Portion size

[MOTH]

I really do eat too much, to the point where I'm stuffed and bloated and feeling uncomfortable. I eat these huge salads and I just keep eating afterwards. I think it's because I don't eat enough during the morning and afternoon, so when evening rolls around, I'm ready to stuff my face. I'm going to focus on small portion sizes, more often, all throughout the day, to create a feeling of balance.

Any comments/advice about portion sizes appreciated!

[Aleesha Sattva]

try having a nice green smoothie before you eat. about 20 minutes before you eat. that may assist you greatly!

other than that... nope, no advice. i loooove to pig out on kale salad myself...

[garydeb44]

Hi,

Gee, I wish I had an answer for you. I have the same problem. I've been totally out of control for about 2 months now. It doesn't seem to matter how much I eat during the day or if I don't eat at all, I still seem to pig out and continue to eat from dinner (around 6) continuously until I go to bed at about 11:00. I feel sooooooo stuffed and full and sick every night. I need to find an answer too and WHEN I do, I will be sure to let you know. If you find one first, I'd be really interested in hearing your anwer.

Thank you

Debbie

[green_aj]

I had that too for a while, and still on and off. it goes away, dont worry. dont try to suppress your appetite, there is probably something you're missing and you are not getting it from your food, take a closer look at the variety of what you're eating.

hope this helps

[RawLoveBaby]

I hear this is common too. I experience this too. I'd like to think it's my body trying to get it's nutrients, but for me I think it is psychological. I'm trying to get that same full feeling that cooked food gives. There's something addicting about that feeling. I hear it goes away. Not for me yet. But I'm not 100% raw at the moment either. I am always snacking on raw foods! And I usually have a cooked dinner.

[juliebove]

I know what you mean about the salads. I tend to make really huge ones, even if I'm not trying to. At home I think it's because I will chop up or slice a whole ____ and then feel like I need to put the whole thing in the salad. I'm not really keep in leftovers. I used to keep cut up veggies in my fridge all the time and perhaps I need to go back to that.

Then at the salad bar, I want to take a little bit of everything. I used to shop at a store that had these HUGE containers, presumably for a family salad. I would fill one of those and try to eat it for dinner. I couldn't, of course. One would last me two days. But the second day was never as good because I would have eaten all of whatever was on the top. Ha!

The store I shop at now has two sizes of containers for salads. A small one and a larger one, but the larger one is not to the point of being extremely huge. I find that one of those is enough for a meal. So I choose carefully what and how much I put in it because more than once I have overfilled it and then couldn't get the top on. Now it's more expensive to buy the salad this way, but I can get a better variety of stuff than what I might have in the house and I know it isn't going to kill my stomach. I have gastroparesis which means I have to limit the amount of fiberous food that I eat. So once or twice a week, I get the salad bar for a meal or late night snack.

At home, I took to measuring my bowls. I have three sizes that I use for salad. One for things like coleslaw or a corn salad where I might not want to eat so much of it. One for if it is mainly a side salad. Some greens, perhaps a bit of onion, carrot or tomato. And one for if the salad is a meal. And I learned to fill the bowl to the top, not beyond.

I used to skip lunch. It seemed to work better for me. I would get my daughter off to school, then eat breakfast. Then she'd come home and have dance class an hour or two after school. She does better if she eats a meal before class as opposed to a snack and then meal after as she sometimes has to do. So I started serving an early dinner.

I would get a little hungry between breakfast and dinner, but I got used to it. The dietician told me this was a bad thing to do because I am a diabetic and it was causing my liver to dump glucose because it wasn't getting the food I expected. So... Fine. I started eating a small lunch. And I noticed I was far less hungry for dinner. And far less hungry late at night.

[RawLoveBaby]

I too am curious about portion size though. This morning I had two oranges and two kiwis for breakfast. Although not really hungry, I felt like eating more. I added up the calories and it was about 200 calories. That's not much. I can eat more than that. So I ate some dried goji berries.

Lunch: Medium Salad, Hemp Protein Shake with strawberries and half banana, 4 dried figs.

Does this sound like a lot or a little or normal to people?

After lunch snacked on more goji berries, one kiwi, two more dried figs.

