My Abundance Factor

For those of us whose relationship with food is less than healthy we often suffer from what I think of as a "skewed abundance factor".  Over the past couple of months I've started to notice that I tend to eat every meal like food is leaving the planet.  The new tactic I'm trying (which I realize is not new to many WW members!) is making a smaller amount of food (because I always eat ALL that I make) and tell myself this is enough but I can have more if I'm still hungry.

I really noticed my skewed abundance factor when a month or so ago I ate all but 8 of my daily SP's by 1:30.  I was in a panic and shared it on our WW FB page.  I think it was Marg who reminded me how low in SP's shrimp is and I was able to come up with a huge honkin' 3 SP salad to fulfill my "abundance factor" needs.   My bowl was the lid from a cake carrier.  It suddenly dawned on me I never use it to cover a cake, it is always my salad bowl.  It holds enough salad for a family of 6 and I always eat the whole thing.  A perfect example of a skewed abundance factor: far more than needed to feel satisfied physically but the perfect amount needed to feel satisfied mentally.

This event gave me valuable insight about my idea of what constitutes a reasonable amount of food and lead me to conclude the following:

-Even zeros can be dangerous for me - Zero points does not mean all you-can-eat.

-I need parameters even for zero point veggies or my salad will always be the size of a cake carrier lid.

-I need to measure out 2 cups of veggies for my stir-fry or I eat 6 cups.

-I need to start with a reasonable amount.  If I get hungry that would be the time to eat more, not eat more to start with.

I now make my salad with about 2 or 3 cups of veggies, still large enough to be satisfied but not enough to feel stuffed.  Surprisingly the result has been feeling less panicky about where or when my next meal will be.  I almost feel like food is not leaving the planet.

Is your "abundance factor" skewed?  

Do you constantly think about your next meal?

Do you worry there will not be enough?

In this instance, what we need to know is:

there will be enough,

we have enough,

we are enough.