Hey guys, i'm so happy i found this site. I am new here and I need to lose about 20lbs.

I've started cutting down on my calorie intake because after doing a couple quick calculations.. I noticed I've been eating enough calories per day to maintain my weight... which of course is not what I want.

So I'm attempting to restrict. Meanwhile, its a bit hard not to overeat...so the other day after eating my "allowed serving size and calorie amount" for that one sitting... I still found myself feeling starved. So.... I hate to admit this but... I started to chew and spit my food until I started feeling satisfied.

It worked really well... it gave me enough time to let my stomach "feel full" without packing in more junk for no reason. I made sure not to swallow any (tmi) saliva or food down... I'm just wondering if there is a chance I absorbed extra calories?

this is not a behaviour I plan on doing often.. I just found it helped that one time.. but of course now I am worried I went over in my daily calorie intake goal.


-thx

First of all, you need to stop doing this. Chewing and spitting is an eating disorder just like anorexia and bulimia. I'm not saying that you have an eating disorder now, but if you keep up this behavior, it can become an eating disorder. It's NOT a healthy thing.

If you're not feeling satisfied by what you're eating, it's a good bet that you're not eating the right things. A good healthy meal should contain complex carbs, proteins, and some healthy fats in order to help you feel satisfied.

Another thing that can help with hunger is to eat more often. A lot of people eat anywhere from 4-7 times a day, smaller meals, but more frequent. This keeps you from getting completely hungry between meals.

What are you eating now? When you say you're restricting food, what do you mean? If you can give an example of what you're eating in a regular day, we can help you figure out how to tweak it so that you'll feel more satisfied with what you're eating.

"Chew and spit" is a bulimic tendency. This is what bulimics whom have severe eating disorders do daily. Although you think you may not be swallowing those calories, more than likely, some still went down your throat. With many foods, as soon as it touches your tongue, it starts breaking down into sugar. Try eating the right foods with the correct portion size, because it looks as if you aren't eating the correct thing and/or the correct amounts for you to be desperately starving.

Wow, i had no idea it was eating disorder bahviour.....


Okay I'll make sure not to do that again, then lol


thanks for the replies.

Was just wondering...

What is the difference between chewing and spitting food..and say.. chewing gum and how is it bad?

Other then it being an eating disorder behaviour? I'm kinda really curious.

Well the purpose of gum IS to chew it, right? No one sits and eats a pack of gum, one stick at a time. (Or if they do, they're probably suffering from a different kind of compulsion about gum. ) Gum is made for chewing - so when you chew gum, you're not using it in a disordered way to satisfy an emotional need. You're using it for it's assigned purpose - to clean your mouth, to freshen your breath, or even just to chew (maybe if you're trying to quit smoking or whatever).

The purpose of food is to eat it - to consume it to nourish your body. It's nice to also be able to enjoy what you eat as a nice byproduct of nourishment. But when you start using food to serve another purpose ... that becomes a disordered way of thinking about food.

There's a quote at the eating and wellness website that I remember ... I just went and looked it up to make sure I got it right: