Egg overdose

[wwwoolf]

I have been reading through breakfast posts and see that 4 eggs is a portion?? Blech! I like eggs but 4 would make a meal for 2 of us. Since finding any compliant breakfast meats is a problem in my area, and I want to avoid eating the same things all the time, do I have to eat that many eggs? I am an overeater with weight problems but that just feels like too much even to me. I think I'm confused about some of the recommendations. If I feel full, I want to learn to STOP eating, not push through to accomplish a portion. What am I misunderstanding?

[laura_juggles]

If eggs are your only source of protein in a meal, then the portion is however many you can comfortably hold in your palm. So unless you have small hands, the portion will be 3-4 eggs, more if you have larger hands. 

 

That said, I never ate more than 2 eggs at any given meal. I got the rest of my protein from other meats. I'd have steak and eggs, egg bake with leftover kalua pork mixed in, etc. 

 

If your mind and body aren't used to eating 3 meals a day and not snacking, it's not entirely likely that you'll be able to trust what your body's telling you (I sure as heck couldn't...I was a snacker and generally pushed off eating breakfast until I got hangry). Cook up a template meal with the recommended portion sizes and eat what you feel you can, rotating through the protein, fat, and veggies so you're getting a good ratio of all 3. When you feel full, pack up what's left for if you feel hungry later. 

 

If you can go 4-5 hours between meals without feeling like you're hungry enough for steamed fish and broccoli, then that was a good portion size. If you get hungry enough for that fish and broccoli in 2 hours, then your portions need to be bigger. 

[ShannonM816]

For many people who come to Whole30 from a background of restricting calories or carbs or points or whatever, they've been overriding their body's hunger signals for so long that they don't always recognize them -- and that doesn't just mean they don't realize when they're actually full, sometimes they feel full when they haven't had an appropriate amount of food. The real test is, can you go 4-5 hours before your next meal? Some people are used to eating many small meals throughout the day, since many diets recommend this, and they find they are full with much smaller portions because they're used to eating much smaller portions -- for them, we want them to get to a point where they can go 4-5 hours between meals, which generally means working on increasing their portions. (This doesn't apply to people who have medical conditions that actually keep them from being able to eat full template meals at once, like people who have had some weight loss surgeries.)

 

I can technically hold four eggs in my hand, but never really manage to finish them all if I cook that many. But I have found that three eggs with plenty of veggies and some extra fat will keep me going for four to five hours until lunch, so I haven't worried about it too much. Sometimes I have meat with my eggs, sometimes just a little with three eggs, just for the flavor, sometimes more meat and fewer eggs.

 

Some mornings I don't have eggs at all, because there is no rule that you have to have "breakfast food" for breakfast -- anything you can eat at any time of day, you can eat in the morning. Salmon cakes, meatballs, leftovers, soups, steak -- it's all good for any meal.

[wwwoolf]

Ok, the 4-5 hour without snacking rule could be a key for me because it incites terror! I am still not feeling well this morning -a bug- and couldn't finish what I prepared: Black tea, 2 eggs, olive oil sautéed turkey hot dog, romensco sauce, mushrooms jicama green/onion,tomatoes, with a side of 1/2 cup raspberries /blueberries dusted w coconut 1T pomegranate juice to mix Actually the turkey thing was awful and I gave it and part of fried egg to my willing dog. I'm going to check my hunger levels until lunchtime.

thank you both for your help