Getting The Full Feeling

After finishing my evening meal I again immediately wanted a PBJ. Like last time I talked myself out of it. I even stared down a jar of jelly in the fridge before I gave it up. It did get me thinking about the subject of fullness again, however.

What makes the body give off the fullness signal that it's time to stop eating? Is is a physical reaction from GI track to brain that says - whoa, hold on, that's enough - or is it something else?

I did manage to find an interesting study about the subject of feeling full or satiated. What was curious about the study was that it pointed to both neurological and hormonal triggers. Basically the area of the brain called the left posterior amygdala switches on when people feel full. The study found that area switches on less in more overweight/obese people than it does in thinner folks. To go along with that, the hormone ghrelin also show up when people feel full. The larger the increase in ghrelin levels, the more active the left posterior amygdala. Here's the link to the study.

ABC also had an interesting article on ghrelin. No new ground plowed as far as research - reiterates waiting 20 minutes between servings, but it had some suggestions on what foods suppress ghrelin production more than others:

Nicole Beland, a senior contributor at Women's Health magazine, says you can suppress ghrelin by eating certain foods, so you will then feel full. Carbohydrates and lean protein have been found to slow the production of ghrelin, while foods that are high in fat do not.

Hang on now. One study talks about increasing levels of ghrelin being linked to the amygdala and the other talks about slowing the production of ghrelin. Which is it, or am I misunderstanding? The Wikipedia article on ghrelin also talks about decreasing ghrelin production as being good for weight loss/hunger suppression. So can there be an increase in levels with a decrease in production? I'm really stumped by the relationship. From my googling around it would appear that there really isn't a clear definition on what causes the full feeling.

Just as I was about to close this entry down, I ran across an article on Healthy Satiety. Explains thing pretty well and has some interesting suggestions.

Food Log

Brunch (11 AM)

• Leftover Enchilada Casserole - 2.5 helpings
• water

Lunner (4 PM)

• Large Caesar salad
• Left over pork chop
• Cool Ranch Doritos - 3-4 handfuls

Evening (9 PM on)

• bag of microwave popcorn
• 3-4 handfuls of Lays potato chips
• 4 scotches over a 4 hr period
• 2 tsp peanut butter and 1 tsp strawbery spread

Saturday Confession

Friday is my stress release valve. I let it all hang out on Friday evenings and last night, while not exactly typical certainly wasn't that far off. Before stepping into the confessional booth, I did manage to walk for almost an hour from my house down the to college and back. It was a great spring evening and I didn't want to waste it.

From there, it went down hill as far as watching what I eat goes. I had quite a number of Rum & Diet Pepsi's and eventually some SmartFood popcorn, Lays Potato Chips and about 2/3rds of a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. From a perspective standpoint, there have been worse Friday night binges on the drink and food front, but given that I'm trying to watch what I eat I felt like a failure this AM.

But it's not failure, it's learning. Learning about what leads to bad choices. Certainly the early evenings alcohol consumption led to the late night food consumption. Being up at 2 AM didn't help matters either - heck, at 2 AM I'm usually asleep and not thinking about food or drink.

So today I'll get back on the horse again and continue the journey. BTW, what is it about eating crunchy food that's so appealing?

Dinner for One

With my daughter off to her boyfriend's house for the evening and my son sleeping (he works nights), I figured I'd do something for my marriage today and see if my wife wanted to go out to dinner. Nope. She was ready to relax and not go anywhere. She already changed out of her work clothes. So I'm left to my own devices for dinner.

I contemplated a set of finger foods from the freezer: french fries, couple of egg rolls and a mini frozen pizza. After some serious talking to myself about food choices, I elected to have a large Caesar Salad - home made of course. One romaine heart, some Parmesan cheese, croutons and dressing later I was in business. Read the on-line news for about 20 minutes while eating.

Just as soon as I was done eating, I needed a PBJ. Don't know why I needed one, but I talked myself out of it. Instead I tried something to drink, thinking that maybe I was just thirsty instead of hungry. Had a small glass of diet Pepsi, waited about 10 minutes and wham - I'm reasonably full and I while I still would like to have a PBJ, I don't need one.

