How to Stop Eating (even when you don’t want to)

If you’re looking to lose weight and improve your relationship with food, you know it’s important to learn how to stop eating when you’re full and not stuffed. In this post, you’ll learn 10 simple steps to help you stop eating (even when you don’t want to).

I poked the last piece of scraggly broccoli with my fork and swirled it around the now cold garlic sauce that puddled on my plate. My stomach was already heavy but I just couldn’t leave that lonely stalk alone on my plate.

I kept eating even though I was full and couldn’t even taste it. Broccoli is one of those foods that tastes great- when you’re hungry.

The final bite was more of a conquest (or a compulsion) to leave no soldier behind. 20 minutes later I wondered if that was that The Bite that pushed my belly over the edge to uncomfortable?

As humans, we like to be full. It is a preference wired into our DNA. Being full means sustenance and nutrition, and those two things mean survival. Well, at least before we lived just minutes away from Restaurant Row.

Though our world has changed, our genetic wiring has not. Our bodies don’t know that we have such an excess of food in the U.S. that we throw out 31% or 133 billion pounds of food a year. That’s a lot of food.

We Know How to Stop Eating When

You and I, we once were completely connected to our body’s hunger and fullness signals. As infants, we would push away a milk when we were done, without any need to “interpret” those how to stop eating when full signals.

Before we were exposed to heaps of processed foods and unashamed advertising, we knew nothing more than the crystal clear indications that our stomach sent our brain. Hungry meant we needed food; full meant we did not.

My mom often shares the story of a big family trip to the ice cream parlor. Our crew descended upon Mack’s Ice Cream with a single goal in mind (mine was chocolate peanut butter).

While we adults sat there intent on finishing every last bite, my two young cousins abandoned their half-eaten, half-melted ice cream cones and swapped their focus to play. Their desire and need to eat were one and the same.

We marveled at this and, I am pretty sure, one of us older people finished what they left behind.

At some point, we knew how to stop but then we didn’t. How did it happen?

We Become Disconnected From Our Satisfaction Signals

If you are reading this post, I will go ahead and assume that you have lost a clear connection with your fullness and that you struggle to stop eating when full. The disconnect may have happened at a young age for you, or like me, when you went on your first diet.

(I still have fond memories of my Halloween candy lasting until Easter and my Easter candy hanging around until Halloween. That was B.D., before dieting)

For many, eating became a source of comfort during a difficult time in their lives. Managing hurt became more imperative than honoring satiety. Food was a big help but now it hurts.

Or, maybe you simply liked to eat and super-sized meals at super-sized deals were more than you could pass on.

Whatever your story is, it is what makes you, you. And you are in the majority, my friend. So many of us do not know what it truly takes to fuel our bodies. But, we are not without hope. Eating until you are satisfied IS a skill that you can (re) learn.

9. Eat a Satisfying Meal

If your meal is UNsatisfying physically or mentally (yeah, that's a thing), you won't be able to get up from the table and move on without thinking about food.

A physically satisfying meal is one that is balanced with protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Now, we're not talking about a perfectly balanced plate but one that has a showing of each of these macronutrients.

A mentally satisfying meal is one that includes foods you ENJOY. Contrary to what diets may have taught you, what you like to eat is important.

You may have heard that we should eat to live, not live to eat but I wholeheartedly disagree.

Food is fellowship.

Food is celebration.

And, food is so yummy it's pretty clear God intended for us to appetite His creation.

Choose foods that marry your wants with your wisdom, eat your meal, and get on with your awesome life!

10. Let Go of Unhelpful Diet Rules

The quickest route to a craving is to deem a food "bad" or "off-limits." In fact, diet rules are largaely responseible for our overeating problems to begin with. After all, when did you begin to have problems pushing away your plate?

Chances are really good that it all started at the hands of a...you guessed it! A DIET. Diet side effects are a real thing!

When you step away from rules and connect with what you're truly desiring (and not what you think you "shouldn't" be eating), moderation becomes possible and you can finally stop binge eating.

Why It's Important to Stop Overeating

If health, body weight, and eating in a self-controlled way are of any concern to you, learning your body's hunger and fullness signals is a worthwhile pursuit. Energy (calories) eaten outside of our physical needs and what we burn on a daily basis will be stored as body fat. That's not great for our health or for fulfilling our life mission.

This is the simplest and one of the most effective ways to move forward. Yes, changing what you eat matters too, but I will be the first to tell you that you can easily overeat (and be overweight) while eating healthy food.

But, sometimes, it doesn't seem to "work."

When Stopping When You're "Full" Doesn't Work

We can become so disconnected from our "stop" and "go" that we may feel like we are eating when we are hungry and stopping when we are full... but yet we remain overweight. I have had this discussion with clients many times. Yes, our cues can become miscalibrated.

In my dieting career, I knew two signals rather well- starving and stuffed. I'd white-knuckle not eating until I could hardly stand it only to eat voraciously until I was overfilled. On a hunger graph, I spent my time at "0" and "10."

Relearning to live in the middle meant that I had to become more sensitive to the messages my body was sending me.

If you feel stuck, start to experiment with stopping your meal a little sooner. By faith, put down your fork and see if you can reacquaint yourself with a new level of hunger that feels great. Chances are good that you will be pleasantly surprised by how fabulous you can feel with a little less food!

What to Do

Now that you have had a chance to read through some fresh ideas about why and how to stop eating when satisfied, it is time to put an action plan in place.

1. Download your Hunger & Fullness Tracking Sheet below.
2. Do your best to wait to eat until you are truly hungry. This will make stopping when you are satisfied so much easier. If you are up for it, you may want to consider focusing there first.
3. Read over the 7 tips above and choose ONE to practice. Determine when and how you will work on this skill. Be sure to choose a practice that is exciting and that you feel about 90% confident you can successfully complete.
4. Practice this habit for 1-2 weeks, evaluate your proficiency, and then add additional skills to support your efforts. It is essential to get rid of all-or-nothing eating. You will NOT stop eating when satisfied every single time you eat, ever. Accept this and keep your eyes forward, even on those days you find yourself willfully speeding past your internal "stop" sign.

Stopping your meal when you are satisfied is one of those skills you will probably need to remain aware of your entire life. As a society, we are faced with oversized portions, dinnertime distraction, and hyper-palatable foods that make it easier than ever to overeat.

But, with some time, attention, and some ninja moves, you can train yourself to hear and respond to your body's fullness cues!