when in doubt

[veg tom]

U feel u need to eat something but not sure what u want. Eat a potato or 5 and it works every time. Add some mushrooms or garlic onions or what ever it works.

[MINNIE]

Yep.

Potatoes are usually the answer to most of life's big questions.

[roundcoconut]

Yikes! “When in doubt, eat two or three potatoes”???

Certainly there are better algorithms to decide whether food is needed, yes? I am not carb-phobic, but I certainly don’t feel that starches are “free” or unlimited.

Like, isn’t that one of the things that got us to be one of the fattest nations ever? That we are like, “When in doubt, eat!”

If you’re not sure whether you have eaten a big enough dinnner, perhaps you should wait until you ARE sure. If you undershoot the mark, you probably have a few ounces of belly fat to resort to. (Unless you are an Olympic athlete, or a pre-pubescent boy!). If you overshoot the mark (piling on two or three hundred calories, beyond your body’s physical needs), then you’ve got a hole to dig out of, and that can’t be good!

I don’t know — just an alternate perspective!

What about, “When in doubt, figure it out!” You either need more calories or you don’t. Seldom an in-between.

[Willijan]

U feel u need to eat something but not sure what u want. Eat a potato or 5 and it works every time. Add some mushrooms or garlic onions or what ever it works.

I like a video I saw of Dr. McDougall being asked, What can you tell people who are having trouble staying on the diet to do? His answer, according to my memory: Eat! And I'm sure he would approve of potatoes. There are times when just the rule "Eat!" is what we need.

[f00die]

...
I like a video I saw of Dr. McDougall being asked, What can you tell people who are having trouble staying on the diet to do? His answer, according to my memory: Eat! And I'm sure he would approve of potatoes. There are times when just the rule "Eat!" is what we need.

Yep
its always a good time to hear the right thing again:
for those struggling with doubt and those seeking perfection
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STHoPKQxbko

a meal of clean starch really has a way of clearing things up.

[AlwaysAgnes]

Yikes! “When in doubt, eat two or three potatoes”???

Certainly there are better algorithms to decide whether food is needed, yes? I am not carb-phobic, but I certainly don’t feel that starches are “free” or unlimited.

Like, isn’t that one of the things that got us to be one of the fattest nations ever? That we are like, “When in doubt, eat!”

If you’re not sure whether you have eaten a big enough dinnner, perhaps you should wait until you ARE sure. If you undershoot the mark, you probably have a few ounces of belly fat to resort to. (Unless you are an Olympic athlete, or a pre-pubescent boy!). If you overshoot the mark (piling on two or three hundred calories, beyond your body’s physical needs), then you’ve got a hole to dig out of, and that can’t be good!

I don’t know — just an alternate perspective!

What about, “When in doubt, figure it out!” You either need more calories or you don’t. Seldom an in-between.

I think the point was if you don't know what you're actually hungry for eat a potato. If you're not hungry enough to eat a potato, maybe you're not actually hungry. When hungry, I might be able to eat 2 potatoes, but I'd certainly have a very hard time trying to eat 5...unless we're talking about those little petite baby potatoes.

[figlover]

I dunno, I think coconuts' point has merit. Seems to depend on your personality type.
We have a saying in music ...'when in doubt, lay out' Playing in an ensemble its best to just 'lay out' if you can't hit the notes 'in time'
Don't lose the groove! whatever you do.

[Chumly]

If you think you're hungry, but you are craving unhealthy food and you're not interested in healthy food, something else is going on. Sometimes you think you're hungry, but you're really just bored, anxious or some other reason is tempting you to feed yourself instead of figuring out what's really going on.

Michael

[f00die]

If you think you're hungry, but you are craving unhealthy food and you're not interested in healthy food, something else is going on. Sometimes you think you're hungry, but you're really just bored, anxious or some other reason is tempting you to feed yourself instead of figuring out what's really going on.

Michael

in this situation
no matter how you approach, analyse or respond to it
a meal of clean starch (500 calories:a pound of cooked potatoes/rice) can only help.
it'll give satiety thus eliminating the "im hungry" pov
it'll also give energy for better decision making, if the craving is a residual echo from years of unhealthy behavior
itll reduce how much pizza & ice cream you eat if you crack and go off the rails completely
and cant figure anything out
no downside at all.
from the trenches

[roundcoconut]

Problem with eating too much is if you can’t support that caloric load with high activity level.

If you’re happy, maybe you should have something to eat.
If you’re tired, maybe a little pick me up snack or two.
If your favorite show is on, have a bite to eat.
If nothing’s on, make a little something to eAt instead.

