I needed to figure out why I had a problem with overeating. At the root of it I ate too much because my dad survived the depression as a child and ever since had a horror of not having enough to eat. He always overfed us and encouraged us to have seconds. He would do things like put water in the ketchup bottle to get the last little bit and eat fruit like apples completely, core and all. He would get very upset if he saw food in the garbage.

Because we were not fat children (he also encouraged us to run around and play, limited our tv time) I had no idea that we were overeating or developing bad eating habits until I became an adult and overweight after my 3rd child. I had no idea about portion sizes or anything! I thought a full dinner plate of rice was one portion of rice. I thought a serving of apples meant 3 or 4 apples at one time, I kid you not. I still have a problem with throwing away food. What helps me with this is to not prepare more food than we can eat at any one meal and if we have leftovers to immediately store them for lunch the next day rather than eat them right then. I still have trouble knowing when I am full, I always thought being full meant being stuffed to bursting, because that was how I ate as a child.

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