hunger/fullness mechanism seems to be repaired

gingercake · Post by **gingercake** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 2:56 pm

After 33 days of this, I'm noticing some great changes in my ability to know when I'm hungry and when I'm full. Some observations:

- Eating is driven by mealtimes, not how many points or calories I have left for the day. When doing weight watchers, if I ever had 2 or 3 points left in a day (extremely rare, I admit!), I had this compulsion to eat them whether I was hungry or not. It's 9 at night and I have 1 point left? Quick, pop up a single serving bag of low fat popcorn!!

- It used to be that when I ate out, I cleaned my plate every time. Eating out was an "occasion." (Even if I did it twice a week.) Something that existed outside of whatever diet I was on. So the suggestion from someone else that we share an entree or the idea that I leave something on the plate or take it home was met with an extremely emotional response from me. (Emotional on the inside. It's not like I had outbursts at the table or anything...) I mean, share an entree?? Please! I have to go back on my diet tomorrow so you can bet I'm stuffing all this in! Even during the first few weeks of No S my thinking was, "I have permission to eat everything on this plate and by god I am going to do it." Just in the last couple of weeks, I've noticed at restaurants I've started naturally slowing down and then stopping about halfway through my meal. I've had thoughts like, "We could have shared an entree." I've lost that emotional attachment to what I've ordered and am making my stopping decisions based on a comfortable fullness level rather than all that other crazy stuff that has nothing to do with nourishing myself.

- Even on S days I'm slowing down. On Saturday night got a Sonic Blast for a treat, but about a third of the way through it I put it in the freezer because I felt done. I made cookies on Sunday and they were really good but it wasn't hard to put them away for the week on Sunday night. I even found myself telling my husband he could take them to work if he wanted. In the past...no way. NO WAY. MY COOKIES. MINE. Something in me was so scared of not having my food.

- Same thing is starting to happen at home. While I'm always a little sad when the plate is done - especially at dinner - I'm more and more okay with it and appreciating my satisfaction level.

Again, it's that emotional attachment thing that has changed. There's no desperation because I know my next meal is 4-6 hours away and I can have more good food then. With strictness, I've gotten in the habit of understanding when eating time is over and turning my attention elsewhere. My body is appreciating regular meal times and is no longer unsure about what's going to happen.

Yay!

blueskighs · Post by **blueskighs** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 6:38 pm

Gingercake,
this has been my experience too, day in and day out although I am not perfect, I am much more on track and in touch with my hunger.

Blueskighs

CatholicCajun · Post by **CatholicCajun** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 7:10 pm

Thanks for sharing Gingercake, much of what you wrote sounds like my expierence also. God Bless.

david · Post by **david** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 8:01 pm

Me too, even on vacation, etc.

--david