Portions...

[snobles]

Hey Doug? I liked about what you said on one post, can't remember which one...Where you said, about over doing it? Just make you a big plate and cut that in half! My biggest problem was I felt I HAD to eat it THEN, because with two teenagers in the house, we have no leftovers! and being an only child growing up, we were on weight watchers, before Fat to Skinny:-)and I didn't have to worry about eating, to "keep the food" so to speak. I hope this is makeing since? But I have realized, that EVEN if worst comes to worst, there is always something to eat! lol...I was mainly eating because I felt like I had to! Or I would starve! lol...

[Doug Varrieur]

Snobles you just made a very important personal breakthrough that I want you to recognize and embrace. You have just uncovered the mental vs physical reason why you eat. You're experiencing what I've coined as the "Pack Syndrome" I first became aware of this syndrome watching my Yorke's. I have 5 of them and they will always battle to get the most food off the plate whether their hungry or not. They could all be full of dog food but put down that dinner plate with some leftovers on it and 5 heads with five tongues are going like crazy with the smallest always left licking the white off the plate

It's a perfectly natural survival mode brought on by thousands of years of "mammal" evolution.

So what to do,, what to do? You need a low carb stash which will be your security blanket, an insurance policy. I want you to lock up a bag of beef jerky in the glove compartment of your car or somewhere else that the teens can't get to. I want you to always remind yourself that no matter what YOU always have a safe secure food source that no one else can get to.

The half plate method works and it works fast. Once you find yourself eating smaller portions and realizing that your fully satisfied the weight starts coming off quicker and you develop new habits. Here's a reminder of how it works;

1- Make your normal size plate
2- Cut the food in half and put it on another plate
3- Eat plate #1 with a big glass of water and wait 15 minutes.
4- See how you feel....honestly feel. Are you still hungry or not?
5- If you're still hungry eat a bit more food off plate #2 and stop when you're satisfied. If you find yourself like most people will fully satisfied after eating plate #1 then wrap up plate #2 and put it in the fridge.

In your case it will become a snack for a teen!

[snobles]

Thanks Doug! I didn't even realize I was doing it! That's the weird thing! My husband and I were actually both doing it! It's funny what we do out of habbit! So, I eat my portion at night, and am done! Finally overcoming the fact that I don't have to eat everything on my plate "at one time" either. Which is how I was brought up! You had to eat everything on your plate, or you couldn't get up from the table! Sometimes it takes me two trips to eat! lol...and now, surprisingly, the teens ask, is this anybodies plate? I say YES! You better not touch it! lol...Cause if you don't tell them, consider it gone! Thanks again Doug! I have been analyzing everything I eat, and especially when I eat! A lot of it, like you said, was survival mode, and the rest was bordum eating! I try to keep myself busy, because I can walk to the fridge anytime!

[owensmath]

I love to have leftovers! I pack my lunch for the next day while I'm fixing my plate of dinner. It's awesome and it saves time in the morning, too.

[mouseissue]

Boy oh boy!... Does this conversation bring back memories of my childhood and when my boys were teenagers.

I was raised in a "clean plate" home.
If you did not finish EVERYTHING served to you, mom would ask "Why aren't you finishing your food?"... "Are you feeling sick or something?".

You've heard the saying; "Your eyes were bigger than your stomach.".
Well this is was usually said around my house after one of us could not finish our second (or sometimes third)  portions.
All the while, stretching out our stomachs to sizes far larger than God intended.
Living like this from a very early age will deeply ingrain overeating habits.

When my boys reached their teenage years, it was hard to keep most foods around the house.
Before we established some strict rules about this, each of us would eat what we could, when we could.
When you add the effects of being raised in a "clean plate" home AND live with overeating teenage boys, obesity is a logical result.

Part of what we do here is break ourselves free of these kinds of mindsets.
For some, it can be difficult at first... Like learning to write with your other hand... It does not "feel" natural.
But in time, our stomachs shrink back down to "normal" size and we eat healthy portion sizes and are satisfied.
Along with avoiding carbs, our FAT then has no choice but to DISAPPEAR!!! 

[gabrielle]

I love this conversation!  Snobles, congrats on figuring that out!!
I also am doing this.  Never did it until I got married.  I literally get nervous eating with my husband because he eats so quickly that then I speed up.  You forget to even taste your food.  We are also working on this but it felt good to know that we are not alone in this issue

[mouseissue]

I love this conversation!  Snobles, congrats on figuring that out!!
I also am doing this.  Never did it until I got married.  I literally get nervous eating with my husband because he eats so quickly that then I speed up.  You forget to even taste your food.  We are also working on this but it felt good to know that we are not alone in this issue

Hi gabrielle! 

Wow!... Another flashback!!!

My dad, God rest his soul, used to eat EVERY MEAL as if he had not eaten in 3 weeks.
As I recall, he was not much of a snacker.  But at mealtime, he would eat large portions at warp speeds.

I remember eating meals very quickly so I could finish with him.
Fortunately, I learned to eat more slowly later in life.
But the portions were always SUPER SIZED!!!... That is, until I found FTS! 

[Rena]

My husband eats really fast, too. He tries to slow down, but it's hard. It comes from his days of working as a police officer and before that as an ambulance worker. Both jobs create fast eaters, unfortunately.

[snobles]

@Gabrielle and Rena, my husband is the same way, he did construction before police, and told me stories, I used to ask him how come he ate so fast! lol...by the time I sat down to eat, he was halfway done! He said, when they would break for lunch, they didn't have that much time to eat, so they scarfed it down! @ Tony, yep the dreaded "clean plate!" Glad I'm not the only one! Once I got married, and "on my own" realizing I could do things on my own, and not as a child with my mother constantly "watching" me! I feel like now, I have my own will power, and I can eat, "when I want to eat! not when it's TIME to eat!" Was the biggest hurdle I had to overcome! I think Doug said it once! Just because it's 5pm. doesn't mean you have to eat dinner!! Boy, what a concept! Eat when you're hungry, anything else is just overeating!