On overeating

[danaeris]

In spite of restrictions on my diet, I haven't lost weight. I realized recently that there were two major factors involved there:

(1) a larger breakfast when lunch and dinner had not decreased in size
(2) eating portions rather than listening to my body and eating until I no longer wanted food.

So now, as I slowly contemplate my breakfast, I'm listening very carefully to my stomach, and discovering how very unaware of it I normally am.

The problem, you see, is that the pleasure of eating tasty food far outweighs the discomfort of eating too much food.

Not only that... But I just don't pay attention, y'know? I'm so busy thinking about the taste of the food, the texture, the people I'm talking to, the thing I'm watching, that I don't even notice when my body starts to tell me that its done.

I think the plan at this point is to deliberately eat slowly... linger over lunch, linger over breakfast, and listen to the stomach. Also, give time for the stomach and signals to catch up.

The funny thing is that I think this ties in with my inability to multitask. If only I could tie my shoes, chew gum, and hold up a conversation at the same time!

Blah. Exhausted. Warnings of a grumpy questioner today. But tonight I will sleep better, I suspect. w00t.

Good, hectic weekend. Much goodness, much fun, stupid drama, bad Questioner. But mostly goodness.

Comments

[divineseduction.livejournal.com]

I've found that eating a medium sized breakfast and larger sized lunch, and then a small dinner (at least 3 hours before sleeping) is good. I can't eat much during the morning.
And do linger over your food. Chew things thorougly, and Enjoy your food. Take a long time at it. At least one meal a day. Sometimes, you don't have time to linger over food. But make an effort to spend time over one meal a day. And try to eat a larger lunch. Basically eat larger amounts earlier during the day. And water. Foo.
:)

[danaeris.livejournal.com]

yeah, that's about what I'm hoping to do. Breakfast on weekdays is a bagel with butter and jam, and a fruit salad. Lunch is whatever they're serving which is usually tasty and reasonably healthy if treated properly. That's $6 right there. If I can linger over those, finishing them late in the day, and then have a really small dinner... maybe a salad... it'll be great. And economically sound.

The other good thing is that I get up in the morning and basically take a 15-20 minute walk before breakfast. That's what you're SUPPOSED to do... gets the metabolism going. So I'm on the right track I just need to be more intelligent about it.

Conveniently, lingering over food is not so much of a problem here... I can take food to my desk and take all morning/afternoon to eat it. w00t.

[kaligrrrl.livejournal.com]

my therapist has me do *nothing* else when I eat--no reading, no chatting, etc.--and just pay very close attention to my eating. it's helped me.

[papertygre.livejournal.com]

I *highly* recommend Chic & Slim: How Those Chic French Women Eat All That Rich Food and Still Stay Slim (http://www.annebarone.com/orders.html) by Anne Barone.

Being based on the French diet (http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,11882,1028802,00.html), her method basically amounts to smaller portion sizes, consisting of more rich and pleasurable food choices to make you still feel satisfied. But her books are especially good for explaining the difference in attitude that is necessary for an American, engulfed in our stress-filled, bigger-is-better culture, to achieve this.