No thank you, I'm done
We had dinner at my inlaws house recently and there was cake for dessert. Stick with me here, this is not a food shaming or recipe post;) My kiddo ate a few bites of her cake and then said, I'm done and pushed it away from her(her Dad finished it so it didn't "go to waste" if any of you are worried about food waste;). This was nothing abnormal for her, she can be eating her very favorite food and when she is full or had enough she is done. No eating until the plate is clean or eating it just because it's there.
This might not seem strange to you, but if you have ever found yourself face deep in a tub of ice cream or eating that 4th slice of pizza when you were satisfied at 2, you understand where I am coming from here.
I grew up with a food scarcity mindset. I was one of 4 kids, and my Mom stayed home with my little brother(the youngest) until he went to school so needless to say it was a tight budget. I don't remember ever not having enough to eat, but when listening to some stories my Mom has shared with me I realize some of our favorites- a double batch of chocolate chip cookies, pancakes for dinner, biscuit donuts for breakfast were staples because there was nothing else in the house. We ate Little Debbies(my kiddo still can't believe I ate these),we each got 3. When we got Dunkin Donuts(I am from NH after all....), we each got 2. There was only so much to go around and we made the most of it.
Babies cry when they are hungry, we give them food, and they stop when they are done or what happens?? Yup, they spit up all over you. It seems we are born with the instinct or ability to stop when full, so what happens???
If you have a scarcity mindset around food, or grew up being told to clean your plate, you might have also experienced some overeating even after you are full. If you are trying to fill a void in one of many areas of your life, you might fill that with food. If your gut microbiome is unhealthy and telling you to eat more, you might overeat. If you eat mostly processed foods your body is not getting the nutrients it needs so it cues you to eat more. There are many things that can contribute to eating beyond when you are full/satisfied, there is no 1 size fits all solution here.
Next time you are out for dinner or have a tempting treat in front of you, eat slowly, savor it and practice pushing it away when you are full. How does it feel? What emotions are triggered when you do this?
If you struggle with mindless eating, self sabotage or continously overeat regardless of your hunger signals, reach out I would love to help.
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