Ep. 11 The 3 Keys to Help You Stop Overeating

[00:00:03] We all know what it feels like to be overly full.

[00:00:07] Just that uncomfortableness of being stuffed, like think Thanksgiving full, right?

[00:00:15] Longing for those stretchy pants and some relief.

[00:00:19] It's pretty miserable.

[00:00:23] But be honest, how often does it really happen?

[00:00:27] Maybe more than you'd like, but you just don't know how to stop eating.

[00:00:34] First, I want you to know that there is nothing wrong with you.

[00:00:38] Chances are you learned this behavior of eating to the point of being overly full from dieting or based on meal time rolls that you had to abide by when you were growing up.

[00:00:50] And second, you can learn to listen for the body signals that tell you that you were no longer hungry and observe the signs that tell you that you're comfortably full.

[00:01:02] So if you're ready to stop feeling stuffed, this episode is for you.

[00:01:07] Welcome to the Nourished Bloom podcast where you're a Faye, Meet Your Health.

[00:01:14] I'm your host, Kara Trochta, a registered dietitian and certified Catholic coach,

[00:01:18] and I'm here to help you cultivate a deeper connection with your body, your spirit, and the nourishment that sustains them both.

[00:01:25] In a world filled with noise and confusion about food, health and body image,

[00:01:31] this podcast offers truth and healing from a Christ-centered perspective.

[00:01:35] Together, we'll untangle the deep roots of diet culture, and discover what it means to truly care for ourselves through joyful nourishment of mind, body and soul.

[00:01:45] We're here to dive into the transformative power of intuitive eating coupled with the rich teachings of our Christian faith.

[00:01:52] With every episode I'll be cheering you on, offering insights, inspiration and practical tools to help you heal your relationship with food

[00:02:00] and embrace the beauty of your body as a temple of the Holy Spirit.

[00:02:05] With confidence and courage that can only be found in Christ.

[00:02:09] Join me as we journey together towards a more holistic approach to wellness.

[00:02:13] When that honors the wisdom of your body as God's creation,

[00:02:17] the teachings of our faith and the unique purpose you're called to the fill.

[00:02:21] You were made to bloom, to come into full beauty and health in order to bear good fruit for the Lord with your life.

[00:02:30] So if you're ready to nourish your body, feed your soul, and bloom into the best version of yourself,

[00:02:35] then you're in the right place, and I'm so happy you're here.

[00:02:39] Welcome to Nurs to Bloom, where every day is a sacred invitation to thrive.

[00:02:50] Hey there, welcome back. Today we are digging into the principle called fuel your fullness, which is all about tapping into those internal cues to know when to stop eating so you can be comfortably full and not overly stopped.

[00:03:06] This is like the partner or the sister principle to the honoring your hunger principle.

[00:03:16] So we are relying on our body to understand when it's signaling us that we are hungry,

[00:03:22] and today we're going to learn what those signals are for us to help us know when we are feeling full.

[00:03:29] So we can be comfortably full and not overly stopped.

[00:03:34] But first, let's just realize that dieting her modes a license to eat only at meal times.

[00:03:43] When it's quote unquote legal and or an approved or acceptable time.

[00:03:49] These meal times are dictated by the clock, or according to the rules of the program you are following.

[00:03:56] So not only are these diets and meal plans dictating what you can or can't eat,

[00:04:03] but they're also telling you when you're allowed to eat.

[00:04:07] And the problem with this is that it completely disregards the internal language of your body and being able to know when it needs fuel,

[00:04:17] as well as when it is feeling full along with your own personal preferences.

[00:04:23] So diet promotes a mentality of eat it while you can, which can ultimately set you up to overeat or eating past being comfortably full,

[00:04:32] because you have to eat it while you can.

[00:04:35] Once meal time is over, diets don't allow you to have snacks for eat past a certain time at night.

[00:04:42] And these different rules may be why you find yourself as a member of what we call the clean plate club.

[00:04:50] You end up eating everything on your plate while you can.

[00:04:55] Often whether or not you realize you're truly hungry or full.

[00:05:00] So let's look at a couple of scenarios of how diets control when you eat.

[00:05:04] scenario one, you eat your approved breakfast and an hour later you're feeling hungry.

[00:05:11] What do you do?

[00:05:13] The diet tells you that you shouldn't be hungry and that therefore you shouldn't eat because it's not time to eat.

[00:05:23] But intuitive eating challenges you to get curious.

[00:05:27] Are you really feeling hungry?

[00:05:30] What hunger cues are you experiencing?

[00:05:34] Why might you be hungry?

[00:05:37] Maybe what you ate didn't have that much staying power,

[00:05:41] or maybe you exercise this morning and your body now needs that extra energy to refuel.

