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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to ask whether anyone has successfully limited their portion sizes and can actually feel full from it now ?

49 replies

Standinginline · 03/06/2014 19:13

Just curious really. I'm petite so not interested in losing weight but with having kids I seem to have developed an insatiable appetite and need to get my portion sizes under control !!

What do you class as a normal portion size ? (Give an example of a dinner then what you'd have from it ). And if you were ever one for big portion sizes ,how did you reduce it whilst still feeling satisfied ?!

OP posts:

HayDayQueen · 04/06/2014 12:32

It's the time lag between eating and feeling full that does it.

Eating slower can help with that.

Have a drink with your food, and take small sips as you go along. Chat over the dinner table with others, make the meal enjoyable!

maddy68 · 04/06/2014 12:59

The only way I did it was to buy smaller plates, that way it looked like I had loads :)

Runesigil · 06/06/2014 11:07

Doing the 5:2 and reading Wheatbelly and John Briffa helped me to know the difference between when I was really hungry and when I was suffering from carb cravings because of an insulin spike. It also helped with portion control because oddly I felt after a low cal day that I had little appetite and no longer wanted the large portions or seconds.
except chocolate which I do struggle with

Runesigil · 06/06/2014 11:11

Oops, ressed post too soon

If anyone's struggling with hunger, there's a range of Konjac products now from drinks to substitutes for rice and pasta which are zero calories, not tried any but have heard that they vary in price and you need to find the one which suits you taste and texture-wise.

SistersOfPercy · 06/06/2014 11:30

I have a beautiful dandelion clocks dinner service (not a stealth boast I add, Mum used to work for the company who makes it so gets a whacking discount) but the plates are huge.

About 12 months ago I found some old RAF dinner plates at MIL's (a lot of the inlaws are RAF and wives work in the NAFFI and nick the plates ) which were quite small, somewhere between a side plate and a small dinner plate. I took 3 and started to plate up food on those rather than the big ones. The first week consisted of very small plate overflowing with food. By week 2 I'd mastered it and although the plate looked full I was cooking and eating almost half of what went on the dandelion plates. Neither of us felt hungry and it was surprising actually that we still managed to leave food on the plates sometimes.

Slowly and steadily DH and I lost weight through this. The only time we use the 'big plates' now is if we have a takeaway because it wont fit on the little ones. Size matters

todoaboutnothing · 06/06/2014 12:10

I've always been a healthy weight but I'm one of those people who like big portions. I always feel hard done by as well if I've made dinner then the portion looks small at the end, I'm just greedy I guess!

Anyhow, my solution is to try and make things like ratatouille and other vegetable based dishes to go with meals and then pile a very generous portion of the low calorie food on the side and have less of the other high calorie/fat foods. It works well for me and stops me feeling unsatisfied with whats on my plate or still being hungry after dinner.

Caitlin177 · 06/06/2014 14:28

It is possible to train yourself to eat less. The more you eat the bigger your stomach gets, the more food you need to fill it

Original poster

Standinginline · 06/06/2014 20:10

Well I've managed to keep my portions small since wed. I used to have a baguette and pasty for lunch so am used to big lunches. I've cut it down to just some sarnies (and not a 4 slices ,the standard 2 slices ). As for dinners I've halved and can genuinely say I've felt full. Yesterday we had chicken kievs and potato wedges. I used to have 2 chicken kievs !! But then I cut that out and had 1 and then loads of potato product (which isn't much better ) so had the 1 a few potato wedges and bulked it out with some beans. Like today ,I had potato croquettes and lasagne. I had half my usual portion of lasagne and half the amount of croquettes.

I'm full ,but I miss that stuffed feeling if that makes sense. Considering I've picked during the day I'm pleased I had the motivation to still reduce my portion size as usually if I've been crap with food during the day I just think screw it and have a ridiculous size portion at dinner.

I know you get used to it as I used to eat half the amount I do now but it's creeped up ,I need to cut back down. And I'm definitely getting the smaller plates !!

OP posts:

Sicaq · 06/06/2014 20:20

Agree with maddy that small plates makes a real difference. Even small forks - cake forks are good. Chinese shops are good for pretty little bowls and dishes.

