I am so happy that all of you are enjoying the Intuitive Eating posts. I really love writing them. If you want more in depth information, be sure to check out the book I get my inspiration and ideas from – Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch.

From yesterday’s post in the series, it definitely sounds like many of us struggle with recognizing our fullness and taking the time to be aware of it when eating. I will be the first to admit that is one of my biggest challenges with intuitive eating as well. I have always been a fast eater and grew up with the “clean your plate” mentality ingrained into me. I vividly remember a dinner during a family vacation when I was 12. My cousin and I wanted to order off the adult menu because they had coconut shrimp. We were told if we ordered them, we must eat the entire thing. We both got full only about halfway into the meal and were forced to finish with our parents and aunt looming over us. It came as no surprise when we both ended up in the bathroom a short time later throwing up our too packed tummies.

I remember eating intuitively my late years of high school and my first two years of college. Then, all of that changed when I got on a diet plan. I ate by the clock and would not pay attention to how hungry I was. I completely lost sight of what satisfied felt like. I knew “hungry” or “too full”. I had such a rigid eating schedule and was always so hungry at meal times that I would eat so fast out of the pure excitement to finally get to eat. There was no room for recognizing hunger because I had to eat my particular meals no matter what my body was telling me. I was out of touch with my body’s natural signals because my diet rules controlled my life.

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In an attempt to rebel against the rules and say they had no control over me, I swung to the opposite end of the spectrum. I began binging. When I binged, it was all about the out of control feeling and eating as much as I could as fast as I could.

I remember there were times I would stop by the grocery store on my way home from work to buy a box of cookies, candy, a dozen doughnuts, whatever…and would devour the entire thing in the 30 minutes it took me to get home.

Or even before that, when I was still living at home with my parents, I would have to sneak to the kitchen and eat as much as I could in the few minutes I knew I had before somebody came downstairs. I probably didn’t even chew some of the food in an effort to pack it in.

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I would hide out in my bedroom when I lived with a roommate and get extremely anxious when I heard her come home because my mouth was so full and I would worry I didn’t have time to swallow my food before she came in my room to say hi.

I would buy a tray of brownies, bags of candy, and some ice cream sandwiches and make up an elaborate story about throwing a birthday party for someone so they wouldn’t know it was all for me. I would even throw a card in with my purchase to make it look more real.

I remember one time after a particularly grueling fight with my dad going to a local pizza shop to buy a $5 large cheese carryout pizza and sitting in a remote corner of a parking lot eating it in my car.

That is the ugly truth of where I have come from. That is just how out of touch I was with my hunger and my body’s needs. What changed that and shaped that was recognizing what truly matters. God, my husband, and my growing baby. I didn’t start feeling more in control of those actions until trying to get pregnant with Makenzie. I didn’t fully stop them until I actually was pregnant with her. Seeing all the wonders that go into God creating a human being through me left me with more respect for myself and more aware of the most important blessings in life. My faith grew beyond a basic “I believe God is out there” and along with my faith came an intense desire to honor God, part of which included loving me because He loved me. It took a LOT of prayer, even more encouragement from my husband, and a little miracle of a child to show me the importance of respecting myself and listening to my body. As Quinn from Glee says, “don’t wait to get pregnant to feel at home in your body and to respect it”. Or something along those lines.

It also took time and effort to truly pay attention to my body. I know recognizing fullness and being aware of your eating is a very difficult practice to adopt, but very worth it. I still have to really pay attention and recognize my hunger. I have to consciously make myself slow down and pause during every meal. It is hard, like so many things in life, but taking the time to decide if you are satisfied, hungry, or full brings many rewards…like rarely going hungry or uncomfortable from food again. I do say rarely, because lets be real...I can still eat too much at times. Typically a social gathering where I am distracted from my eating and there are too many goodies to try. I don't feel guilty for it though because I am still in control and aware. It takes practice, but it does become a little more natural as time goes on.

Catch up with all the previous Intuitive Eating posts!

Introduction

Reject Diet Mentality

Honor Your Hunger

Make Peace with Food

Fight the Food Police

Principle 5: Feel Your Fullness

Think about the last meal you had. How did it end? Did you eat the amount you had planned for that particular meal and stop afterwards, despite still feeling like you could eat a little bit more? Did you serve yourself a large portion because your “eyes were bigger than your stomach”, but finished your plate anyways? Or did you eat until satisfied, even if it meant leaving food on your plate or going back for more?

