How do you know when your full when eating?

When I'm hungry, it's a really painful feeling in my stomach. When I'm full, it feels like I'm bloated. Not really painful just uncomfortable and sometimes with a dash of "oh god am i gonna throw up cause i ate too much" mixed up in it all

Hi- I can relate to this- for me hunger , fullness and nausea all feel quite similar which can make it difficult (and I have IBS too which makes it worse too). You can get better though at reading the cues and sometimes using context and other cues can be helpful- eg. When did you last eat? If it has been a while, it could be hunger. Are you feeling faint, tired too? These could be signs of hunger (though they could also be simply due to being tired). And during a meal, it can help to maybe check in and see if you had a reasonable portion already etc. It takes time to figure out the cues. It also helps to have a routine and regular meals and snacks- it will make your hunger and fullness cues more reliable and will give you some structure

it might also be a good idea to talk to your GP about the constant hunger. There are medical conditions that can cause constant hunger so it would be good to rule out. 

also different foods make you feel more or less full and for different times. foods with more fibre eg whole grains fruits vegetables will help you feel full longer. Protein also helps with this. 

if you do make changes to diet or want to try eating smaller portions (not sure if this is what you want), you need to give yourself time to get used to it. I had a lot of issues with digestion and eating and needed to gain weight and at some point I made myself eat 2 huge meals in day. Initially when starting meal i would feel ravenous, then it would turn into feeling queasy but I felt compelled to try and eat more and once I pushed past a certain point it almost felt like hunger again (though this probably was nausea and overfullness). When I first got into more regular eating of 3 smaller meals and 3 snacks it felt super weird and each meal somehow felt incomplete- a lot of it is habit too especially when you are having a hard time reading hunger and fullness cues. 

Def Leepard,

Completely accurate but with a starter and then time to the main course being through and then more time to the dessert coming, all whilst chatting in company and still feeling hungry afterwards isn;t working...

I used to grab a sneaky burger from a van on the way home afterwards and still be hungry so there were multiple breaks and slow eating over the course of the night.

Aw great I'm glad she's being so helpful with this.

Sounds like a lovely therapist ^^

Our bodies are poorly designed for thirst. In endurance sports athletes are constantly reminded to keep drinking because you don't actually feel thirsty until you're already dehydrated. 

My therapist wants me to fill it in by hand, I think so I'll have a paper record when I'm done and can look back and be proud of how much ice cream I've eaten. Or something. She also draws a graph tracking my weight for similar reasons.

Hi Goosey,

That's an interesting one thank you... I am often dehydrated too and am sure that affects my sleep. I play PokemonGo and some events are 8 hours - I walk, playing for the whole 8 hours without a drink and not noticing im either tired, hungry and thirsty.. It is just my legs that get wobbly that alert me to doing too much.

My mum gets annoyed that I go without fluid for 8/ 9 hours outside in temperatures of 80.

Have you thought about getting an app to keep track of your food?

I think they also have reminders which can be helpful as well :) 

Uhane.
It is a fact that when we eat fast it takes a while for our brain to catch up before it registers that we are full.
The trick is to eat SLOW so the brain catches up.
Your brain will then let you know you are full before you eat to much.
Google it.
It's true.

I had this trouble 'til I got a food allergy test. Now I avoid the allergic foods and take antigen drops. and.. no more pain and no more guessing when's enough to eat! I can tell when I'm full! It feels good. I don't know if it's allergies for you but it was for me. I am allergic to lots of things. Only recently tested for foods though.

I actually don't know.

I don't feel hungry or thirsty and that often leads to problems.

Especially my inability to detect when I need a drink. I get dehydrated way too much.

I think you can get apps on your phone that tell you when you need to eat

So maybe you could go by that or give it a try and see if it helps ^^

Hi,

Up until about 3 months ago I experienced the same as what you describe but I assumed I had a large appetite... It was always a joke with friends and colleagues (once set a work record for 23 pizza slices on a lunch break). I would often have 18in pizzas, two starters and a main.

I used to say to people I only judge what I should eat by the portion I get... If in a restaurant, I would have a starter, main and dessert and still be hungry but I accepted that I had eaten what the population would eat and the hunger feeling afterwards was what everyone felt.

getting back to the 3 months, this is when it was suggested I was autistic... I started investigating and to cut a long story short, and as per other comments... This hunger is inkeeping with autistic traits. It is all very frustrating and weird to find out that people dont feel hungry 24/7 so once I get an official diagnosis... It may be smething I raise as a big problem for me.

You are so welcome! Knowledge and self understanding is so important, I am so glad  I could help you with that. There are lots more resources about interoception and autistic experience online including this video below:

Feeling Autistic: Interoception and Emotional Processing 

https://youtu.be/F_8xkO0JhF0?si=nbK1gMq0OpXWJ1zq

Also Kelly Mahler is a well known expert on interoception and on her website she has numerous resources and workshops to support neurodivergent adults to develop interoception:

https://www.kelly-mahler.com/

Abigail said:

I've read the blog post and if is super helpful

There are lots of other articles on her website which are brilliant too!

I have heard the term a few times but never really understood what if meant. Now I know what it is, it makes sense now. Whenever I've heard interoception mentioned, it had always been to do with lower interoception. I never knew heightened interoception was a thing. This is really helpful.

I've read the blog post and if is super helpful. I have saved it so I can go back to it if I need a reminder. Thank you so much.

I suffer from GI problems thanks to colitis and I get a lot of wind movement in my stomach which confuses me massively whether I'm hungry or not.. I've mistakingly ate something thinking it was hunger and then I'm uncomfortable and bloated for hours because it turns out I wasn't hungry.

I don't really like eating if I'm honest. The texture and smell of foods is very off putting for me and not knowing when I'm hungry just adds to my dislike of it.

Generally you don't feel pain from being full. Just maybe a bit bloated and slow at a certain point and then stuff like nausea if you keep going. 

I'm kinda the opposite where I don't feel physically hungry really at all. I'm filling in a food diary lately where you score yourself after everything you eat from 1 (desperately hungry) through 4 (neither hungry nor full) to 7 (on the verge of exploding) and I never go below 4.

Hello.  

Have you heard of interoception? Interoception is the sense that allows humans to detect and respond to the internal state of our bodies which includes hunger, thirst, temperature regulation, pain , emotions, needing the toilet and more.

Many of us in the autistic community have interoception differences including heightened or reduced responses to our bodily signals. Your situation is a great example of possible heightened interoception.

 I apologise if this doesn’t seem relevant to your situation.

You may relate to this article below:

https://www.authenticallyemily.uk/blog/interoceptive-awareness-in-autism-and-adhd

I hope this helps!