- Chris Terrell lost 125 pounds over 2.5 years by following one simple guideline.
- He tried to only eat when hungry. If he wasn't hungry, he wouldn't eat.
- A dietitian told Insider this is essentially practicing mindful eating.
When Chris Terrell embarked on the journey that would see him lose 125 pounds over the space of 2 ½ years, he didn't overly restrict his diet or try to follow complex food rules like he'd done in the past. He simply told himself if he wasn't hungry, he wouldn't eat.
Terrell knew that after decades of eating huge portions of junk food for most meals and lots of processed snacks, overhauling his diet overnight would be unsustainable. But he knew he needed to eat less.
"I told myself: I can eat whatever I want, but I have to be hungry. And when I'm no longer hungry, I have to stop eating," Terrell told Insider.
This not only seemed manageable but also made him more conscious of his eating habits, and he no longer ate mindlessly.
"I didn't deprive myself of foods I enjoyed, but if I wasn't hungry, I told myself to wait until I was and eat it later," Terrell said.
Taking small portions of food
When Terrell is, say, at a party where there's lots of food, he will only ever put a small portion on his plate to ensure he doesn't overeat. He eats a small amount, then goes back for more if he's hungry, and stops when he's full, he said.
"I tell myself, 'Just serve yourself way less than normal and when you're done, wait a few minutes, and if you're still hungry, go back and get more,'" he said.
For most people it takes about 20 minutes for the brain to register the body is full after eating, so eating slowly and waiting before having more is recommended.
On Thanksgiving, Terrell throws caution to the wind and eats whatever he wants. The rest of the time, he will only eat if he's hungry.
"Hunger never gets overridden," he said.
Learning to manage hunger
Perfecting this habit has helped Terrell learn how to manage his hunger. For example, if he's hungry at 5 p.m. but knows he's going out for dinner at 7 p.m., he only has a small snack so he'll still be hungry.
If Terrell overate or ate before he was hungry, which happened occasionally when he was practicing his new habit, he would reflect on his actions so he could learn from them and try to work out if he was eating for comfort or out of boredom, he said.
"I knew I ate my feelings, but I didn't realize just how bad I was until I drew that line in the sand and said: 'anytime I crossed that line, I have to understand why I crossed it,'" he said.
Journaling helped Terrell find patterns in his behaviors and form new habits.
"That's why this took two and a half years, I had setbacks," Terrell said.
Thinking of hunger on a scale can prevent mindless eating
Registered dietitian Kara Mockler told Insider that by listening to his hunger signals and stopping when satisfied, Terrell is eating mindfully.
Thinking about hunger as a scale can help people to recognize their hunger and fullness, Mockler said.
"If people started taking 15 seconds before a meal to check in with themselves and rate from one to 10 how hungry they're feeling, it could help them portion out a balanced meal," Mockler said. "Similarly, throughout their meal, if every few bites they pause and check in with themselves to see how full and satisfied they're feeling, that can prevent overeating."
She advises her fat loss clients not to cut out any food groups but simply to eat them in smaller portions or less frequently, much like Terrell did.
"Learning how to incorporate and portion your favorite foods into your healthy lifestyle is what makes weight loss and transformations sustainable," she said. "You may have to eat a smaller portion or eat your favorite food less often, but that doesn't mean it's bad or that you can never have it."