[00:05:47] Or maybe you're about to start your period and your body is prepping for it.

[00:05:53] Or maybe you discover that you actually really aren't hungry, but your board or seeking a distraction or feeling something else that's uncomfortable and you're trying to find reprieve from it.

[00:06:07] But what you choose to do next, whether you choose to eat or not is based on this information you've gathered,

[00:06:15] not on whether the diet says it's okay to eat or not.

[00:06:20] Diet's again would tell you to just not eat while intuitive eating helps you make an informed decision based on the narrative that's going on in your own body and mind.

[00:06:32] Snorrow number two, the clock says it's new.

[00:06:35] So that means it's lunchtime but you're really not feeling hungry. What do you do?

[00:06:42] Diet's and meal plans will tell you that it's time to eat so you better do it while you can.

[00:06:48] Whereas intuitive eating teaches you to understand that it's okay if the clock says new and you're not hungry.

[00:06:54] Don't eat yet. You can trust that your body will let you know when it's ready to refuel,

[00:07:00] even if it's not until later in the afternoon.

[00:07:04] Diet's promote what and how you eat without regard to your hunger or fullness cues or your food preferences.

[00:07:12] But we may have also been exposed to other influences that have conditioned you to eat past being comfortably full.

[00:07:20] And these things are rules that you had growing up that said you had to eat everything on your plate and that you had to eat everything because you shouldn't waste food.

[00:07:33] And while you know these things of eating everything on your plate and not wasting food, these may sound virtuous but they really aren't health promoting.

[00:07:44] They actually can promote overeating.

[00:07:48] Maybe you have this ingrained habit of eating to completion that you only know to stop eating when the food is all gone because you kind of train your your body and your mind to that.

[00:08:01] But you're not really understanding any of those fullness cues that they maybe your body is trying to tell you.

[00:08:08] Or if you begin a meal or a snack in an overly ravenous state remember if you go back to the principle about honoring your hunger we have that primal hunger or that ravenously hunger that that hangry point.

[00:08:25] If you start to eat there when you're at that level of hunger they're the good chance that that primal hunger is kicking in and you might eat past being comfortably full because your body is just like I need fuel and I need it now.

[00:08:42] You may also experience this eating past the point of fullness if you've ever experienced or you've had a history of food insecurity because truly and then you did not know when the next meal was going to come.

[00:08:55] And so there was this mentality and this need to eat wall food was available.

[00:09:03] But maybe your person that isn't part of the clean play club.

[00:09:07] So even if you don't clean your play you may be unable to recognize comfortable fullness because you're been so used to relying on external cues.

[00:09:17] And now that you have to stop eating your kind of sad that you're full and you have to in the fact that you have to stop eating now.

[00:09:27] Intuitive eating was designed to help you honor your health through honoring your body.

[00:09:33] So the key to being able to respect your fullness is giving yourself unconditional permission to eat, which you may think sounds a little silly but think about it.

[00:09:44] How could you possibly start, how could you possibly stop eating whatever food it is if you tell yourself that you won't be able to have that food later.

[00:09:56] So the result is that you eat it all now while you can but trust me and I can guarantee this it's a lot easier to stop eating when you know you can eat a get eat that same food again at a later time if your hungry and if it's what you want.

[00:10:14] Contribulfulness is a ability to stop eating because you've had enough to eat to satisfy you biologically, physically and psychologically or mentally.

[00:10:26] And I teach my clients there are really like three elements to comfortable fullness.

[00:10:32] One is physical fullness actually feeling full in your body and this is again individualized for every person just like our hunger cues are individualized.

[00:10:47] Our fullness cues are also but we can kind of think of this as like this feeling of stomach contentedness like your tummy is saying hey I'm happy I met this level where I feel happy and so I want you to think of a balloon.

[00:11:02] When you are airing up a balloon there's this perfect amount of air that you can put in a balloon that will make it like that perfect shape that you want or will or that I will make it flu if you put too little.

[00:11:16] Air in it and it's like droopy then you know you need to add air so if you if your body is saying like I might need a little more fuel.

[00:11:26] It hasn't gotten to that like perfect amount right but if you over and slate a balloon if you put too much air in the balloon the balloon will pop.

[00:11:36] And our our tummy is if we put too much food in it that's when we get to that point of overlay stuff and we are.

[00:11:43] You know we may even feel like we're about to burst right so just thinking about like your stomach as a balloon and trying to find that that point in your eating experience where.

[00:11:54] You know as Goldie locks would say there's one that's just right there's a moment with that it's just right and think about that balloon would being it would be able to float and it would be like that perfect shape.

[00:12:06] So we can think of feeling full and it's like this right if you eat too little you'll still be feeling hungry and if you too much and you're feeling like you're going to burst and that comfortable fullness is that just right feeling.