[MOTH]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. It helps to feel not alone on this issue, which is starting to cause me some stress. I love salad, but it just seems like I overeat them, each time - I simply don't know when to stop! My stomach doesn't send those messages to my brain, even when I am reaching peak capacity. And when I stop, I still feel like eating lots of something, like much fruit or broccoli.

I guess the reason why I sometimes have a fruitarian streak is because it's so much easier for me to tell when I need to stop eating with fruit. It provides a "full feeling" and lets me know when I need to stop eating it. With salad and broccoli (the things I most often overeat), I never know; I just consume.

I feel like it might be psychological for me too. I am thinking it might help me to juice my greens instead of eating them; I don't have a blender right now, so no green smoothie, but I do have a very very old juicer. Basically it feebly juices greens, and then I have to squeeze the pulp for awhile afterwards, but it's a way of getting the green into me.

I also think part of the problem might be cayenne pepper. I put a ton of it on my salad and on my broccoli; on everything, really. Mixed with lemon juice and salt, it's it's like crack to me, and I'm starting to think my dependency on it is what is causing my overeating. I love the HOT HOT HOT feeling in my mouth; I am addicted to that feeling as one might be to a drug. It provides comfort, and the desire to consume more of it.

So yeah, I think what I'll start doing is cutting out the cayenne, and hopefully that'll make my salads less addicting, plus I'll start juicing more, and focusing on portion control.

I have also heard that this is just a phase with going raw (been 100% for almost six months) and that it'll pass. I'm not sure what to believe, but one thing is for sure, I am done with making myself uncomfortable with food!

I'll check back in this thread as I figure out how to manage this compulsions.

[Aleesha Sattva]

write about it in your journal. put pen to paper... and just write and write. eventually you'll therapy yourself ;)

cause honestly... if you have an issue, you are the only one with the answer.

(((hugs)))

[spicyfull]

I think you answered your own question. Wheather you are RAW or not it is Not wise to go without food all day. You will tend to eat more when you have a meal because it takes time for your Brain to realize your stomach is full. When you make a Large Salad, just Graze on it all day. It also keeps your Blood Sugar at a Normal level all day. ...............

[DavidZaneMason]

It takes discipline and preparation to reverse the trend....and learn to eat OFTEN......and large amounts during the day. I eat 6 meals a day. By the time I get home...the goal is to be STUFFED. Do everything you can towards this. By the time night falls....you should be STUFFED and TIRED of eating! LOL. This change in habits takes steady work....and writing down small goals. Stick to it!

-If you HAVE to eat a lot, consciously choose healthy alternatives. No one ever got really fat binging on spinach or oranges! (its usually about nut butter and dates!) ;)

[Care4raw]

I too am curious about portion size though. This morning I had two oranges and two kiwis for breakfast. Although not really hungry, I felt like eating more. I added up the calories and it was about 200 calories. That's not much. I can eat more than that. So I ate some dried goji berries.

Lunch: Medium Salad, Hemp Protein Shake with strawberries and half banana, 4 dried figs.

Does this sound like a lot or a little or normal to people?

After lunch snacked on more goji berries, one kiwi, two more dried figs.

Not alot at all too much! I think most of your cals are from protein shake (what is that made out of besides hemp?) . You can have so many fresh fruits and veggies. Eat them abundantly and with variety to get your nutrients. You will find you are still not getting that many cals over a day.

Personally for hydration reasons i don't do much with dried fruits and prefer the fresh ones.

Check out fitday,com and you can log in your food for a day or a 'make believe' day' to get a clue about what a day of your eating adds up to and breaks down to nutrient wise. its a super easy site and you can see for yourself whats what. i have found it really eye opening,even to just use once.

[jacsam]

In Alissa's book she talks about eating a whole bunch of bananas for breakfast and that we might think that's a bit much but on the other hand no one thinks twice about having eggs, hashbrowns, toast, bacon and juice. I have a huge bowl of fruit and love it and don't think twice about the size because the nutrition is better than the egg breakfast and the calories don't even come close. I also make a large smoothie and tuck it into the fridge for later or take it with me if I'm going to be out and about for lunch. After some snacks during the day, by dinner all I areally want is a nice big salad.