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Last updated on September 3rd, 2024 at 06:00 pm
Do you feel like you are often eating past fullness? Feeling like you have overeaten can be stressful both physically and emotionally. But what does it really mean to eat past fullness?
Eating past fullness might mean:
- You’re feeling physically uncomfortable
- You’re feeling sleepy
- You feel guilty about what you have eaten
- You’re feeling pressure in your belly
Eating past fullness can feel different for everyone. It is important to remember that fullness will often mean a different quantity of food from one person to the next.
Each person will also experience fullness sensations differently.
While eating past your fullness threshold might make you feel uncomfortable or anxious, this is actually a completely normal and adaptive eating experience.
This article explores what fullness often feels like, how to learn to tune into your fullness cues, and how to stop eating when you are full.
What Does Fullness Feel Like
Fullness is often described as feeling food inside the stomach.
Fullness might feel like:
- The stomach stretching
- Pressure in the stomach
- Bubbles in the belly
- The loss of the desire to eat
- Contentment
Depending on the level of fullness, fullness can be either a positive or negative experience for you.
Should I Stop Eating If I’m Full
It depends.
Knowing when you should stop eating is a very personal decision that you will need to assess multiple times per day, at every meal and snack.
There is actually no right or wrong time to stop eating. Being able to make the decision without guilt is a true test of body freedom.
5 questions to ask yourself if you should stop eating when you’re full include:
- How is my belly feeling right now?
- What is my energy like right now?
- If I wait 20 minutes, will I still want more?
- If I eat more, will I be physically uncomfortable?
- Will I be emotionally satisfied if I stop eating now?
When you stop eating, you should be both physically and emotionally full. This sometimes means that you might continue past the point where you typically stop eating because the food tastes really good. That’s okay!
You might also stop eating when you are more full than you usually are because the type of food you’re eating is not always available. You should honor all types of hunger when you are deciding whether you should stop eating.
It is also important to consider that there is more than one level of “full.” You should pick the level of fullness that feels most comfortable in your body for you and leaves you the most energized at the end of the meal.
Eating past your usual comfort level of fullness is not bad. It just means that there was another physical, emotional, or social reason we needed to eat more food than we usually might.
Types of Fullness
There is more than one level and type of fullness. The more you understand about how your own body experiences fullness, the better decisions you will be able to make about when to stop eating. Here are some of the types of fullness.
Physical Fullness
Physical fullness is the fullness that is experienced in your body. Fullness can be experienced in the belly, the chest, the head, the throat and many other areas of the body.
Physical fullness includes:
- Pressure in the belly from food
- A decrease in hunger hormones following a meal
- Motility in the gut as it starts to digest food
- Lack of urgency to eat
If you eat food past your comfortable level of fullness you might also experience acid reflux, stomach pain, headaches, and nausea.
Emotional Fullness
Emotional fullness is how you feel after you have completed a meal.
Emotional fullness includes:
- Having no desire to have more of the food
- Not feeling like you’re missing out on eating more
- Feeling satisfied with the portion of the meal you have eaten
- Not thinking about food after the meal is complete
- Feeling like you truly enjoyed what you ate and don’t want more
Social Fullness
Sometimes you might feel the desire to eat if you are not hungry because of social cues. Consider a family reunion, a work event or a birthday party.
While you might not be physically hungry, if you have the desire to eat simply because the social environment encourages it its important to honor that desire.
Social fullness includes:
- Having all the food items you desire at an event
- Using food as a way to connect with family and peers
- Not feeling like you’ve missed out on food or social connections at events
Reasons For Eating Past Fullness
There can be many reasons you might eat past fullness. These can be biological or emotional reasons. Ironically, the fear of eating past fullness can lead to the fear of feeling hungry.
Reasons for eating past fullness include:
- Not eating enough through the day
- Having a lot of food rules
- Having a bad body image day
- Pressure to eat
- Not eating enough at each meal
What Happens When You Eat Past Fullness
If you eat past your comfortable level of fullness don’t panic. You might experience some discomfort but it will pass.
If you eat past comfortable fullness you might experience:
- Stomach pain
- Stomach stretching
- Bloating
- Acid reflux
- Headaches
- Fatigue
- Nausea
- Constipation
- Diarrhea
If these things happen, try using a heating pad, drinking some mint ginger tea, or finding other soothing tools for your body. It’s important to respect your body in these moments of discomfort rather than feeling guilty.
If you are frequently eating past fullness and feeling extremely uncomfortable after eating, you might be binge eating. If you are binge eating, it’s important to not restrict your food at the next meal or this will start a vicious binge restrict cycle that is hard to break.
It’s important to remember that if you have an eating disorder, you will not be able to intuitively eat. If you feel you are struggling with binge eating, its important you seek appropriate support. An eating disorder dietitian may be a great place to start.
How To Stop Eating When You’re Full
If you want to stop eating when you are full, you first need to learn to recognize your body’s unique que’s for fullness and get rid of any food restriction.
7 tips to help you stop eating when you’re full include:
- Using a hunger fullness scale to map out your body’s fullness cues
- Stop dieting!
- Stop mentally restricting food
- Don’t count calories
- Practice food neutrality
- Intuitively eat
Practice healthy eating habits.
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