Occasionally, we all eat past comfortable fullness. Sometimes food is simply too delicious or we get swept up in the moment. That’s normal. You don’t need to eat perfectly to be healthy. But if you find you’re often too full – here are some things to try on for size:
Check your hunger before eating
Often, if you start eating when you’re too hungry – you’ll end up feeling overly full. Is this a pattern for you? If so, then aiming to eat before you get too hungry may be a simple way to prevent eating until you feel uncomfortable. Easier said than done, and you won’t always get it perfect but it’s something lovely to work toward.
Sit at the table to eat
It’s true. Eating in front of the TV is WAY more fun than sitting at a table for a meal but it seriously does make mindful eating trickier. Plus, over time you may end up becoming conditioned to feel like eating when the TV is on. This may explain why you crave food after dinner while watching TV. Can you find a way to enjoy sitting at the table to eat with the TV or computer switched off?
Swap judgment for curiosity
Oh well, you ate more than you planned or past the point of comfort. Beating yourself up over it won’t help. In fact, guilt may only make you more likely to go to extreme measures. Instead, see if you can instead become curious (without judgment – I know it’s hard but try as hard as you can) about why it might have happened. Why do you think you ate until you felt too full?
Can you find patterns?
Is there a time of day or night when you’re most likely to become too hungry? Is there a setting or situation when this is most likely to happen? If you find a pattern (e.g. you are often overly hungry when you get home in the afternoon), then you can get curious about why it’s happening and experiment. Do you need to avoid getting too hungry which triggers you to eat until too full? Do you eat more than you planned with alcohol? Find your patterns.
Get back to listening to your hunger
Feeling really full? Skip the judgment. Simply wait until you feel hungry again. You might wake up the next day and feel less hungry (or more hungry). What is your body telling you? Trust that your body is trying to guide you to eat the right amount of energy to give you good fuel. There is no need to undereat or go on a diet. Eat again when you next feel hungry, even if that means it’s later (or earlier) than usual.