That feeling....

I'm having trouble recognizing that full feeling.  I can't figure it out and have been able to eat more for the past week or so.  I've had the extreme munchies...PMS???  I haven't had a period since February so I'm not sure where my cycle is or would be.  My weight is holding steady 118 - 122 so that makes me happy but how do I re-aquire that full feeling?

I'm thinking along the lines of dense protein. Try just a hamburger patty and eat it slowly and see if that shows you where full is. That or the same size piece of steak or even chicken. When I think I can't feel full, it's usually cuz I've been eating semi-slider food like crackers or mashed potatoes...even cooked veggies can be semi slider foods so I still do the protein item first and leave that other stuff. Generally speaking, the dense protein shows pretty quickly where my "full" mark is.

I have been eating a lot of zucchini & summer squash in sandwiches, stir-fry, & as a side dish with just about everything until it's gone then I make more.  Could be the problem????  I do still eat my protein just not all completely first...guess I need to go back to that.  A 4oz piece of tuna or 2 oz of deli meat is what I've been having for lunch with the veggies ~ about 1/3 of a cup worth when cooked and cut up.

That could be it. Tuna isn't exactly dense protein and lunch meat is usually "flaked and formed" so give some real dense protein a try and see how you feel. Start out with four ounces but eat small bites and with a fork so you can do it slow enough to feel the sensation of being full. I know that if I eat a taco I don't feel nearly as full as if I eat a piece of steak. Steak is probably the most dense protein around. 4 ounces and I'm seriously done with NO room for the baked potato or the veggies but a bite or two.

I just figure the early months and years are all about learning to recognize the amounts and feelings. I spent the first two years measuring EVERYTHING so that I can guess 4 oz of steak nearly to the tenths of an ounce...And there's absolutely nothing wrong with eating a whole 4 ounces of meat and just one bite of veggies and one bite of potato...At least in my mind, cuz that's what I take vitamins for...LOL. Some days I have to have a salad but most of the time the meat disappears first and then the veggies and white carbs get picked at.

Oh I SOOOO know that feeling! And it helped cause a 32 lb weight regain!

I found the answer!! So I'm gonna share a secret that someone shared with me that has done WONDERS for feeling full, keeping the full feeling, and not snacking before that next meal.  It has resulted in me being about to stick to a strict eating plan of 3 meals no snacks for over a week and a loss of 7 lbs from the time I first tried this. (about a week and a half ago). in fact, I may have only snacked 2 times since I read about this. This last week I've had zero/zip/nothing between meals, which I literally have NEVER EVER done...three meals no snacking (which I committed to my surgeon I would follow if I got this surgery)  but have NEVER in my life done it till I read about this and recommitted myself.

The trick? Eating heavy foods (you wanna get and stay full..don't eat stuff like yogurt, apple sauce, cottage cheese..etc Unless you're prepared to feel hungry shortly after. Eat dense foods like chicken, any meat, if you eat canned tuna don't put a lot of mayo in it..etc. And solid vegitables like carrots, onions, lettuce.. One more trick to add to that component is to eat the most solid foods first which are going to be slow passing down your outlet, eat the softer (yet still heavy if possible) second so it sits on top of the denser foods and doesn't leave your stomach as fast.

Second part of the trick? at 15 minutes before your meal stop drinking water.

And the most important part of this trick that has helped me tremendously! I mean HUGE is do not have a single sip of anything liquid for 1.5 to 2 hours after your meal. And I always go two hours, I keep the full feeling that long...then at two hours I start to water load. If I don'****er load I struggle before my next meal and only sheer will power gets me through. When I water load it's like "oh, it's been 4-5 hrs since lunch? Time to eat?  Hmmm sure I guess I'm hungry."

If you're' still really struggling I found a product called "full bars" half way after a meal, so half way before my next meal during my water loading process I would eat half a full bar (with the water cause it makes it swell) and that would keep me full till lunch. But that's gonna add in an extra 60 calories each time you do that, so if jus****er loading does the trick, then that's ideal.

Try this out for even a day, and let me know if it works for you as well as it works for me. You have to want to not eat between meals and use this process to help you use your tool most effectively! Good luck!

http://www.amylhwilliams.com/pouchrulesfordummies.html

A scientific test showed that a meal of egg/toast/milk had almost all emptied out of the pouch after 45 minutes. Without milk, just egg and toast, more than ½ of the meal still remained in the pouch after 1 ½ hours.

I meant ABLE to stick to a strict eating plan lol not "about to stick" I already AM sticking! hahaha..

Leslee, you are my hero for the day. I want to drop 7 or 8 pounds that I've put on over the last few months before I lose control. I'm hypoglycemic and I have to eat often, but I've been overdoing it severely lately. Those little bags of seeds I've been eating (real good for energy, high in protein and fiber, very healthy) have 523 calories in 1/3 cup. !!!! Just did the calculations this morning. So I gave my bag of seeds away this morning. I'm back on the daily plate logging what I eat (I hate doing that), but your suggestions are helping. Good luck to both of us.

Yeah, those little suggestions have helped me SOOO much, eating a dense meal and then most importantly not drinking for two hours after, then just downing the water for 2-4 hours till my next year as made things so doable. In over a week I have only had 2, count them one two! snacks between my meals.. I never thought I'd be able to do this! But those little tricks have helped even me!  Good luck! It's amazing the calories we find in our foods when we actually look them up!!!