How to Stop Eating when you’ve had Enough

• Very timely article! I just finished lunch and was thinking … hmm, some trail mix would be good. Even though I am actually full!

  • Glad it was timely Hashi!

• Those are all very good points and worth thinking about. I like the counting to 20 idea, and putting down your fork. I really hate waste and so struggle with not eating everything that is on my plate. Lately I have been dishing up less than I think I will eat, and then know I can add more if I need to. Mostly I don’t need to!

  • I hate waste as well Gillian and have been experimenting with what I call ‘mindful serving’ – focusing on how much I put on my plate in the first place.

    I find it’s making a big difference!

• Good tips. I struggle with this too. One thing I learned from my Grandma (but don’t always practice), is brush your teeth right away after eating.

  • I’ve heard this one too but never tried it D.
    I imagine it would give good closure to a meal though

• Great timing on this post. Just this morning, I wrote in my journal, “It’s the pull between good tasting food and healthy feeling.” Your focus on mindful eating will help me, because I was thinking I had to focus on how I will feel in the future to keep from overeating, but now I see that I can focus on the food right now and enjoy it.

  • Love it Nancy!

    It’s hard to be motivated by how you feel in the future vs feeling now.

    I really find telling myself ‘I don’t struggle’ makes it easier to get out of that ‘pull’

    Jx

• I struggle with this a lot! I am a volume eater! Tiny skimpy portions put me into grazing mode. I very much wish to get to a place where I can be peaceful with food portion sizes. I plan meals for others, create and test recipes – in other words the kitchen is my playing field, my passion and sometimes my worst nightmare! Especially as we age and matabolism slows down, as of now vigorous regaular exercise keeps things in check. I shall vow to practice one of these tips for the next four weeks. Easy steps. Thanks! Anyone in the same boat? Jules might be able to connect us and we can support each other on this journey.

  • If you’re a volume eater (which I think we all are in some way), I find loading my plate with lots of veggies is the best way to feel satisfied.

    And I hear you on the challenges of having the kitchen as a professional place and a playground.

    I’ve recently been working on overcoming my tendency to snack as I’m cooking. Will have to share tips for my progress in that area as well!

    Great idea to go for easy steps Suzanne – would love to hear how you get on :)

• I try to do the intermittent fasting routine so popular now, eating in only a six hour window. What i find is that i consciously or subconsciously feel a need to eat lots because it will be a long time before I can eat again. Not sure if I wouldn’t be as well off just eating 3 meals a day on a usual schedule.

  • Not sure about this. A book I read on Intermittent Fasting suggested that people DIDN’T overeat when the next eating opportunity came about (even though they thought they did, or wished they could eat more).

    • I’ve seen research suggesting people eat about 20% more when ending a fast Susie but I feel for myself it does vary. And I know there are times I eat more before the fast because I think I’m fasting tomorrow :)

  • I fast with a similar window Charles. I find some days I’ll eat more before hand but mostly I’m in a good rhythm so it’s become my new normal.

    I actually prefer it because I don’t have to worry about making breakfast for myself and can focus on getting my family fed and out the door.

    The thing is even if you end up eating the same amount of food, there are other health benefits to spending more time in the fasted state.

    Are you enjoying the fasting or is it a challenge for you?

• As a child I never learned what it was to be properly full. I was required to eat what I was given, to clean my plate, and too bad if it was too much or too little. For a very long time I felt a need to be stuffed before I could stop eating. These days I am fairly often able to stop when there is too much food on my plate. The exception to that is when I’m in an anxiety-producing situation, or when I’ve gone far too long between meals. I’ve also been working on eating smaller servings of fast carbs since I’ve become borderline diabetic. When I’m serving myself I try to make sure my portions aren’t too big, and I keep trying to direct my husband to make my portions a more reasonable size when it’s his turn to cook. He seems to think that my portions should be equal to his, even though I’m smaller and have a much slower metabolism than he does.

  • You’re definitely not alone with the clean plate problem Susan! I had the same.

    It’s great you’re able to stop now – it’s definitely something we can all relearn with practice.

    If I’m feeling anxious or ravenous, I’ve been experimenting with deep breathing before I start eating. The theory is that deep breathing puts the prefrontal cortex of your brain back in control. This is the rational / planning part of your brain that is able to remember important details like over eating now will make you feel gross in the future.

    So far so good but still a work in progress.

    And if your husband can’t get on board with making your portions more reasonably sized for you. Maybe taking some food off your plate and editing the serving size before eating might help. Or making sure you leave food when he has served might help.

    Jx

    You’re lucky your husband cooks!

• Somewhere along the line I discovered the idea of ‘diminishing returns’. If you’re eating something nice, pay attention – the first few bites are really sensational, the next few are very nice, etc, diminishing until you reach the point that you’re just eating because it’s there and you don’t want to waste it, not because you’re still really enjoying it or are still hungry. This helped us change our habits and take small servings, savour and enjoy them to the max – then stop eating. It’s not the whole solution, but sometimes it helps.

  • Love this Keryl!

    Especially with our sense of smell (and taste) the more we are exposed to a particular flavour in one sitting, the less we detect it.

    Thanks for the reminder :)

• Great tips! It’s something that I have struggled with for years.
  Here’s what I would add:
  Make sure every bite counts. Don’t eat junk if it’s going to take room away from nice food later.
  Cut back on sugar – my appetite dramatically decreased when I stopped eating sugar and I realised that what I thought was hunger was actually sugar cravings.
  Eat slowly. It’s more enjoyable and the full hormones have time to kick in. I am preaching to myself here because I have tended to be a “wolf it down” person.

