Why Being Full From Food Feels So Hard And What To Do About It
By Katherine Metzelaar, MSN, RDN, CD
Feeling full from food can feel very hard.
On paper it’s simple right? Feel your fullness, sit with it, remind yourself that it’s a normal part of eating. All done! But you know that it’s not that easy. Feeling your fullness and getting to know the nuances of fullness is hard work especially after years of dieting and/or being stuck in the eating disorder.
This is in part due to the fact that restrictive eating causes you to be less connected to the feelings of fullness. Overtime, due to not honoring hunger and going long periods of time without eating, you experience either extreme hunger or uncomfortable fullness. This then perpetuates a cycle of fear of being full because being full from food has meant being overly full.
But often even when you don’t feel overly full, the sensation and experience of fullness feels challenging. It can bring up feelings of fear, feelings like you are doing it wrong, feeling like you need to compensate for eating until you are full. So how did you get here and what are the things that have contributed to fullness from food feeling so hard?
1. You exist in a culture that demonizes the experience of fullness.
Everywhere you look and in every diet you have followed (“wellness” diets included), fullness is often demonized and hunger is elevated. Common phrases like “eat just the right amount to feel satisfied but not overly full” and “eat half of what you have and put the rest away” only serve to reinforce the notion that you cannot be trusted with food and that being full or “too full” is wrong.
You can combat the belief that there is something wrong with being full by challenging the notion all together that being full from food is bad. You can remind yourself that you want to be experiencing fullness because it’s a normal part of the digestive process. And as you allow yourself to discover the nuances of fullness, you can be mindful of not using uncomfortable fullness as proof that you can’t do it. Get curious about your experience with fullness. Challenge the dieting mindset. Keep practicing.
2. Feeling full from food confronts you with fears of gaining weight/your body changing.
Due to bloating and distention of the belly, it is common to notice fears of your body changing or weight gain. As your belly distends and you feel the sensation of fullness, you might panic. This is really common for many people. Being full from food often confronts you with internalized anti-fat bias that you may have. And be kind to yourself if this exists within you as it does for virtually everyone in this culture. It can take time to unpack all the messages that you have internalized about fat and about bodies.
You can practice getting more comfortable with fullness is by taking a look internally at what fears you have about your body changing when you feel full. Notice what comes up for you when you get full. Practice asking yourself questions so that you can understand more and seek to challenge the idea that fullness or fatness is wrong. You might ask questions like: What do I fear might happen here? What have I been told about being full? What are the things that have contributed to fullness equaling weight gain? How has avoiding being full for so long impacted me?
3. Feeling full is not prescriptive in nature and it’s not a linear process.
In diet culture things with food are often very clear when you are dieting. They give you the plan and they tell you what to you. And then, you do it. This is until you don’t because it is very hard to sustain. Because of this, when you are seeking to become more of an intuitive eater and move away from diets, fullness can feel hard. But why? You are practicing allowing your body to guide the way and after years of being disconnected to your body this can feel hard. You don’t know what to expect, how to know when to stop. It’s not linear, it’s not prescriptive and it’s a process of discovery. No only this, your energy needs and thus your experience with fullness will change everyday which at first can feel distressing, but this will get better over time and with practice.
Getting to know the nuances of fullness is a skill set that you build over time. It’s a process of reconnecting to the body and getting comfortable with not getting it right. Sometimes you might feel comfortably full and other times uncomfortably full. It will ebb and flow depending on many factors. Remember that as you are learning and reconnecting to your body to remind yourself that you are not doing it wrong if you get overly full.
Be gentle, patient and give yourself grace as you learn and practice getting to know fullness possibly for the first time in your life.
And remember: This is not the fullness diet.
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