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Food Portions/Eating too much


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Does anyone else have problems regulating their food portions? I would say this is the hardest part about my whole 30... I always feel like I can't get enough food. I started a new whole30 yesterday and will be tracking all of my food intake. If you have a problem with eating too much, how do you regulate portions, and what would a normal day of eating look like for you?

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I definitely feel your pain! Just the other day, I polished off an entire roast chicken by myself and did not even feel bloated afterward. Have you been working out really hard recently? Maybe your body needs the extra energy to repair?

However, I must say that the only negatives of eating the extra protein have been purely social. I feel so embarrassed when other people comment at my appetite..I have not put on any extra weight or flab from it..Have your portions been setting you back from your goals? If not, then just eat until you're satisfied:)

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I was wondering this same thing, so I hope someone responds but it seems like a few of us are in the same boat! I am on day 4 and cannot get enough food into my body. Part of it is mental (needing to curb the sugar cravings with protein and fat) and part of it is actually being hungry way more often than I used to.

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I've always been a volume eater - I like feeling full. This is my third Whole30 and I'm no longer losing weight (although I am still getting healthier!) so I've begun to think about portion size. In my first two Whole30s I would get really hungry, but now I'm think I've learned how to cook and how to eat... so I'm trying to make my high volume stuff the leafy greens and veggies, instead of the fats and proteins.

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Me too! I am finding more of a problem at lunch than any other time. Today my lunch was salmon mixed in a spinach/argula salad with broccoli and cauliflower and a balsamic/olive oil dressing with avacado (whole small one) and an apple. It seems like no matter what I eat I am very hungry again right after lunch. Breakfast is usually 3 eggs fried in coconut oil and an fruit,, some veggies if possible and I have time. I am not usually hungry before lunch and not terribly hungry in the evenings before dinner but that time right after lunch it is very hard for me to just say no to the bad stuff!

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Well, I'm glad to know I'm not alone! I would say that the only issue is that it is hindering my weight loss goals. I don't have much weight to lose but I am trying to tone up and slim down. Tracking my food the last couple days has helped. I just need to realize when to just stop and put the fork down rather than eating until I feel like I might burst. I'm battling some old stubborn food addiction issues... lost 100lbs about 7 years ago and I STILL fight the urge to over eat but its always a learning process! Thanks for everyones feedback, it helps!

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I wondered about this too. I don't have any insight to add, but I have a lot of weight to lose (70 pounds). I find I am less hungry on Whole30 than usual, especially when it is too early for lunch! Although I did make some kale chips (from Well Fed) and had those around 10am after eating breakfast at 7.30. That helped.

I also allow myself a handful of nuts and a bit of dried fruit when the afternoon slump hits, but I am less inclined to need a coffee at 2pm, which is great.

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The key is to make sure you get enough fat - and that is good quality satiating fat. Nuts are OK in moderation but they are easy to over-eat. You only need a handful to hit your meal limit for fat but I know from experience I can eat several handfuls without thinking about it.

It's also OK to feel a little hungry. You don't have to feel 'full' all of the time. Work on enjoying the feeling of looking forward to your next meal.

These are all things that have helped me, and I can be a voracious eater given a chance!

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Personally I can't hear Matt's message of "it's ok to feel al ittle hungry" enough. It's so true, especially since we know we're keeping our blood sugar more stable without all the grains. But it's a tough one to remember and I can relate to all that everyone is saying in this thread. Most days if my protein is good enough at breakfast I can do breakfast, lunch and dinner about 5 hours apart and maybe some carrots after dinner and I'm fine. Yesterday I got up earlier, at breakfast earlier and then as with most Wednesdays, didn't get home until 8:30 because I do a radio show. I don't like to try to slam dinner down in between songs, so I always wait to eat until I get home and I'm always Get Out Of My Way HUNGRY when I do, even if I have a snack in between my regular job and the radio show. Traditionally that has caused me anxiety or something but just trying to remember it's ok to be hungry is super helpful.

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i hear ya. i'm only 5' tall and easily eat 3 hamburgers plus sides for dinner (while my taller, male dinner companion eats one and looks on in disbelief).

one thing for me is, i don't snack--i eat a big meal for brunch and another for dinner. though, at other times during the day, i do eat fat/oil in my coffee/tea. i also lift heavy things at crossfit, and that makes me crave much bigger portions of meat.

another, related issue for me is, because i try to buy quality meat (organic, grassfed, etc.), my grocery bill has jumped enormously. so, for that reason alone, i've been experimenting with cooking up a bigger-than-normal batch of whatever veggies i'm eating with dinner to help fill me up a little more without as much meat. also plan on exploring cheaper meat options (organs, parts), but that won't really help your concern about portions...or will it? seems with those super-"rich" proteins, a little can go a long way.