I admit that this is something I struggled with a lot in the journey to eating more intuitively. I don’t claim to be 100% intuitive as I still do have my moments where I will eat past fullness, but I can recognize a lot of progress in my approach to food and how I eat it. Like today’s lunch, for example. I left about 1/3 of the wrap and 1/2 of the coleslaw because I was full.

In my previous “restrict + overeat” (aka dieting and non-intuitive) life I would have made sure to eat the entire thing. Why? Because leaving food is a difficult thing to do for many who are restricting their food intake. There are many reasons for this.

• Dieting means it is only “legal” to eat at meal times. If I want to eat, then I have to eat now and I have to eat everything that I allowed myself to eat during that meal. Otherwise, I won’t be able to eat it later because I didn’t plan for it then. Ever have a thought process like this? I know I have. I tend to end up stuffed and feeling gross afterwards, too.
• Begin the meal too hungry. If you ate too little prior to a meal in an attempt to be “good” you very well could eat past your fullness because you are too hungry to take time to eat and monitor your hunger.
• My only chance to eat this. When you have free meals or free days many times those days can turn into overeating scenarios because you feel it is your only chance to fit in as much of your “bad foods” as possible. I will admit that even when losing weight after Makenzie I had “free days”. I noticed I would want to eat soooo much those days.
• Out of habit. Sometimes having to make each meal a verification of your membership in the “Clean Plate Club” is simply habit. You maybe grew up being taught to eat everything you were served. Perhaps you hate wasting food and therefore will force yourself to eat it so it doesn’t go in the trash. Perhaps you eat on autopilot from being so used to eating the same meals in the same amounts and you don’t even think twice about it. I know I’m guilty of that too.

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That is all fine and dandy, but what can we actually do to feel our fullness? Below are some tips to monitoring your full factor while eating so you can end a meal perfectly satisfied.

• Pause while eating. This will allow you to not eat too fast, which can leave you unaware of eating past your comfort level until it’s too late. You can also rate your fullness on a 1-10 scale during these breaks to know whether you need to eat more or stop.
• Limit distractions. Try to sit down in an environment where you can actually take the time to savor your food. This applies to the above tip as well. The less distractions you have, the more you are able to recognize and pay attention to your body’s signals.
• Give yourself permission to eat again when hungry. Trying to eat on a schedule can cause you to not pay attention to your fullness. If you know you can’t eat until 3 hours later because it is when you are “supposed” to eat, you may eat past your fullness at that particular meal or snack. Knowing that you can have a snack as soon as you feel truly hungry again will relieve the need to hoard your food in your belly and stave off hunger until your planned eating time.
• Reinforce your decision to stop eating with a physical action. When you recognize you are beginning to feel full, pay close attention to how much more you eat. At the time you know you are satisfied, push your plate away, set your napkin on top of your plate, ask the waiter to remover your dish, etc. Do something phyical to signify you are done eating.
• Practice saying “No, thank you”. There are numerous situations where we are eating with others and they offer us more to eat. Think holiday dinners with plates being passed around numerous times. Or out to dinner with friends when your friend offers you another piece of bread because they are going for their 3rd and think you may want another as well. Being able to say “no thanks” is a very useful tool in not eating past your fullness.
• Assess your current state before you begin eating. Remember the idea of being a food anthropologist? This applies to that. Many things factor into how easily you will be satisfied in each meal. How long it has been since you last ate will play a role. Has it been two hours or five? The kind of food you have eaten recently will impact your needs since some foods are naturally more filling. Your initial hunger state when you begin eating needs to be considered as well. You might be ready to eat, but only mildly hungry. Paying attention to each of these factors will help you begin your meal more aware and be more likely to stay mindful of your hunger/fullness levels.

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I want to be clear on something. Cleaning your plate is not a bad thing. If you are truly hungry, then you very well may eat everything in front of you. The problem is eating past your comfort because you are not recognizing your body’s needs and desires. It is also a problem when not eating to satiety because you ate your “proper serving” and don’t believe you should go back for more. Intuitive eating is always about paying attention to your body and giving it what it is asking for. Clean your plate or leave half your meal. None of that matters. What matters is did you end the meal satisfied with no guilt, no hunger, and no stress?

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