Re: Panicked hunger and stopping when full

[Guest guest]

Wow Liz, I am in awe of your accomplishment! I know I often arrive at our dinner

table overly hungry and go right into gobble mode. It really takes mental

presence of mind to talk to one's self and reestablish an eating pattern that

better serves to feed and satisfy. Bravo for you to connect to the feeling of

panic and temper it in a better way. This is so not 'light switch' (one simple

and forever) type change, but I bet you have found that the more you do it, the

more its there for you too.

Thanks so much for sharing. I am inspired and encouraged too.

Katcha

IEing since March 2007

>

> I've been noticing something lately about being able to stop when I am full,

and I thought I would share it in case anyone has a similar reaction. Every

time I start eating, I have a panicked feeling that I am not going to be able to

stop when I am full. I know it stems from decades of dieting and leaving a meal

still hungry and unsatisfied. Now, every time I sit down to eat, I feel that

rebellious voice tell me I won't be able to stop, or if I stop I won't feel

satisfied, or that I don't want to stop until I've made myself uncomfortably

full. It's a panicked feeling that I either can't control myself or that in

controlling myself I will feel deprived.

>

> As I eat, I remind myself that I can eat however much I want and that I will

eat until I am satisfied. I think of that voice as a scared starving child who

needs reassurance, and I talk to myself as I would a child in that situation.

Usually, mid-meal the panic comes up again a few bites before I reach my

comfortable fullness level. Then, the panic goes away and I am happy to stop

eating before I make myself uncomfortable. I realize now that the panic voice

is just me skipping ahead too many steps. In the moments when I am hungry, I

can't imagine stopping eating. But when I am no longer hungry, it isn't that

hard to stop. So, when I start eating and feel that panic, I have been telling

myself that is only the voice of my hunger, and once the hunger is gone, the

voice will be, too.

>

> In the past, I would listen to that voice and let the fear of that panic drive

me to overeating. I was afraid to stop eating because hunger was associated

with a feeling of panic. Now that I have put the panic in context, I find I

have been much more successful at eating to a comfortable fullness and then

happily pushing away my plate feeling full and nourished but not bloated or

weighed down.

>

> Best, Liz

>