a tiny help, to avoid overeating, stop for 30 minutes !

[Glenda]

When we eat a reasonable serving of something and enjoy it so much we just want to refill the plate, tell yourself, "OK, fine, I'll do that, in 30 minutes".  In 30 minutes your body will have more time to register that you have already had plenty of that and you can better judge if you really want to be self-destructive or not.  The hardest part is the first 3- 5 minutes probably.  Then you might be able to go on to something else.  It helps me.   It seems efficient to cook a double portion of something so that you can just reheat in the microwave later, instead that "preheating the oven",  but then it is so tempting to eat the double portion.   We don't really want to do that, do we?

[SunsetRunner]

@Glenda - your 30 minute suggestion is very helpful. Thanks! I confess I splurged quite a bit this summer then found it difficult to go back to healthy eating. It was important for me to do this because of some medical issues so I decided to try your suggestion. It made a difference. And you are right - the first 5 minutes are the hardest! But the more often I do this, the easier it has become.

Another tip - I crave carbs but I have to watch them to keep my sugar at a healthy level. I’ve discovered that if I eliminate processed carbs as much as possible, sticking to complex carbs … the cravings pretty much disappear. But as you can guess, the first 3 - 4 days are the hardest. 

Does anyone else have any thoughts here? 

[t.parker]

This works for people without advanced leptin resistance. Lots of people don't even realize they have that problem (very common among obese people and such resistance often stays after reaching normal weight). For me, that signal never arrives. I can be stuffed with food to a "critical point" and still feel hungry. I adopted a different way to control it. I use a tabletop electric grill and do Korean-style BBQ. The point is, the food after preparation isn't cooked at once but in batches and I put the next batch on the grill after I eat the previous one. Usually, I make marinated chicken and some veg as lettuce wraps, add mayo (I measure it before, 30g for the whole meal is usually more than enough), and a bit of low-fat cheese. The point is, to eat one chicken breast takes me almost 2 hours when I cook it that way. After 2 hours I'm not full but probably just bored. I could have more food but just thought about doing all the food prep again... better go and do something else 😉

[weighmedown]

I'm a victim of the seconds! Gosh, sometimes food is just so irresistibly tantalizing. But waiting it out is a good idea! Another thing that I found useful is conversing with someone during the meal. Try to stop yourself from watching TV or videos on your phone, the distraction also throws you off track of just how much you're eating. When you're talking with someone while eating, you are more present and you can feel yourself getting full. Works like a charm for me!

[Glenda]

Have you ever taken a bite or two of something and been disappointed with it?  Don't eat another bite of calories you don't even enjoy.  What a waste !!!!   Pay attention.  I'm guilty of doing this.  Lets get smarter !!  Put that in the garbage disposal.  Don't be a garbage disposal.  We will lose weight if we don't eat food we don't even like much.