How to Know when You're Full

Co-authored by Courtney Fose, RD, MS

Last Updated: December 11, 2022 References

Knowing when you’re full can be tricky. But learning to listen to your body is a major help if you're trying to lose weight, eat enough to maintain a healthy weight, or simply avoid uncomfortable and unnecessary overeating. Mindful eating, monitoring your mood, and removing distractions from the dinner table are all good strategies.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Monitoring Your Sensations

1
Practice mindful eating. Mindful eating refers to the practice of paying attention to whether you are hungry or not. If you are hungry and have not eaten recently, have a snack or meal. If you are hungry but have just eaten a healthy serving of food, wait for a brief time, then reevaluate your hunger. If you continue to feel hungry, help yourself to another serving or half-serving.^{[1]
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2
Stop eating when you stop feeling hungry. Many people find it easier to notice a lack of hunger, rather than a sensation of fullness. This is especially useful if you are dieting or trying to avoid overeating.

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3
Check for satisfaction. After eating a meal, you might be able to detect your body's response as pleasure or satisfaction. This sensation is often accompanied by feelings of comfort, happiness, and an inner calm. Use your perceptive faculties to help you know when you are satisfied.^{[2]
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- Once you feel satisfied due to being full, you can multiply these feelings of dining satisfaction by pausing before eating another bite. Push your food away from you and go for a brief walk, even if it’s just around the block or around your house.
- If you’re at a restaurant and cannot easily or immediately leave the dining room, go to the bathroom for a brief moment before returning to the table.
4
Look for discomfort. If you’ve not been a mindful eater and have failed to detect feelings of satisfaction, there is one more way you can discover whether you are full. This involves feeling uncomfortable. Discomfort following a dining experience is often the result of consuming too much food. This discomfort will manifest as a pain in your gut and may feel as though your belly is being pushed out from the inside.^{[3]
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- Discomfort is a sure sign that you are not only full, but overly full.
- If you feel that you need a breather before taking your next bite, this is a sign that you are uncomfortable or nearing discomfort due to fullness.
- Another potential sign of discomfort is the need to unbutton your pants or remove your belt to allow your gut to expand.
5
Focus on your food. If you eat in a social environment, you’re more likely to be focused on conversation with your friends than on what you’re eating. However, this could cause you to miss the cues that indicate fullness. In order to avoid this, sit in a quiet environment when dining.^{[4]
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- Look at your food as you eat. If making your own food, plate it in an attractive way on bone-white ceramic plates/bowls. This presentation will help make the colors pop in an attractive way.
- Additionally, do not watch TV or listen to the radio while eating.
- Instead, focus on the taste and texture of your food as you chew. Enjoy the flavor of the food in your mouth.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Noticing Fullness

1
Eat slowly. As you eat, the stretch receptors in the stomach are activated. However, it takes time for these signals to reach your brain. Eating more slowly allows more time for your brain to receive these signals and you will, therefore, feel fuller after eating less.^{[5]
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Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School's Educational Site for the Public
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- Plan on spending 15 to 30 minutes per meal.^{[6]
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2
Pause before getting seconds. If you do not feel hungry, it doesn’t always mean that you’re not full. It takes about 20 minutes for the brain register that the stomach is full. In this time, the body produces leptin, a hormone that help you realize you are full.^{[7]
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- If you have just consumed a healthy portion of food but still do not feel full, it could be because your leptin production is still working to catch up to your stomach.
- Distract yourself for a bit. Once you’ve eaten what you believe is (or should be) enough to make you feel full, get up and go do something else. Do the dishes, read a book, or call a friend. When you start doing something else, you will allow time for your leptin production to ramp up to the appropriate level.
3
Eat regular meals. If you haven’t eaten at regularly spaced intervals throughout the day, you’ll likely have a harder time knowing when you are full when you finally do get around to eating. To avoid this, consume a hearty breakfast of fruit, vegetables, and whole grains with a small amount of lean protein like soy, seeds, or nuts. When you get hungry again, consume another meal (lunch) toward the middle of the day. Finally, consume dinner in the evening when you get hungry again.^{[8]
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- If your schedule makes it difficult to eat regular meals, pack a light snack like a banana or a bag of granola so you have something to stave off your hunger and somewhat correct your caloric deficit.
4
Sample a different flavor. If you believe you should be full but don’t quite feel truly full, it might be because you can’t get the lingering flavor of a great meal out of your mouth. This could confuse you into eating more. To avoid this, take a bite of something sweet (like mango or raspberries) or pop a peppermint. Replacing the flavor of your meal with a new flavor will interrupt your cravings for a second helping.
5
Get enough sleep. Research suggests that if you don’t get enough sleep, you might not be able to accurately detect feelings of fullness. Aim for six to eight hours of sleep per night. Less than that could lead to overeating.^{[9]
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Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Choosing Foods to Help You Feel Full

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Drink water. Water can fill the belly and help you increase feelings of fullness. Drink at least eight glasses of water per day and gulp water between bites of your meal.^{[10]
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Mayo Clinic
Educational website from one of the world's leading hospitals
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- Liquid water is not the only way to increase your H2O intake. Fruits and veggies are primarily composed of water. Incorporate more produce into your diet in order to take advantage of its high water content.
2
Eat fibrous foods. Fiber is the part of plant-based foods that you cannot digest. All fruits and vegetables are high in fiber. Whole-grain products (muffins, pastas, breads, and so on) are also high in fiber. Specific examples of high-fiber foods include:^{[11]
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Mayo Clinic
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- popcorn
- apples
- celery
- bananas
- whole-wheat toast
3
Eat low-energy-dense foods (LEDFs). LEDFs are foods that have high spatial volume but relatively low caloric counts. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins (such as soy, nuts, seeds, and beans) are all LEDFs.^{[12]
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Trustworthy Source
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Main public health institute for the US, run by the Dept. of Health and Human Services
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- Choose LEDFs for a healthy snack. If you get hungry between meals, you can eat a snack to help you feel full. Snacks like carrot sticks, blueberries, and bananas make great snacks and will help you feel full longer than a processed snack like potato chips or candy bars.