Okay...this has happened to me twice in the last couple of days. The first time I thought it was what I ate, but now I know differently.

Here is what is happening...I stop eating when I'm full and then the "full" feeling continues to build and build after I am done eating and then I am miserable...in pain miserable. Serious pain. The amount of food I am eating is not a lot.

I went back and read my paper work from my doctors office and nutritionist and it says stop eating when you are no longer hungry, not when you feel full. Can someone help explain this to me? I am pretty sure this is where I am going wrong...

Am I crazy that I do not know the difference???

Help!!!

Feeling full to me is when I simply couldn't fit in another mouthful. Not feeling hungry is when I have eaten enough to feel satisfied, even though I could continue to stuff more food in until I was full. It's a tough lesson to learn.

For me, there is a diference. Its hard to explain. When its dinner time and you are hungry your belly is growling so you fix your dinner plate (probably bigger than you need because your brain is telling you its starving)and begin eating.....at some point (most of the time) your stomach stops growling but you keep eating weare programed to finish the plate. Here lies the difference. If someone had made your plate for you and lets say given you 1 tablespoon less of each item....would you have noticed? Probably not because you weren't hungry anymore...you most likely would be satisified with the slightly less food. We are programed to eat more than we should to finish the plate. Our brains are used to seeing a plate full of food...when we show up to the table with a little of this and a little of that it thinks "well of course I will eat all of that it is just a little amount of food" when in reality it still is probably more than we need. I would suggest to really analyze how much you are putting on your plate...try cutting your portions back. You may find when your plate is empty you are satisfied on fewer calories than you thought. You aren't waiting for that "Push the plate away, I'm done feeling"....just the "Hey my stomach isn't growling anymore" feeling. Hope that made sense.

There is a difference. Full is when you can't eat more, not hungry is when you've eaten enough to make the hunger go away but have not eaten the max.

If you are getting full after finishing, then you are eating too quickly and need to slow down. If you eat faster than the stomach can send the signal to the brain that you're okay, you are likely to exceed that amount.

Before I was banded I read some posts on here that mentioned "soft" signals. If I can find them I will see about re-posting them.

Drawing a deep breath, hiccups, etc are soft signals.

Here are a couple of older posts I found that you may find helpful...I did...

They both mention "soft signals"

It is a terrible term and it should be outlawed.

What it means is that you can eat a smaller portion of food than previously and that should satisfy you for a number of hours afterwards.

It does not mean that you will stop wanting chocolate and suddenly start craving lettuce.

It does not mean that you will eat 3 spoons and not be hungry again until your next meal.

It does not mean that you won't ever have head hunger again.

What you should be aiming for is to eat the recommended portion of the type of foods that you have been told to eat by your Dr. You need to eat slowly, chew well and wait between bites.You need to be aware of your body signalling that it has had enough and these signals can be different for everyone.

Some may hiccup, sneeze, have a pain in their shoulder..................

Some people find that they are no longer able to eat certain foods but this is not the aim. In fact the more restricted you are the harder it becomes to eat healthy foods and the easier it is to eat soft/slider foods.

If you are hungry a couple of hours later then eat a small healthy snack. Most bandsters are not able to eat 3 small meals a day with no Snacks even if that is what a lot of us were initially led to believe would happen.

HTH

I am 4 plus years out and just recommitted. I could have wrote your post many times over the years. Many many times. I never felt like I found my spot.

The last few weeks I have been focusing on the rules and really concentrating when I eat. When I eat white fish that is soft and mushy, I can eat way more. I love home made chili but I can overeat it. So I portion out a cup and stop. Mushies take discipline.

When I eat a denser fish like Salmon, I really have to slow down and chew well and be mindful. chicken, forget about it. We don't get along. Hamburger, same thing. I realized I was avoiding foods that were dense and I couldn't eat as much of. Well duh. That is the point of the band right? Or I would take too big of a bite and not chew well and get stuck. Viscious cycle.

On Sunday my hubby and I had a nice turkey dinner at the inlaws. I was so scared to eat because I thought for sure I would have issues with the turkey. I ate slow, chewed well and listened to my soft stop signals.

My soft stop signals are usually a slight runny nose, or I sigh. If I push it, they turn into hiccups.

It seriously took me 4 years to finally LISTEN to my signals. Now I stop. And guess what, I really am full for a good 4 hours. I am not going to lie and say that head hunger doesn't still come around before that 4 hours... but I don't listen to it anymore. (Well most of the time... I am not perfect... Yet)

Recognize the difference between head hunger and real hunger. Focus on dense Protein and avoid mushies.

Soft foods will mush up and pass through. You will be able to overeat soft foods. Trust me. I did it for a long time. Focus on dense solid Proteins.

Proteins first. Green veggies second. Winning combo.

I know what you mean, I get the same feeling..I am not sure, maybe I am eating to fast, and not letting it settle? It may take a bit for it to go down and realize that there is no more room, but by then I have already taken that extra bite..I did see a video regaring someone saying after a cup of food, stop...and wait..I think I need to learn this!!lol!!