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I definitely am learning that it is OK to be hungry, the good news is I won't die if I feel a little hungry every once in a while. :)

I typically eat left overs for breakfast (no eggs for me).. this morning it was a pork chop, an avocado, and sauerkraut but by 10:00 I was hungry again. I'm wondering if I'm not getting enough carbs, I also think that it could be mental. I always make sure I have fat and protein with every meal but not so much on the carbs. I don't really eat nuts or seeds but could add them back in.

My workouts have stayed the same and I do take into account that I will be hungrier on heavy lifting days, or long run days

I am lucky and get my grass fed beef and pork in bulk from my dad, so spending a lot on quality meat is not really an issue. I was raised on the stuff so I wont touch the grain fed store bought meat. Yuck :)

I really appreciate everyones feedback. After logging my food intake the last couple of days I can see where/what my triggers are and focus on those (boredom, late night snack, etc.) I think for me it will always be a challenge to make sure I'm not over consuming and to understand that being hungry is ok. Getting feedback from everyone really helps!

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way back in january, this article appeared on the whole9 blog: http://whole9life.co...1/01/dessert-2/.

talked about feeling like you need "dessert" after a meal...even if it's no longer convential "dessert" food because you've shifted food choices and cravings around. totally resonated with me. i always feel the need for seconds or something extra after finishing my plate even though i don't snack between meals.

at the start of my whole30 in january, it was totally a craving for carbs, usually fulfilled by an avocado (not a ginormous amount of carbs, but relative to meat/eggs/greens, yes). after the 30 days, i had adapted to eating fewer carbs, so it started being more meat or eggs or fat.

but now i'm trying to shift to extra veggies--particularly green ones, like brocoli or asparagus. and eventually i'd like to stop the "must-have-more" impulse altogether. i mean i've already had a huge plate of food, and i'm not actively hungry. so the whole thing feels like a compulsive remnant from past eating pattern days.

on the up side, i will say that my capacity to feel full and functional has increased exponentially sticking to whole30 foods. i used to have major crashes in mental clarity and major spikes in irritability when i was still eating wheat products and things with added sugar. took a few weeks to a month, but that completely changed. now, so long as i have had some fats/oils/protein, i'm good to go for a long time. again, this didn't happen overnight, but eventually did shift in a pretty spectacular way.

oh, and one more thing--at the start of the whole30 i was craving carbonated water like it was manna from heaven. felt as though i could never drink enough of it. but that subsided after a couple weeks--probably as my body adjusted to the new carb-protein-fat balance in my diet.

sorry to ramble--i haven't discussed diet this much since january, when i did a whole30 and participated in a related thread on MDA. i found it an extremely helpful part of the process...this reflective exchange. cheers.

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I started on Monday and I've been having similar problems. I always had grazed before and only ate til I was 80% full, but I do have a high metabolism and am very active and I eat alot. I used to count on yogurt and oatmeal quite a bit. So now I'm not even trying to feel full..just not hungry would be nice =-) And trying to keep my energy levels up. Got good advice on sweet potatos and butternut squash (which I love) and I'm going to start tracking everything I eat again just in case. I would love to have a 'place to start' on quantities...I knew where I was at and what I needed before (and I did eat pretty healthy), but this is all new so I think I'll be looking at the forums more =-)

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Lotsa of great insight in this post. I'd like to add that from our observation, portion control is not created equally. That is, most people don't report that they overeat on vegetables- rather, it's (fatty) proteins, fruit and fats. We see a tremendous amount of fat-over consumption in the form of nuts and nut butters; dried fruits and fatty meats.

So for those who partake in our local efforts, we drive home the importance of eating veggies! First, it's an incredibly healthy habit, and second, it generally auto-solves the portion control situation with the other macro-nutrients.

Over the last 3 years, not a single person has ever complained about not having enough time in the morning to fry up some bacon. But as them to cook up veggies and the excuses start to fly... :-)

Start with veggies. Each a whole bunch. THEN, eat the rest of your portioned protein and fat. Come back and report that you just can't stop eating broccoli and spinach and we'll have something even more fun to discuss :-)

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