And yes, I did eat a bit after 6 PM if you're playing along at home...

Lunch Window

Due to the later breakfast this AM, I wasn't really hungry until close to 2 PM. Usually I eat around 12-1 PM. Sure enough at 12 I was thinking I needed to eat. But I wasn't hungry after eating only 2.5 hours before. Why was I thinking about eating then?

My lunch window is centered around eating dinner with my family in the 6 PM time frame. If I eat at 12-1 that's a good 5-6 hours before I eat dinner so I'm hungry for my main daily meal. If I eat later than that, I'm still not quite hungry going into dinner, which will be the case this evening I think. Still, do I really need to be hungry at 6 PM? Wouldn't I just, well, eat less if I wasn't that hungry? Do I really have to wait until I'm completely hungry before eating dinner? Wouldn't I not "snack" even if dinner took longer to make than usual?

If the goal is fewer calories per day while still feeling adequately nourished and well fed, then would eating later be better? Perhaps a way to phrase that would be to eat off from of my normal meal schedule - skip breakfast, eat lunch around noon and dinner around 6. A better schedule may be: eat breakfast and lunch when I feel hungry and then dinner on time with family (and hopefully less since I'm not likely to be as hungry).

Humm....

Food Log

Breakfast

• Toasted 7-Grain bagel with plain cream cheese
• small coffee - black

Lunch

• Leftover enchilada casserole - 2 servings

Snack

• gum
• Rum & Diet Pepsi - 6-7 over a 6 hr period
• Cool Ranch Doritos - 2/3rds of a bag
• SmartFood Popcorn - 8 handfuls
  
• Lays Potato Chips - 6 handfuls
  

Dinner

• Large Caesar Salad
• small glass diet Pepsi
  

Breakfast Delayed

This AM started SLOW. I just could not get moving and as a result didn't have time for breakfast at home like I did yesterday. Besides I wasn't really in the mood for it and after yesterday's heavy feeling from the cereal I wasn't anxious to repeat that. So, per some of the breakfast advice reading from the other day, I just decided to delay eating until I felt like it.

Long about 9 AM, I need coffee and I'm a bit hungry - just starting to get that pinched feeling in my stomach. I'm extremely lucky from a choice standpoint as I have a Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, a local bagel shop and a local coffee stop all within a short walk from my office. Choices, choices - why not make an experiment out of it and try their breakfast offerings until I hit on some things I like.

From the local bagel shop I have a toasted 7-Grain with plain cream cheese and a small coffee - which I end up spilling while I'm filling the cup. Feels more like a Monday than a Friday at this point. The 7-Grain is OK - I'm a toasted garlic person usually but I'm trying to appear healthy (ya, like all that cream cheese is healthy). Wonder if all their bagels are from whole grain or only some?

At any rate the bagel is gone within 10 minutes of my return and my GI track is making a lot of noise. I'm still working on the coffee.

Update from last night: No snacking after the enchiladas - well OK I licked the spoon after storing the left overs. That and a medium decaf coffee. No walking last night due to the rain.

The Pace of Eating

In a prior post I raised a question to myself about the rate of consumption and feeling satiated. What I was trying to understand was this: If I eat quickly will I end up eating more because my body needs time to kick in the full feeling (humm.. what causes the "full feeling" anyhow) and if so, will slowing down my intake cause me to eat less?

Googling "eating slowly" almost universally shows posts, studies, etc. attempting to convince the reader that eating slowly and taking ones time with meals is a good weight management technique. Forum reading suggests that for some people it works and some it doesn't. Even those who do find it useful seem unclear as to why. One study I ran across suggested that taking longer to eat also allows more time for fluid consumption, e.g. water and that the extra fluid consumption is driving, at least in part, the reduction in actual calories ingested.

On the opposite front is this MSNBC post from Barbara Rolls of Volumetrics fame. While Barbara's article suggests that eating pace doesn't influence caloric intake, she does end with this sage advice:

You don’t have to consciously pause between bites, but eat at a pace that maximizes your enjoyment of the food. If savoring the flavors and textures makes dining a more pleasurable experience, then go for it.