  • Thanks Rita!

    I completely agree with cutting back on sugar and for me carbs. One thing I really noticed when I had a week of eating higher carb than normal last year was how it impacted my appetite. It was incredible how out of wack everything became. And how much better it was when I cut out the carbs again.

    And yes for eating slowly!

• Hi Jules – your post is so timely. This is an issue I constantly struggle with – especially when travelling and eating at hotel buffets – want to try it all and then can’t bear to waste the food when I have had enough. I went to boarding school and if a meal was good we ate seconds if we could because the next meal might not be so edible – left me with bad habits.

  • I went to boarding school too Amanda – so I know where you’re coming from.

    With bufffets (and eating at home too) I have a personal rule that I don’t take seconds. So I put everything on my plate before I start eating.

    Having it there in front of you in one plate makes it much easier to avoid over eating.

    You can break free of those boarding school habits!

• I like having some kind of beverage after a meal – tea, stevia-sweetened lemonade or chocolate milk, etc., and that means leaving some room for a cup of water in my belly! I often still fill up too much on my meal, though, so a strategy I may try is to prepare the drink before my meal so it is ready when I choose I’ve had enough to eat!

  • Love it Christa!

• When my daughter and her family come to a meal, (4children),she insists we use bread and butter plates for them all! I always have salad platter on the table as well and that is always emptied! Normally I serve small meals for my husband and my self– it is adequate! I usually serve fruit afterwards and that disappears!

  • Your daughter is very wise Rosemary! Small plates make a big difference.

    And serving the salad / veg in the middle but keeping extras of the less healthy options out of the way is another excellent trick.

    Jx

• The other tip to remember is that it takes 20 minutes for the food you are eating to register in your belly. So by slowing down your food intake during a meal, you are allowing the ‘full’ signals from your stomach to start up!

  • Good reminder Lisa!

• Serving sizes help with both the eating and budgeting of food for me. I use a cup measure or a serving spoon – the cup measure is great for veg prep; instead of prepping too much (unless I’m doing mise en place and prepping for a few days) – and I know that two heaped serving spoons makes a balanced amount of the ‘main event’.

  I felt so dim whem I realised – yes!- you can just put one slice of bread in the toaster instead of filling both slots lol! Honestly, it’s amazing how things like this literally double the amount we consume/waste.

  I also bag-up food into portion sizes before it goes in the freezer – because the bigger the original pack – the more that gets put out and cooked. I’m not adverse to using left-overs – but then I’m striving not to be a dustbin either!

  Great post and comments x

  • This is so great thanks Elaine!

    I think measuring is excellent if you’re happy to do it.

    And there’s a lot of research that shows the bigger the pack the more we serve and eat. So your tip of bagging up into portion sizes before freezing is an excellent one.

    Thank you!
    Jx

• I only prepare what I am prepared to eat and I never wait until I’m starving. If I’m starving I eat a fruit or veggie to hold me.

  • Having a small snack if you’re starving is a great idea Charlene!

• I am a fast eater and would often serve myself seconds while waiting for the rest of my family to finish. Lately my tactic has been to leave the table when i finish eating and start cleaning the kitchen as my husband usually cooks so I’m the one on cleaning. Gets me away from the table and means that everything is squared away by the time the others finish.

• Like most people, I struggle with over-eating and value what you and others have written. I agree with every point you have made in your post, Jules, and I will try to put them into practice. The word ’try’ is relevant. Managing your eating or any other problem or productive activity requires ongoing management, and a very important part of that ongoing management is self-awareness.

  • Yes we’re definitely not alone with this one John!

    And I agree self-awareness is critical.

    Your comment reminded me of my favourite Star Wars Quote from Yoda…

    “Do or do not. There is no try.” :)

• Hi Jules
  Just read your 5 points to stop when you have had enough. I know it was first posted a long time ago.

  I beat too much, and the TV doctor on the BBC in UK said there are three issues with people eating too much.
  I come into one of those categories.
  It takes longer for my brain to register that I have had too much than most people and by that time I have eaten too much.
  Also in my childhood food was short and you simple ate everything on your plate.
  Plus my wife is a great cook and I hate to leave any food that cannot end up in a soup or curry etc.
  So I eat too much—–help!!
  Andy Andrew
  long time viewer of your emails.
  Keep up the good work.

  • Andy!

    The real secret to stopping when you’ve had enough is to really monitor your self talk. What’s going on in your head.

    If you know your body takes longer, ‘d recommend serving yourself less than you think you’ll need. But then waiting 10 minutes before going back for more.

    Does that help?

• Hi Jules
  Just read your 5 points to stop when you have had enough. I know it was first posted a long time ago.

  I eat too much, and the TV doctor on the BBC in UK said there are three issues with people eating too much.
  I come into one of those categories.
  It takes longer for my brain to register that I have had too much than most people and by that time I have eaten too much.
  Also in my childhood food was short and you simple ate everything on your plate.
  Plus my wife is a great cook and I hate to leave any food that cannot end up in a soup or curry etc.
  So I eat too much—–help!!
  Andy Andrew
  long time viewer of your emails.
  Keep up the good work.

Comments are closed.