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I eat to satiety not overfull. I feel better. I'm on vacation and overeat every single day and my body is giving me all sorts of digestive problems. While I enjoy the food there's no way I could eat like this on a regular basis. I'd die of gastric distress. The protein and fat alone sit in my stomach like a brick ...
It is a difficult process to train yourself to move from the "seafood" diet (if I see it I eat it) to eating reasonable proportions. I've surprised myself that in just one year I have adjusted my serving sizes down and today I am just as satisfied after dinner as I was before. Note that I cook the majority of the food I eat at home, and dine out or take-out rarely.
For example, a year or so back a single serving of chicken of chicken was 3 thighs. Some months back I changed that to 2 thighs, and I haven't felt the slightest difference in my satisfaction since then. I'm surprised that I'm eating 2/3 the quantity yet I feel the same. All along (some years) I've been over-eating chicken thighs by 50%!
I would have never known that if I hadn't tried the reduction. Recently I have been experimenting with reducing other menu item serving sizes. I'm amazed that a year or two ago I would serve myself a modest sized potato. I changed that to half a potato (and not one of those gigantic potatoes) and feel that half a potato is still too much. Recently I have been buying either miniature potatoes and weighing out just a few, or frozen potato medley where I can weigh out an exact portion size.
What I learned is that a person can adapt to any large serving size and feel that it is a natural serving, that there may be only subtle signs that you are eating too much (or not so subtle—your weight!). I've learned that it is important to discover your minimum serving sizes that you can get by on without feeling midnight hunger, or at least without feeling hunger that you can't deal with except by having a midnight snacks.
IMO eating midnight snacks indicates you have a problem that must be addressed in some way, because midnight is not the time to be consuming more food. By that time your dinner should be well on the way to full digestion, and your digestive system is not ready to begin another digestion cycle.
So to sum it up, it is important to know your minimum serving sizes, and when dining out you should stop eating at that same point, get a doggy bag if you are not willing to discard what's left on your plate.
I do. Learning to be hungry for a while is something I have to live with or I won't lose weight. Not being hungry at some points in the day means I am eating all the time. Not good.
This.
I believe if I am not hungry I am not loosng weight. It's a will power game.
I agree. If you are trying to lose weight and you feel no hunger at all then you are not trying hard enough.
However if you eat the amount of food you would be eating at your target weight you can't help but eventually reach your target weight, but it might take 1-2 years depending on how much weight you want to lose.
I've reached the point where I am not willing to wait and just the last 1-2 weeks I have seriously cut back the amount of food I eat. One thing I discovered is that you can become used to eating larger portions, because now that I'm eating much less I'm still not having much hunger. I'm wondering now what the bottom is.
I can have fruit, cereal and milk for breakfast, then a Lean Cuisine for dinner, no other food the entire day, and not experience any serious hunger. No liquids except water. That tells me that quantity should be my typical diet. I'm used to eating way more than that. It's no wonder I've been on a plateau.
This.
I believe if I am not hungry I am not loosng weight. It's a will power game.
It's frustrating because at my age, the weight loss is so damn slow. I am finally at the point, after almost 12 weeks, where I am getting used to being a little hungry most of the time and not thinking about food all the time.
It was a tough hump to get past, because in those first weeks I was so hungry, and so exhausted and stiff from exercising, and then the scale would go down a pound after a week when it FELT like I should be down 10. I think that's when I usually gave up in the past. I felt like there was no point if it's so much work and so little reward.
Now I'm resigned to the fact that a pound a week is all it will ever be, and that some hunger and days of physical discomfort from exercise are going to be a part of life forever if I am going to be healthy.
Guess it's like the stages of death--denial, anger, acceptance!
Bear up MQ. I'm with you. I'm experiencing the same thing.
At least the physical discomfort from exercise will diminish and eventually be gone. Also, as long as you are losing weight there will come a time when you reach your desired weight and then you can at least increase food consumption a bit, probably not feel hungry any more.
I get the feeling you and I are equally motivated. I've reached the point where getting my physical fitness back is just about the most important thing in my life.
I'd rather lose a pound than gain one. Losing weight isn't for the faint of heart. If you're all in the weight will be lost even if it's not by the schedule you want. I "only" lost one lb per week en route to 70 total. It doesn't matter how long it takes to reach your goal only that you reach it. Another thing it takes time to put weight on so of course it takes time to put it back. It took quite a bit of effort for me to gain actual fat pounds (vs water weight)
I'd rather lose a pound than gain one. Losing weight isn't for the faint of heart. If you're all in the weight will be lost even if it's not by the schedule you want. I "only" lost one lb per week en route to 70 total. It doesn't matter how long it takes to reach your goal only that you reach it. Another thing it takes time to put weight on so of course it takes time to put it back. It took quite a bit of effort for me to gain actual fat pounds (vs water weight)
It seems as if I gained weight pretty quickly this last time.
Bear up MQ. I'm with you. I'm experiencing the same thing.
At least the physical discomfort from exercise will diminish and eventually be gone. Also, as long as you are losing weight there will come a time when you reach your desired weight and then you can at least increase food consumption a bit, probably not feel hungry any more.
I get the feeling you and I are equally motivated. I've reached the point where getting my physical fitness back is just about the most important thing in my life.
I will be 59 in a couple of weeks. I figure now's a good time to start getting in shape for 60.
I will be 59 in a couple of weeks. I figure now's a good time to start getting in shape for 60.
Any age is a good time to start.
I'm with you and riaelise on this, I'm determined to make it.
I'm confounded that I've never been overweight in my entire life up until a few years ago. I just found a log showing a healthy weight exactly 5 years ago, but I was around that weight a couple more years. My current problem started with an accident that left me out of commission for a couple months. I never resumed my exercise schedule (almost daily 1 hour walks) and apparently increased food consumption. A couple of years later I had gained 65 pounds. I was shocked a year ago when I discovered that about a year ago, shocked into doing something.
I just have to hack my way out of this plateau. I have little more to give up, and if I can get into the -1 pound per week area then I'll have to accept that.
Now I'm casting suspicion on my breakfast: cereal, milk, banana. (No lunch, Lean Cuisine or equivalent dinner). I'm thinking of finding a lower carb breakfast... Anything that will hold off hunger for dinner. (I don't get hungry mid-day. I eat breakfast fairly late in the morning, then work out at the gym late afternoon 3-4 days/week.)
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