In the end, it’s more important that you choose foods that are low in calorie density, meaning they give you fewer calories per bite. That way no matter what your eating rate, you won’t take in too many calories.

My take on it is this: If eating slowly works for you then go for it, but it's what you eat not the pace at which you eat that matters most.

Patiently Waiting on Dinner

I made a complex dinner this evening that took FOREVER to finish. Probably 1.5 hrs all together. Normally I would have snacked my way through making it, but I didn't tonight. I waited. Oh, I had a carrot and part of a toasted corn tortilla that was left over from the recipe, but I didn't really eat anything despite having that pinched feeling. I patiently waited on the casserole to be done.

When it was finished I tried my best not rush through it. Between my wife, daughter and myself we finished a little over half of it. The dish serves 8-10, so I figure I ate 2.5 helpings. I did give into the sweetness craving with a bit of ice cream, but I'll need that to cool down the spice of the dish later on, if you know what I mean...

All in all, I'm rather proud of my eating behavior this evening. I didn't snack, didn't stuff myself to an extreme despite my hunger level and had a small treat. I found other things to do while waiting that got me out of the kitchen and got food off my mind.

Perhaps I can go the rest of the evening with out eating and work in a walk if it stops raining.

Unconscious Snacking

2-4 meeting was exactly 15 minutes long - most of the key participants in the meeting were out attending to other things. Usually I pick my daughter up from middle school at 2:20 PM and take her home, except Thursday's when I have that standing meeting. Since I was done early I figured I'd try and pick her up. No luck, she's already started home by the time I got over to the pickup spot.

Instead of heading back to work I went home and.. well grabbed a 6-pack of peanut butter-n-crackers. I don't know if I was hungry or not. I didn't really think about it. I just wanted something to snack on and grabbed something handy. I have no idea why I feel that way - the "just wanting something to snack on" feeling. I've got to get some sort of handle on that and, without a lengthy internal debate, understand the urge and be able to quantify it into a hunger level - real or imagined.

Even with that snack I'm feeling the pinch again at 3:20 PM. Trying gum and water.

The Pinch

It's now noon and I've been feeling what I call "the pinch" in my stomach for the last 45 minutes. Despite eating breakfast and the earlier heavy feeling I feel ravenous for lunch. I have some left over tortilla soup from yesterday and an onion bagel. Since my hunger is great, I'll probably "wolf" this down and still want more.

Is there a relationship between the time taken to eat a meal and a satiated full feeling? I've taken over 30 minutes to eat the soup and bagel and while still feeling a little hungry, I no longer have that ravenous feeling. I'll chew some gum and perhaps have some water as the lunch made me thirsty.

We'll see how this last until I go home for dinner. I have a 2-4 PM meeting today so I won't be in a position to grab a mid-day snack, but I have a feeling I'll be snacking in-between the time I get home and dinner.

Food Log

Breakfast (Ya!)

• Special K w/Blueberry flakes in 1% milk with Splenda
• Coffee (black)

Lunch

• Remainder of Tortilla soup from yesterday's lunch ~ 1 cup
  
• Buttered onion bagel
• water

Snack

• peanut butter crackers - 6 pack
• gum (x2)
• water
• medium decaf coffee - black
  

Dinner

• Southwest Enchilada Casserole ~ 2.5 servings
  
• water
• single serving of ice cream
  

Heavy Morning

I actually got up earlier so I'd have time to eat breakfast this morning - a bowl of "Special K" that my daughter requested a couple of weeks ago. It has "blueberry" stuff in the flakes. Still, the second ingredient was "whole grain" (something) so I figured it must be good - at least that's what I've read. It had it with a Splenda packet and 1% milk.

I felt OK after eating it, but as my morning is getting on I feel a heaviness setting in - a "bloated" feeling almost. Yuck.

I did manage to eat only 2 fat free fig bars after dinner last night and a large decaf coffee so I was "hungry" this AM. I also walked for the better part of an hour last night. The "spring" feel to the New England air is calling me outside.

Water, Water

I just finished dinner and my wife and I cleaned the kitchen. I stopped eating before I "felt" uncomfortably full, but probably should have stopped earlier. Usually right after dinner I want something sweet - cookies, candy, something. Figured I try water instead since I didn't have anything to drink with dinner.

