Apparently Irrelevant Decisions

In my recent quest to eat only until I feel comfortably full, I noticed that a few habits almost guarantee that I will feel overly full when I stop eating. A few years ago I read "Relapse Prevention" by Alan Marlatt. In that book he described "Apparently Irrelevant Decisions" (AIDs) which lead to eventual slips or relapses back into using undesirable habits. So I realized that a few of my food preparation and eating habits actually set me up for almost inevitable overeating at my meal.

One of those habits is just serving myself too much, rather than remembering that my empty stomach is only about the size of my loosely clenched fist. Experience has taught me that I can eat more salad containing meat and vegies (maybe 2 cups) than I can bread, peanut butter and fruit. So I now know about how much I need of almost any food to feel satisfied, if I start eating when I'm moderately hungry. Yeah, Perhaps eventually I will consistently recognize my fullness, stop eating and leave food on my plate. However, I don't always feel comfortable with doing that.

However another AID habit is eating standing up while preparing my meal. Often I enter the kitchen starved, because I don't want to be bothered with food until I feel hungry. Then I want to grab and eat something to reduce hunger pain while I prepare the meal. Then I forget all those tastes and nibbles when I sit down to eat my meal. I also want to enjoy what I served myself without feeling too full. Because I'm not totally hungry when I begin the meal, I can overestimate how much I need to feel comfortably full.

So I committed for awhile to not eat anything while preparing a meal to save my hunger for that meal. Being moderately hungry when I start the meal will enhance my enjoyment. Above all, I will have a clear starting point (moderately hungry) to assess how full my stomach feels as I eat.