Success with Positive Goals

Amazingly I stopped eating during dinner with my husband when I was comfortably full. Despite distractions of talking during the meal, despite serving myself more than I comfortably needed, despite a snack 1-1/2 hours before the meal, I found a way to STOP eating when I felt satisfied. I had prepared honey mustard glazed baked chicken, green beans, and roasted Yukon Gold potatoes. So the meal was delicious!

I started eating green beans, but before I finished those, I moved onto the chicken, but saved the potato (my least favorite) for when I felt almost full. When I first began to feel full, I really slowed down to savor each bite, because I knew I would be comfortably full very soon. After savoring a few bites of the potato with Earth Balance margarine (an allergy free treat, because I didn't have any 'safe' margarine for over 4 years), I realized I was comfortably full. So I didn't need to make my self uncomfortable by eating more. So I offtered my husband the last part of my potato and he gladly ate that. That allowed me to 'clean my plate' without eating more.

What worked? I wasn't famished, because I had a fruit (pineapple spear) snack before I started preparing the meal. Every item of food was delicious. However, I 'rated my plate' and ate first what I knew would feel good in my body. Nevertheless, I didn't completely finish any food before I tasted everything on my plate. So I could reassess my taste rating and eat more of what I liked before I began to feel full. The food was really warm, because my plate was warm and the room was warm enough. So I could eat slowly and not suffer through cold food. Also I recently listed and considered all my 'irrationalizations' for overeating and realized none of those reasons were worth making myself uncomfortable.

Above all, in my mind I replaced a negative intention (stop eating past comfortably full) with a positive goal (eat enough to feel comfortably full). So my goal focussed on comfort, rather than avoiding a behavior. Focussing on something I want helps me avoid rebellious resistance to abstaining from something I don't want.

Maybe having 3 different foods on my plate helped me 'dequantify' the amount I ate. So I didn't let the amount on my plate dictate how much I ate. Instead I let my stomach tell me when I ate enough. I usually try to guess how much food I need, when I serve my meal. Then I eat that amount no matter how my stomach feels. However, I recently reread the section in 'When Women Stop Hating Their Bodies' about dequantifying food. That helped me focus on what was going on in my stomach more than what was left on my plate.

I had also recently reviewed in Karen Koenig's "Rules of Normal Eating" guidelines for stopping when full or satisfied. She suggested asking yourself after every couple of bites whether you still feel hungry and if you are still enjoying your food. I didn't exactly do that, but I was aware that my hunger sensations and my enjoyment level change as I progress through the meal. So I actually noticed when I felt hungry, less hungry, not hungry, slightly full and comfortably full. Slowing down when I felt slightly full allowed me to digest the food and still have room for a tiny dessert (one medjool date) and still feel comfortable immediately after and an hour after the meal. I didn't take any digestive enzymes, because I'm abstaining from digestive aids to prepare for a stool test for c-diff on Monday.

Overall that 'successful dinner experience taught me to focus on what I wanted, rather than what I don't want, check in with my stomach every few bites, and consider what's in my plate or bowl just available food, not exactly how much I should eat. That seems similar to considering all food (including sweets and treats) 'just food', rather than good/bad foods. So I can let my stomach, not the serving, dictate the quantity I eat. I suspect that's why I seldom overeat in restaurants, because I believe that I will only need to eat part of what I'm served. At home sometimes I'm hungry for all that I serve and sometimes I'm not. I intend to let my stomach decide.