The following is from The Weigh Down Diet by Gwen Shamblin.
- Wait anywhere from one to thirty-six hours on your first hunger, and then it will be approximately one to three times a day. Do not fear–you will love the energy you feel from this and the delight from being able to wait.
- Hunger is a polite burning sensation, the feeling of a knot inside your stomach. If you have to bypass hunger due to work or social conflicts, the sensation will come back around in forty-five minutes. While it is normal to skip hunger once in a while, do not make it a habit. If you haven’t felt hunger within thirty-six hours, eat a small meal and wait for hunger again. You should feel it soon. After your first attempt, do not keep waiting thirty-six hours. Continue to decrease your food daily until you feel stomach hunger. Do not be legalistic. We are working on reducing food intakes to normal amounts for your body.
- Family meal time. If you are hungry before dinner, just bypass hunger. If you are full at normal mealtime because of an irregular eating schedule or because you tasted all your cooking–several times–then just drink a glass of non-caloric tea and talk to the family.
- Drink non-caloric beverages to help the sugar levels drop normally so that you can get the hunger signal. Continual intake of sugar through drinks prevents you from sensing hunger.
- Sip your drink between bites. Stop eating when you are satisfied.
- Rate foods. Decide which foods you like best and eat those first, saving the least favorite until the end. Generally, leave desserts until last.
- Wrap up leftovers. You can have them the next time you are hungry.
- Use carryouts when eating out. Restaurants serve such large portions. Some foods, especially pastas, taste better the next day. Some just turn green in the fridge, and then you can easily throw them away!
- Do not serve yourself a five-course meal just because a medication must be taken with food. Food needed with pills can be small amounts like one to three crackers. You do not need a banquet unless the physician orders that.
- In the Weigh Down Workshop, expect your food consumption to decrease 1/2 to 2/3 of what you were eating as an overeater. As you progress, you may expect your desire eating, or desire for food, to decrease over time.