[00:12:19] The second part to comfortable fullness is mental satisfaction we talked a lot about the satisfaction factor in the last episode but mental satisfaction is this ability to.

[00:12:33] Oner food and taste preferences with that unconditional permission to eat all foods.

[00:12:40] If you choose to sell out for a quote unquote safe food for a food that you really want because you think it's not as healthy chances are that you will end up eating all around that food until you finally give in and eat it.

[00:12:53] And this leads to eating more than if you just would have allowed yourself to eat the food you really wanted in the first place.

[00:12:59] So there is this mental component, this mental satisfaction that is a critical part of feeling your fullness if you are not allowing yourself to eat foods that you enjoy you will seek out more food trying to satisfy that mental component then if you were choosing foods and allowing yourself to eat the foods that you really want to enjoy.

[00:13:21] So I'll give you an example. Let's say you really want to have some chips with your lunch like they just sound good but this dieting thoughts pops up in your head telling you that you shouldn't have chips because they are just empty calories and you shouldn't want them.

[00:13:35] So you decide to have baby carrots instead. So you eat your lunch but you're still not satisfied so you give yourself permission to have maybe some low carb crackers because they're crunchy right or maybe a little salty like the chips would be.

[00:13:51] So you eat those but you still really have those chips on your mind. You're kind of feeling guilty for even having the crackers because they weren't as cool and cool healthy as the veggies, but you still really want these chips so you go back to just eating more veggies and you're still not satisfied.

[00:14:11] And so you finally allow yourself to have the chips. You finally eat and what will allow you to achieve that mental satisfaction but now you're uncomfortably full physically because you ate too much in general.

[00:14:27] You would have eaten less food if you just would have allowed yourself to have the chips initially with your lunch and I want to just give you this like tip right.

[00:14:41] It's this idea of nutrition by addition. So if you're having the lunch, why couldn't you have the chips and the baby carrots right pairing those two things together. You're choosing the helpful foods that promote your wellness and you're using a nutrition knowledge but then you're also adding in foods that are satisfying and make the whole experience enjoyable.

[00:15:05] Okay, that was my pro tip for you. Number three for achieving comfortable fullness choosing foods with staying power and this is like the idea of creating a balanced plate with all types of fuel to promote feeling full or to promote your satiety.

[00:15:24] So foods that help promote comfortable fullness and creating this balanced plate would include things like protein.

[00:15:32] So protein helps to increase your fullness level and it helps you leaving we it helps to leave you feeling fuller longer because it takes your body longer to digest protein.

[00:15:45] A balanced plate also includes some healthy fats and this helps slows down the rate of digestion because fats are the slowest part of food to be digested and therefore it helps prolong your fullness.

[00:16:00] Now, a balanced plate also includes carbohydrates carbohydrates are your body's preferred fuel source.

[00:16:09] That is definitely a deep dive for a different episode but know that carbohydrate your body needs carbohydrates because it helps to keep a normal blood sugar level which is necessary for providing energy to all yourselves.

[00:16:24] And then we have a kind of special bias type of carbohydrate that is a good component to include an balance plate and that's fiber.

[00:16:34] So fiber is this indigestible part of carbohydrates and it adds bulk and it slows down the absorption of carbohydrate into the bloodstream so you don't have this really high blood sugar spike.

[00:16:46] And it also helps kind of so it helps slow down that absorption of carbohydrate but then it's also really important for your gut health as well.

[00:16:56] So when we are building a balanced plate and you're looking to incorporate foods that.

[00:17:01] I promote comfortable fullness we're looking to incorporate all types of food from all different macro nutrients protein fats carbohydrates including things like fiber and the thing is is out of these there's no right or wrong food to include you can use this nutrition knowledge of okay I want to build a balance plate that includes.

[00:17:25] These macro nutrient components but then also couple that with your taste preferences and include foods from each of those groups that are going to taste good and help you achieve that mental satisfaction.

[00:17:40] So achieving comfortable and complete fullness depends on what you are eating eating enough of it and also enjoying what you are eating those are really those three components of comfortable fullness.

[00:17:53] Feeling full physically that mental satisfaction and foods with staying power and I'm going to say this one more time because I think it's just really, really important when we start to rethink eating from this perspective that in order to achieve comfortable and complete fullness.

[00:18:08] It depends on the foods that we are eating eating enough of them and incorporating that enjoyment of what we are eating.

[00:18:17] And I want to share with you this really great tool that can help you in rediscovering what comfortable fullness feels like a nearby body.

[00:18:28] So we're going to talk a little bit about mindful eating.

[00:18:31] So the center of mindful eating defines mindful eating as the practice of bringing full attention and awareness to your eating experience without judgment.

