I wanted to add one other thing about eating in the absence of hunger. I think if someone generally "cleans their plate" when eating, that this is a sign of disassociated eating. In other words, if a person sits down to eat and is truly guided by hunger, then what are the odds that the food on the plate is exactly the right amount to fill them up? The amount of food on the plate is somewhat standard, while the variables affecting hunger – sleep, exercise, stress, size of previous meal – are all variable.
I think it would be a far better sign if a person sometimes leaves food on the plate, and then other times eats everything on the plate and asks for more. And of course, sometime the amount on the plate will end up equaling the amount of food a person is truly hungry for.
But again, I think this would be quite a coincidence if this happened every meal, every time.
Well…I have spent the majority of my almost 60 years “cleaning
my plate” to the point, the plate almost looks clean again…
I also eat pretty fast and I have been known to binge…especially on sweets….
You are really helping me fit this all together…good thing I am
very active by nature or I would be really fat by now….but I now see what is probably keeping me from my goal of reaching my ideal weight again… it’s not the food per se…it’s my approach to eating. Especially learning to eat slower and being guided by my hunger. But I have also noticed that keeping a healthy amount of protein circulating in my system, keeps me from bingeing…
Keep up the good research!!!
It’s not a coincidence. If you know from experience how much food you need to satisfy yourself at a given level of hunger, that’s how much food you put on your plate. Sure, occasionally there might be a miscalculation in either direction, but it’s not that hard to get it right most of the time.
Perhaps it’s less of a coincidence that the plate is always clean than you suggest. I tend to prepare portions according to how hungry I am. And although I will never get things just right, I will eat until the food is gone anyway. When preparing the next meal my level of hunger will again influence how much I prepare, so it is self-regulating. I am not sure it makes sense for us to have a precise ‘I am full’ point – given the survival benefits to eating when there is food available because we may not know where the next meal is coming from. So I am not sure it should be taken as a good sign that people leave food. A better sign would be that they clean their plate, and take steps to seek a smaller meal next time….or defer the next meal time for longer.
I understand your point. As to the survival benefits, I have a different theory. In evolutionary times, if a person was full, they could give the extra food to someone else who was still hungry. Thus the food is not wasted and actually improves the evolutionary odds of the person via the group.
Also, I don’t think any type of eat-everything-in-sight is hard-wired in. Children, left to their own devices, often leave food behind on their plates.
I can agree with both sides on this one. When my eating was out of control, I cleaned my plate no matter how full I felt–and probably took more even if I was already stuffed. Now, I don’t always clean my plate but I also vary how much I fix or dish out based on how hungry I feel. If I clean my plate it may mean I guessed correctly about how much I needed or it may mean I ate a little more/less because that’s what was there.
Matt, I really like your recent focus on snacking and binge eating, and I agree with you that it’s at least a major symptom of obesity. I don’t 100% agree that eating to satiety is a trait that we’re born with, though. From an evolutionary perspective, such a trait would be pretty disadvantageous.
There’s a pretty well known study where individuals, on average, ate a lot more soup when the bowl was secretly refilled through a hidden tube. Seems like the dissociation is pretty widespread.
What do you see as the main ways to learn or relearn eating to satiety (maybe that’s your next post)? I feel like the substance of the food makes some (but only some) difference, since both protein and fiber are more immediately satiating and also because many junk foods overcome flavor satiation by combining flavors (e.g., sweet and salty). I’m interested in the possible methods you see for people to become more attuned to satiety.
I think palatable food makes eating to satiety more difficult, but not impossible. I actually do have a post planned on this if I can ever get around to it.
I think part of satiety also is sensing what foods/macros you really want. If you really want some carbs but instead give yourself protein (or vice versa), then I think this leads to problems as well.
Thanks – more posts on this soon.
Perhaps a clean plate may be a better indicator of disassociated eating when a person is eating out than when he/she is cooking for his/herself?
The more I ponder my problem…the more I have decided that I “attack” my eating…like a dog or wild animal….somewhere along the line as a child, this is how I became…OR I have always been that way…BUT it also extends to other areas of my life as well…
like I attack work or projects in general…so the big thing I need to learn is toooooo slowwwwwww down and enjoy……maybe by the time I am 80…my habit will be retrained…