Worried? You probably gravitate toward food.
Just worked out? Eat.
Saw a commercial featuring yummy foods? Go explore your kitchen.
Meeting a friend? Eat.
Waiting for a text? Eat.

Eating again when the gas tank is already sufficiently full, doesn’t necessarily end well for all. Three mealtimes is probably enough. Maybe four if you’re having difficulty with lightheadedness.

[Willijan]

U feel u need to eat something but not sure what u want. Eat a potato or 5 and it works every time. Add some mushrooms or garlic onions or what ever it works.

I don't know exactly what veg tom meant, but I read this as just a simple paean to the deliciousness of potatoes.

[f00die]

Problem with eating too much is if you can’t support that caloric load with high activity level.

If you’re happy, maybe you should have something to eat.
If you’re tired, maybe a little pick me up snack or two.
If your favorite show is on, have a bite to eat.
If nothing’s on, make a little something to eAt instead.

Worried? You probably gravitate toward food.
Just worked out? Eat.
Saw a commercial featuring yummy foods? Go explore your kitchen.
Meeting a friend? Eat.
Waiting for a text? Eat.

Eating again when the gas tank is already sufficiently full, doesn’t necessarily end well for all. Three mealtimes is probably enough. Maybe four if you’re having difficulty with lightheadedness.

these are a good description of disordered eating:
eating for fun
eating for taste
eating coz its time
etc.
essentially eating for any reason other than hunger.
hence the recommendation to eat the recommended foods when hungry (whenever that is).
stop when comfortably full. (not stuffed/not clear your plate)
listen to your body's natural cues for controlling food intake.
abandon all other cues for feeding behaviors.
over time, eating the right foods as described in the mcd plan,
the amounts and frequency of meals takes care of itself.
hunger will let you know when you need more food and when you need less.
the focus of efforts should be on getting what goes on the plate right.
anything else will get one in trouble of various kinds
including losing faith that the program works
(which is unsurprising if one isnt applying the guidelines)

[geo]

When in doubt...figure it out!

If you don't know if your hungry or want to eat...then you aren't and shouldn't

If your emotional...un/happy, sad, depressed, confused...don't eat

if your bored, tired, sleepy... don't eat

if you have to meet some schedule or time... don't eat

if you have to ask yourself what your hungry for... your not....don't eat

you know what real hunger feels like, so follow the cues/clues...

take a minute to think...you won't starve!

then when you figure it out and you really are hungry... eat till comfortably full

[roundcoconut]

It is probably worth mentioning, as well, that not everyone here is extremely overweight.

I believe Jeff Novick has talked about how a person who is in the “extremely overweight” category, has a lot of room for error. Someone coming from a diet of twinkies and pizzas, can likely switch to a plant-based diet and lose weight, even if they are making a lot of beginner mistakes.

It is a little bit like someone who begins to exercise. Even walking to your mailbox and back, will improve your fitness, if what you’ve been doing for the last six years, is 100% sedentary living.

But a fairly fit person who puts in five to six days a week on the elliptical machine cannot gain in fitness (or even maintain their fitness) by walking to the mailbox and back.

My BMI is 18.9, and I know from experience that overeating means gaining weight. That doesn’t mean that I am perfect, or that I never overeat. But it DOES mean that the potatoes aren’t free. For me personally.

I can somewhat understand the strategy to overeat on potatoes, if that’s going to help you from overeating on cheezits, if you feel that you are in that catogory of people (the extremely overweight category) who can lose weight while still overeating. But that strategy is not a terribly good one for someone who’s at a fairly decent BMI already.

[spinner]

I agree with geo! Anger, frustration, sadness, or even happiness are not hunger.

I try to follow Dr. Matt Lederman's 3 phase eating approach: start with a big salad or bowl of veggies (this is your "multivitamin"). Then eat beans and a whole starch (potatoes or brown rice or whole grains; this course is to fill you up). Then I eat fresh or unsweetened frozen fruit as dessert. If still hungry, start over with another big bowl of salad or other veggies. Keep cycling through til you are full. This is from his book Keep It Simple, Keep It Whole (Lederman and Pulde). This is pretty much the same as Jeff Novick's plate where he starts with soup or salad, goes on to veggies, beans, and starch, and ends with fruit. It's helped me to think about meals this way. See Jeff's topic, The Healthy Eating Placemat:A Visual Guide To Healthy Eating. Extremely helpful and sensible.