How do you feel full on less?

[MrsWolfe]

Is it water consumption?

I eat plenty of good food. By plenty I mean lots. Big portions. Obviously my body is accustomed to this now so I'm hungry off a smaller plate.

So how do you do portion control? Any helpful hints?

When you say hungry, do you mean your tummy is rumbling?
That's getting used to smaller portions.
Or do you mean you feel peckish?
I think for that my answer is that I try and do my food diary or plan what I'm eating and knowing I have X for tea so I've got enough left for 2 biscuits OR for extra chips focusses the mind.

Are you trying to lose weight? If so...
I think it's about eating things that aren't too many calories per 100g so things like chicken/fish with lots of vegetables.
EG
green beans are 35 calories per hundred grams.
Cadbury Dairy milk 534 calories per hundred grams

Once I got carbs under control - eliminated except for veg - hunger pangs disappeared.

Also found 16/8 worked well then.

Some of it is down to getting used to eating less. That hunger pain is your stomach shrinking and you actually need to feel that. Eat high protein meals to keep you fuller for longer. You do not need large amounts of food and if you're hungry between meals have a warm drink before you reach for snacks. I also find chewing gum or cleaning my teeth is helpful.

Find foods you like that are bulky yet low fat / coals to boost portion size. My favourites are mushrooms and roasted butternut squash - I can load my plate with them and just have a small portion of pasta etc and still feel nicely full.

Yes, I'm trying to lose weight. I'm upping my exercise by walking every day for an hour (on maternity leave so I can afford the time and have a lovely one mile NT trail a ten minute walk from my house) which is new but I know the food I eat is good. It's mostly fresh, lean meat and not too much dairy. Potatoes are my main issue that I'm trying to cut back on in portion sizes but I just find I'm so used to big portions of good food that I'm actually consuming too many calories from them. Combined with my sedentary lifestyle, it was a recipe for disaster.

I've been cutting portions now for two weeks and I just feel hungry all the time despite eating three meals a day because they're so small. I'm eating from smaller plates, eating slowly and taking sips of water between bites to help but an hour later and I'm ravenous.

I'm sure it's mental. Surely I can't be hungry?

I find having a lot of fluids helps and a fruit or salady 'snack' a bit before lunch (eg some fruit or a handful of cherry tomatoes and a chunk of cucumber or a raw carrot) helped.

But mostly a realisation that 'not feeling hungry' was the objective, and not 'feeling full'

Reduce your carbs way down, and increase your fat consumption. You'll soon find that your appetite is under control.