Okinawan diet--hara hachibu

[wallycat]

Has anyone read this book? Hara hachibu, according to the book, means to eat till you're only 80% or so full....
how many of you eat till you're just barely full, comfortably full, or tend to over-eat and feel very full (not counting holidays :D ).

I tend to eat till I"m comfortably full to very full....depending on what I make or what "good stuff" is around the house....:o

[Kahlico]

I eat what I put on my plate but granted I don't put much on my plate. 90% I eat until I'm comfortably full. sometimes my stomach feels smaller than normal and I stuff myself on the same amount of food that would make me not so full.

[tanastaplo]

I read about this in the January Prevention magazine, and have been trying it. Even before I read this, I usually served myself a little less than I wanted, but now I put my fork/spoon down when I'm about 2/3 or 3/4 of the way through to think about how full I am. If I'm 80% full (which I usually am by then), I actively push the plate away, and get up from the table to put some water on for herb tea. Knowing that a cup of tea is on the way makes it easy (or at least easiER...) to forego the remaining food on my plate. I haven't been trying this long enough yet to tell you any benefits of it, but I certainly am learning that I don't need as much food as I serve myself to feel full. And by the time I finish my tea, I feel completely satisfied. (Nice side-benefit to this routine is that it slows down dinner with my husband -- we sit and talk longer while we linger over our tea.)

[kennon123]

I am curious about this diet. What is the pint of eating 80% full? Does it allow you to relize that you don't need to much food or is it that your stomach can shrink. I honestly think that my stomach has expanded recently. I have started eating more vegetables and large volumes of lower calore foods. At first, I felt really full, almost to the point where i couldn't finish the food on my plate. Now I ccan without problem, yet I find mysel hungry ALL the time.
I have a feeling my stomach has expanded.

[wallycat]

the idea behind eating less is that modest eating prolongs life (less free radicals) with a side benefit of weight management, that also contributes to longevity. The Okinawan program was a look at why Okinawa has the longest living people than anywhere in the world.

[KValley]

Originally posted by kennon123
I am curious about this diet. What is the pint of eating 80% full? Does it allow you to relize that you don't need to much food or is it that your stomach can shrink.

kennon- one of the principles behind the 80 percent full concept is that it takes your brain about 20 minutes to register the amount of food you have consumed. So, if you quit eating when you are 80 sated, within half an hour you should feel 100 percent full.

SOunds easy- wish I were better at it. I work to eat just the recommended portion of a recipe and to quit when I am full. Haven't really considered when I am 80 percent full, 100 percent, 64 percent, whatever...:rolleyes: