Stopping when you're comfortably full

[Lookslikerain]

DH and I are still quite new to the low carb way, and I have about a million questions but I'll stick to just the one for now.

DH loves this way of eating and is really enjoying it. We're about 4 weeks in. He didn't weigh himself for the 1st two weeks, lost a couple of lbs on week 3 and very little last week. He has definitely lost weight. I can see it in him and he says his clothes are not as tight.

However, he isn't good at stopping when comfortably full, and will admit as much. He likes the food too much so over eats. And he comes from a family where the portions are far too big, you had to clear your plate and dessert was always served. I don't think he knows how to stop at comfortably full. In fact, I don't think he even knows where it is!

So my question is, how do you train yourself to stop? I do the cooking and tend to cook extra so we have some for lunches the next day. Should I put less on his plate but let him know it's there if he's still hungry?

Any advice very welcome!

From what you say, putting less on his plate may help and I would certainly try it. His family habits will have primed him to finish up even when he's no longer hungry. Also, if he thinks he wants more he could wait twenty minutes to see if he's really hungry - this will give his stomach time to realise it's full. Hope this helps.

Hi cathan, thanks for your reply. Yes, that does help. I will try serving a bit less onto plates but I think he is programmed to finish everything. I guess when you've eaten that way for 35 years, it's difficult to change!

I would definitely be cooking less! Or, cook the same, but portion it up and put the extra portions straight into the freezer.

Whilst you may still lose weight by cutting down on carbs, low carbing isn't about over-eating!

The other thing is to make sure that you're both drinking plenty of water. Often thirst can manifest itself as hunger.

Buy smaller plates and cook smaller portions. Smaller forks are also helpful.

A revelation to me was to realise that hunger was a 'right' thing to experience. I think I'd got into a habit of snacking and eating larger portions so that I never actually reached the point of feeling hungry but would still be sitting down to a meal. Experiencing actual hunger for an hour before a meal meant I was much more aware of feeling comfortably full after the meal. And second drinking water.

I fill my plate with low carb veg - mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce (depending on meal) etc. It makes it look as though there's loads of food, and it's filling, but in reality the portion size (of the main protein) is fairly small to average.