2rebecca · 06/06/2014 20:24

I think if you're dieting you have to accept that you will feel hungry sometimes. Your body burns fat when it is in starvation mode.
The trick to losing weight is not to feel upset when you feel hungry and want to eat more but to think "great I'm feeling hungry so my body is using my fat stores and I'm losing weight. " Have a glass of water and do something to distract yourself. The hungry feeling usually wears off once the meal time trigger is over. if you can't cope with feeling hungry you'll struggle to lose weight. Feeling full and stuffed all the time isn't healthy.

Original poster

Standinginline · 06/06/2014 20:37

Thank you :) I'm not dieting as such ,I'm petite ,don't need to lose weight and never seem to gain BUT am fed up with the sluggish lethargic feeling after a big dinner ,and I'm affected mentally by poor diet.

OP posts:

echt · 06/06/2014 21:18

Can recommend the small plate approach. DH needed to lose weight after heart surgery and rehab mentioned op shop plates, and we've slowly replaced all our big white dinner plates with pre-50s china. None of it matches, of course, but we've never cared about that, and it was trendy for about five minutes recently.:o

PrincessBabyCat · 06/06/2014 21:41

I just stop eating when I no longer feel hungry and I'm at a healthy weight. It's how I lost all my baby weight in 6 weeks. But I also am not skinny either. Just in that crap area of not being chubby, but not thin either.

I will say that when I purposely went on a diet a few years ago when I was over weight, I had a really hard time giving up sweets and fried food. But once I gave it up and it was out of my system I no longer wanted it, and now I can't have it more than once in a while without feeling sluggish. I also started drinking more coffee to make up for lack of sugar.

PixieofCatan · 06/06/2014 22:12

Marking my place. I'm like you op, not needing to lose weight but needing to control my self control portion sizes! DP is getting a bit too chubby too and it gets him down, so if I do it then he might and it will help him lose a few pounds!

We bought smaller plates, but all that seemed to do was make out seconds slightly smaller

Silvercatowner · 06/06/2014 22:19

The 5:2 fasting diet is drastically altering my food habits. On non-fast days I don't seem to crave and I don't snack as I used to.

KERALA1 · 06/06/2014 22:25

Eat all my meals on a breakfast plate. Felt hungry for first couple of weeks now my appetite had permanently shrunk. Can no longer manage portions in restaurants. Lost the stone I wanted to lose and kept it off. Great in that I haven't changed what I eat just the amount.

Fourarmsv2 · 07/06/2014 15:16

I eat smaller portions - usually from a shallow bowl. Combined with low carbing I'm 4.5 stone down since Sept :)

Original poster

Standinginline · 07/06/2014 15:48

Have you noticed with your smaller portions that you pick more between meals ? (This is aimed at everyone who's reduced portions sizes successfully ).

OP posts:

Original poster

Standinginline · 07/06/2014 16:14

Have you noticed with your smaller portions that you pick more between meals ? (This is aimed at everyone who's reduced portions sizes successfully ).

OP posts:

Caitlin177 · 07/06/2014 19:01

But why are you picking standinginline? You are doing it out of boredom?

storynanny2 · 07/06/2014 19:20

I am also using smaller plate and written down everything I eat every day in an attempt to lose stone and a half left from last birth (. 22 years ago!)
It is absolutely astonishing how my portion sizes had increased over the last ten tears living with a partner with a huge appetite. I am now really aware of how much to eat during the day by recording it and seeing how much weight I have lost simply by controlling portion size.

Original poster

Standinginline · 08/06/2014 11:14

Yes it is boredom eating ,I do keep myself busy with the kids ,and even without ,as I tend to do housework ,DIY etc... I think it's because I've put to much emphasize on my eating now ; I've noticed I'm eating slightly more and obviously when you say you're going to do something your mind / body wants the opposite !! I know if I just relaxed my eating habits would just return but that's easier said that done ,lol. When I was younger I was rather chunky ,after years of dieting I just accepted that i liked my food and would rather be a few pounds overweight and be able to eat what I want (I never gained more than that regardless of what I ate ; if I was slowly creeping up it might've been a different story ) and bam all my weight went ,my appetite returned to normal.

OP posts:

Caitlin177 · 08/06/2014 22:34

Yes it is boredom eating

Sounds like this your issue not portion size

SistersOfPercy · 08/06/2014 23:53

I recall reading something years ago about the brain not being able to identify between thirsty and hunger (no idea if this is true) and that when you feel peckish between meals a glass of water more often than not staves the hunger.
It does work. Rather than pick I have a drink and it usually satisfies me.

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