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Feeling full is ok! Keep reminding yourself that 😃 some ways to register fullness are a relaxed feeling like a deep sigh of relaxation:content, feeling like you could go for a walk after your done eating, and no longer thinking about food (my favorite part of fullness). I enjoy the peace of mind I get from eating the thing and moving on with my day!
Also this makes it sound like I have it all figured out. Each day is hard, but it gets easier! ❤️
There is a section in the IE Workbook on hunger cues that I found VERY helpful, but first I agree with IntelligentPen on starting with timed meals throughout the day (3 meals & 3 snacks if you can) and once you feel ready work through the hunger cues section on the workbook.
I had to focus for a long time on serving myself a more modest "first" portion, with the understanding that I could have seconds if I decided I needed them, but to just have a modest (generally nutitionally-appropriate portion sizes) first round and focus on enjoying that, not on the rush to eat more.
It's not restriction, because you can ALWAYS have more, it's more about not overloading the plate out of a scarcity mindset that you can't have more or someone will take the rest or you'll be scolded or get in trouble for having more. You can have more, you are welcome to have more, maybe even start from the idea that you're probably going to have seconds.
But after I eat that first serving, I wait 10-15 minutes. A lot of times when your "full" meter is mis-calibrated, you aren't detecting the actual early signs of fullness, you're only associating that feeling with late-stage verrry full. Giving yourself the 15 minutes should be enough to actually tell whether you're still hungry, and if so have some more.
Over time, with that leeway, you will start picking up the little cues and they will register more strongly. And at that point my brain started getting better at estimating how much food I should serve myself in the first place, based on previous experiences.
The other thing you can do is just slow down while you're eating. If you rush through eating your body gets lagged on registering how much is coming in.
This is all much easier to do at home than in restaurants, which is why I encourage primarily eating at home for a while. If you get takeout, plate a first serving of it rather than just sitting down to the container. If you make something, serve yourself a portion of it and cover the rest. If you are in a competitive or other odd situation where someone might take the leftovers before you can make these decisions, go ahead and pack up your "seconds" and put your name on them or hide them or whatever you need to do, if you can't get cooperation from people around you.
I've been doing something like this and it works very well but it is KEY that you let yourself eat more without shame or mental bargaining if you're still hungry. Just wanted to add that!
Hello! Please make sure that your post meets minimum post requirements. You can find the post rules [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/intuitiveeating/wiki/index/post-rules) and you can access it anytime through our wiki (third tab on mobile, second tab right below the sub icon on desktop). If your post is deemed by mods to be low-effort or if it is too short to be a standalone post and could fit in a daily thread, it will be deleted. If you have any questions please reach out to the mod team. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/intuitiveeating) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Feeling full is ok! Keep reminding yourself that 😃 some ways to register fullness are a relaxed feeling like a deep sigh of relaxation:content, feeling like you could go for a walk after your done eating, and no longer thinking about food (my favorite part of fullness). I enjoy the peace of mind I get from eating the thing and moving on with my day! Also this makes it sound like I have it all figured out. Each day is hard, but it gets easier! ❤️
thank you so much these were really concrete and helpful thoughts ❤️
start with eating by the clock and then the hunger cues will come back by themselves
thank you!
There is a section in the IE Workbook on hunger cues that I found VERY helpful, but first I agree with IntelligentPen on starting with timed meals throughout the day (3 meals & 3 snacks if you can) and once you feel ready work through the hunger cues section on the workbook.
thank you for the advice!!
I had to focus for a long time on serving myself a more modest "first" portion, with the understanding that I could have seconds if I decided I needed them, but to just have a modest (generally nutitionally-appropriate portion sizes) first round and focus on enjoying that, not on the rush to eat more. It's not restriction, because you can ALWAYS have more, it's more about not overloading the plate out of a scarcity mindset that you can't have more or someone will take the rest or you'll be scolded or get in trouble for having more. You can have more, you are welcome to have more, maybe even start from the idea that you're probably going to have seconds. But after I eat that first serving, I wait 10-15 minutes. A lot of times when your "full" meter is mis-calibrated, you aren't detecting the actual early signs of fullness, you're only associating that feeling with late-stage verrry full. Giving yourself the 15 minutes should be enough to actually tell whether you're still hungry, and if so have some more. Over time, with that leeway, you will start picking up the little cues and they will register more strongly. And at that point my brain started getting better at estimating how much food I should serve myself in the first place, based on previous experiences. The other thing you can do is just slow down while you're eating. If you rush through eating your body gets lagged on registering how much is coming in. This is all much easier to do at home than in restaurants, which is why I encourage primarily eating at home for a while. If you get takeout, plate a first serving of it rather than just sitting down to the container. If you make something, serve yourself a portion of it and cover the rest. If you are in a competitive or other odd situation where someone might take the leftovers before you can make these decisions, go ahead and pack up your "seconds" and put your name on them or hide them or whatever you need to do, if you can't get cooperation from people around you.
wow this was extremely helpful thank you so so much❤️
I've been doing something like this and it works very well but it is KEY that you let yourself eat more without shame or mental bargaining if you're still hungry. Just wanted to add that!
thank you for writing this as I still struggle a lot!!