but then be hungry in a couple hours. I think it's because the starches literally fill up my stomach, but don't meet my nutrient needs. Just guessing, though.

I think being hungry sooner after a carb laden meal is to do with our bodies insulin response too.

Jx

I shoot for being mildly hungry about an hour before my next meal. If I eat enough at a meal, I'm not starving by the next meal, but I am hungry and anticipating it a bit.

It can take quite a while and it can also change over time. After pretty much six years of it being relatively predictable for me, it changed, and I still haven’t figured it out consistently over these last two years. But I doubt there’s any diet out there that could solve this problem for me.

P.S. I've been having a higher percentage of carbs (sometimes two, like potatoes AND grain) at my meals and still feeling full for a long time afterwards.