this has been a problem for me for a while now, so ive decided I finally want to take charge and address/fix it.
I had a bit of a mixed upbringing around food. My genetics are to be tall and skinny, and my mom brought me up in quite a negative way around weight. She openly critiqued fat people to me, and made it very clear that she held some very negative and unfair stereotypes around them. One of my earliest memories was watching a skating competition on tv (winter olympics I think) and my mom loudly saying to me that one of the girls on it looked like a fat pig with thunder thighs (not that it makes any difference either way but she wasn't even fat, she was a size 8 if anything). You get the drill. I grew up really skinny and lanky thanks to our genetics and my mom used to say dont ever get fat, boys won't like you if you have a big belly, and she would check if I looked fat in my clothes etc.
but she also brought me up to be obsessed with food. She looked down on parents who allowed their children to eat kids food- I was never allowed it and from when I was a toddler, I ate off the adult menu. But with that, I had adult portions. I was always a bit wary of annoying my mom because she didnt want a brat that embarressed her and couldn't eat adult food, so I always ate it all. Yeah, I was eating adult food so probably healthier than nuggets/chips etc, but the portion sizes were all wrong. But I also binged a lot. I would eat piles of junk food in secret because I wanted them but didnt want to upset my mom. I did a lot of exercise and our genetics meant I was always a skinny rake as a child despite this- to the point someone at school thought I had an eating disorder I was so skinny! I suppose my genetics and exercise kept me thin
now, as an adult, I really struggle to regulate my portion size. Im ALWAYS hungry. Like always. I think its just learned behaviour now and my brain has a skewed perception on what's a normal amount of food and what isn't. I went for a buffet recently and had 4 plates and I was still hungry. I could eat a 3 course meal and still be hungry. I could eat a huge plate of food and still be hungry. I also still struggle not to binge-eg if I see a multipack of crisps in a shop, I really really struggle not to buy it and eat it all in one go. I've tried bulking up on veggies/healthy foods and im drinking more than enough water (a big glass before each meal) but im still hungry! its like my body is screaming for food and my stomach actually aches with it.
does anyone have any advice, tips or experience? as a child I got away with eating anything I wanted and as much as I wanted and now as an adult my metabolism and skinny genetics can't save me and im gaining weight. I want to control this but have no idea how. I tried the doctor but they can't do anything especially since im not an unhealthy weight yet (im still a normal weight and a size8 but I can tell im gaining and I want to nip this in the bud now, plus I know my healthy weight doesn't mean my lifestyle isn't incredibly unhealthy). I was a dancer at a high level for a long time and am still very sporty but am much hungrier than my peers who do the same level of activity. Any help would be really appreciated.