[00:18:41] Mindful eating helps you go from auto pilots to conscious awareness at meal times and this helps you practice listening to your hunger and fullness cues to your able to stop eating when you are full and satisfied.

[00:18:56] So I'm going to leave you with my top three pro tips for incorporating mindful eating at meal times.

[00:19:03] Number one and this is a huge one. Eliminate the distractions.

[00:19:08] So to the way the electronic devices and turn off the TV, so you can be fully engaged with your meal and embrace the sacredness of this good gift that God has provided for you with the food you're about to eat.

[00:19:22] When you allow these distractions at meal time it disconnect you from being able to be a tune with your body because your mind is so focused on whatever this screen or devices that.

[00:19:38] It's attention as focused there and not on being engaged with your body and the food that you are eating and being present in that moment.

[00:19:45] And so it can really.

[00:19:48] That disconnection can cause you to eat pass up point of comfortable fullness.

[00:19:53] Pro tip number two is to slow down and savor.

[00:19:56] Begin each meal with a moment of prayer and really give things for the nourishment provided.

[00:20:04] Use your senses and be able to pay attention to the colors and the textures and the flavors of your food.

[00:20:12] Really being able to savor and experience each bite and think about it as this gift from God and this ability to.

[00:20:23] Connect with what you were eating connect with his provisions and his abundance through food and connecting with others that are enjoying the meal with you.

[00:20:33] And then check in throughout the meal listen to your body's hunger and fullness cues go back and look at that hunger and fullness chart and recognize that God has provided enough to satisfy your needs.

[00:20:48] When you pause periodically it helps you to assess your satisfaction with the food.

[00:20:53] It allows you to honor your body as a temple of the Holy Spirit and be able to stop.

[00:21:00] When you are comfortably full.

[00:21:03] So studies show that it can take up to 30 minutes for your body to relay to your brain that it's full.

[00:21:10] So when you are eating too quickly it may not give your body enough time to signal to the brain.

[00:21:15] Hey, I'm full which can leave you feeling stuffed and uncomfortably full.

[00:21:21] Later even if even if you don't have this full 30 minutes to devote to a meal at least try to eat slower for the first five to 10 minutes and see if you can start to tell a difference.

[00:21:36] If you can start to pick up on some of those maybe subtle cues of fullness thinking about like that feeling of balloon and incorporating that mental satisfaction knowing that you have built a balanced meal that are providing new foods.

[00:21:52] To promote comfortable fullness but practicing mindful eating can help you foster a stronger mind body connection and can strengthen your ability to better listen to your body cues not only when it comes to.

[00:22:05] Eating and hunger and fullness but just being able to be a better student of your body and being aware of maybe when things feel a little bit off and when you're the student of your body and you're.

[00:22:19] A tune with the language of your body it's it can help you it can help you have real good indication of.

[00:22:26] Maybe there's something deeper going on in a health and wellness level that you need to get checked out.

[00:22:34] And so this is why I love.

[00:22:36] This principle of feeling your fullness as well as honoring your hunger because they give you like real actionable steps that you can start taking it is 100%.

[00:22:48] Realized that you can start listening for your hunger cues and start being more to your fullness cue at a meal time.

[00:22:58] These are these really small actionable steps that over time add up to making changes and their small steps that really aren't overwhelming.

[00:23:07] But over time they help build that trust in your body and they these small winds add up and these are what lead to those bigger sustainable longer lasting changes.

[00:23:21] And these little small winds also help you prepare for some of the more challenging parts of intuitive eating that we've talked about like making peace with food and challenging your food beliefs because when you.

[00:23:36] When you start to be a tune with your hunger and your fullness cues and you're seeing like hey.

[00:23:43] I learned my hunger I felt fullness or man I was able to stop eating without being you know stuffed these little winds are giving you proof that this framework works.

[00:23:56] And so it helps to decrease maybe these barriers and these obstacles or these thoughts that this that you can't trust yourself with this process.

[00:24:07] I challenge you to take some time this week and practice these mindful eating tips to help you re-establish that internal communication in your body that's alerting you to your hunger and your fullness.

[00:24:19] And if you try to couple times and see if you can notice the difference.

[00:24:24] Be aware of the times that you are honoring your hunger or you know stopping eating and you're not overly stuffed and like celebrate those little winds because that's where the difference starts to add up and you really start to see how.

[00:24:40] I hope you have a beautiful and blessed day now go blue.

[00:24:50] Like what you're hearing on the nearest to gloom podcasts we've left for you to leave a rating and review not only does that help me to know what's resonating with you with the listeners but it also helps me reach more women seeking guidance on their wellness journey.

[00:25:04] Thanks again for all the support and encouragement you sure know how to make a girl filled up see you next week.