It's not uncommon for me not to drink anything with a meal, be it lunch or dinner. Is that odd? Googling the subject leads to a variety of answers none of which sounds definitive. Some opinions are that it dilutes the digestive juices and can lead to digestive problems. Other opinions say a little water with a meal isn't a problem, but that substituting water for food doesn't help. Your body knows when it's thirsty so drink if you feel thirsty during a meal.

One item I ran across was that sometimes when you "feel" hungry, you're actually thirsty and that it's not uncommon to substitute food for water. I've often wondered about that.

So just how much water is recommended per day for the average adult? Is it 8 - 8 oz glasses as I've always heard? I turned to my favorite "myth busters" site Snopes:

The best general advice (keeping in mind that there are always exceptions) is to rely upon your normal senses. If you feel thirsty, drink; if you don't feel thirsty, don't drink unless you want to.

A good read. Basically the "8x8" rule is overblown. The food you take in has "fluid" in it that helps to replace what you're loosing. At "most" your kidneys need 1 liter of water per day to function normally, which is about 4 - 8 oz glasses of water, which coincidentally is about what you get from food per day. So if you're overeating, like I am, you're probably getting more fluid than you actually need. If I eat at a normal level, I may need "some" fluid and if I under-eat (ya, like that'll happen), I'll defiantly need fluid.

So I was a bit thirsty after dinner, but what I really wanted was something sweet. As I've written this I no longer crave sweetness and actually feel, well.. full.

I still need to investigate this "sweetness" craving and perhaps how overeating might increase foot/ankle swelling (from all that excess fluid)... humm..

Food Log

Lunch

• Tuna melt sandwich on sourdough with lettuce and tomato
• 1/4 cup tortilla soup
• water

Snacks

• Peanut butter crackers - most of a "six pack"
• Fat Free Fig Bars - 2
  

Dinner

• Asparagus
  
• Fried Pork Chops - 2.5 4 oz chops
• water

Breakfast?

I'm not a breakfast eater, never have been. I'm never really hungry when I get up and coffee is about all I have until I eat lunch. If I don't eat breakfast I start getting hungry (or I think I am) 10:30 - 11 AM. If I do, I'm not hungry until after 1:30 PM.

My schedule is such that I need to eat by 12:30-1:30 PM at the latest because my afternoon is full and if I wait until later in the PM to eat (after 2 PM) then I won't be hungry when the family sits down to eat dinner in the 6 PM time frame.

Is eating breakfast that important to loosing weight? My dietitian says that it's important. Googling the subject seems to verify it:

• Eating Breakfast Helps Weight Loss
• Breakfast: Why is it so important?

Attempting to look up "don't feel like eating breakfast" gives posts on the same advice - learn to eat it even if you don't feel like it. This is just the opposite of what I do: I eat when I feel like it and don't when I should.

I'll try eating something for breakfast, even if it's just a cereal bar.

Can't Take It Any More

I'm 6'5" and 351 lbs. I have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, and sleep apnea. I love to cook and eat and have very little in the way of self control when it comes to food. If I feel like I want to eat it, I usually do.

Over the course of years I've tried diets (Atkins, South Beach, Volumetrics), seen dietitians and doctors and I've lost weight only to gain it all back and more. I'm about to go beyond the largest cloths size I've ever been both in shirts and pants and I really can't stand it and don't really know what to do.

My Dr has suggested "banding" which I'm willing to try but I'm afraid that my insurance won't cover it unless I jump through a ton of hoops. My feeling is that I have to take responsibility for what I eat and manage it. I'm not really learning anything if I just "do banding" - although I'm sure there's an educational component that goes along with the treatment. Still...

I know I'm not a "gym" guy - I don't have the discipline. I don't mind walking and I have been doing that in the evenings for about 20 minutes. I feel my greatest problem is just stopping the eating process. If I could stop after one helping and not snack I know I'd loose it. I just can't seem to get started.

So far my height and build have helped me from looking as heavy as I am, but it's not going to work for much longer.