Dieting experts and researchers Peter Herman and Janet Polivy have looked thoroughly at the biology and psychology of eating. They found that dieters lose their ability to recognize subtle hunger clues, having suppressed them for so long that they feel hunger only when they are drop-dead ravenous. And when they eat, they overeat because they are no longer able to recognize subtle feelings of fullness. Their "biological indifference," as it has been called, is so ingrained that chronic dieters eat or don't eat based only on outside influences, such as time of day, thoughts, and beliefs . . . not on what their bodies are actually telling them.
Relearning to recognize and respect your hunger and satisfaction signals takes time. These techniques can help:
- Eat slowly. Your brain needs up to 20 minutes to get the message that your body has had enough to eat.
- Don't wait until you're famished to eat. You're apt to overeat when you're absolutely flat-out starving. People who skip meals or eat skimpy meals often eat when they're ready to drop. Eating 3 meals and 2 or 3 small snacks is one way to make sure that you're never too hungry or too full. Remember, what counts is the total number of calories you consume each day, not how often you eat.
- Pay attention to how you feel, and eat mindfully. You need to eat slowly to recognize the sometimes vague signals that you've had enough to eat. The goal is to internalize those feelings. Until you can hear and heed the conversations your brain and stomach are having, wear clothing with waistbands. Loose clothing may be more comfortable, but something snug around your middle can serve as a reminder to stop eating when it feels tight.
- Buy only single servings of foods that you crave, or you may find it difficult to stop eating even when you're full. Research at the University of Pennsylvania conducted by marketing professor Brian Warsink, Ph.D. looked at the way people use different-sized packages of cooking oil, spaghetti, M&M's, and other items. He found that many people use a product more freely when they aren't worried about running out, when price isn't important (larger packages are often cheaper than smaller ones), and when space is tight (larger packages take up lots of room). So if ice cream in the freezer tempts you, don't buy it in gallons. Single-sized servings, purchased one at a time, may be a wiser move.
 | Full but not satisfied? That may be your body's way of telling you that the meal you just ate was not well-balanced. Some researchers think that your body has a feedback system that tells your brain when it has enough carbohydrate, fat, and protein. When a meal is heavy in one nutrient and light in the others, you get little satisfaction from your meal. |
Your body is sensitive to sensory fulfillment as well. Creamy textures and sweet flavors need to be balanced with crunchy and savory ones. That's one of the reasons one-food-only diets, such as the cabbage soup diet, are so frustrating: Besides being unbalanced nutritionally, they are unbalanced in flavor and texture.
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