The Difference Between Being Satisfied And Being Full

I do a few things each meal in order to work my band and reach this feeling with the fewest calories possible and still have great, tasty meals:

• I do not drink with my meals or for about 45 minutes after my meal
• I have a good, dense protein like chicken, fish, beef, pork with every meal in a portion size of 2-4 ounces depending on the protein source (fish and chicken will be 3-4 ounces, beef and pork 2-3 ounces ) and the meal. For breakfast I will add fresh blueberries to my yogurt to provide the same type of resistance that dense proteins like chicken does. I avoid “slider foods".
• I eat small bites, chewing thoroughly and I put my fork down between bites (this allows that satiety center thing to send the message to my brain and gives ME time to register it)
• My meals last for 20 to 30 minutes because any longer than that ...... I’m grazing
• I put on my plate the portion I am going to eat, no more, no less, no second helpings necessary

Agree! I follow similar rules, but I still have a hard time taking that long to eat because I can't stand my food to be cold!

I definitely follow the no drinking rule during or after, eat dense proteins, use a small plate and cut up everything bite size pieces.
I also log everything that goes into my mouth and the type and amount of exercise I do every day. It is very eye opening and holds me accountable.

Thanks for the post. Great reminder to us all!

Yes, yes, yes!!!!!!!

These guidelines got me to goal and keep me at goal.

My weight goes up when I stray from this way of eating for any length of time.

The biggest change to my eating was to figure out the difference between satisfied and stuffed

It takes surpringly little food and a few minutes for me to be satisfied.

Great info...thanks for posting!

For the longest time I had a real mental problem with portion sizes. I knew I couldn't eat  what I was putting on my plate but I was, at times, unable to convince myself I could be satisfied with small portions. Measuring and weighing food was a MUST for me.
I also had trouble eating slowly and waiting between bites if I made the mistake of letting myself get too hungry. I started using the timer on my phone. After I swallowed my bite of food, I hit the timer and it counted down the 1 minute for me. It might seem silly, but it saved me a lot of pain lol
Thanks for posting your thoughts.

 Great information!

One of the most important things I learned was it's OK to be hungry, not starving but a little hungry won't kill us. I always felt like if I wasn't stuffed I was gonna die of starvation, not so! If I feel hungryish at 11 am it's ok to wait till noon to eat, I really won't die! I won't pass out from lack of food or swoon from malnourishment. Hunger is just a signal to think about eating something not an alarm that death is imminent. We can actually wait 1/2 hr or an hour before eating, without dire consequences. This gives us time to plam a healthy meal.

WOW! Well said.

Thanks for the reminder!!

Thanks for the reminders!  I do a lot of things right, but I still have so many bad habits to break.  

The good:  
I do cut my food up small, and I do get plenty of protein with every meal.   I've stayed away from pasta, rice, bread, etc. for the most part.  99% of my meals consist of dense protein and vegs, with a little fruit at the end for something sweet.  I measure and weigh almost everything that goes in my mouth.  Sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised by how big 3 oz of salmon looks!

The bad: 
I eat too fast, especially for someone who's had the band surgery.  Sometimes it hurts a little, but it passes quickly.  It's just that I get so hungry between meals!  I've been a little discouraged lately because I think I could pretty easily be eating over 2000 cals a day if I didn't control myself.  Isn't the band supposed to help me feel satisfied with a lot less?  I am eating a lot less than that -- more like 1100-1300, depending on how much exercise I've had that day...but I'm HUNGRY, dammit!  I drink a lot of water.  All day.  Even right before and right after meals.  Bad bad bad, I know.  Why do I do it?  I don't know.


The ugly:
I slipped up a couple of times this past weekend -- had a slice of pizza (ohmygoditwasthemostdeliciousthingever) and a spoonful of my daughter's ice cream (glorious!  must not do that again...slippery slope!)  I made an appt with my nutritionist...need to get this in control STAT.