80% Full

I recently had a client come to me and ask if my goal was for her to stop eating when she is 80% full.  I hadn't really every thought about quantifying it like that.  But let's give it some thought:

Let's say 100% full is measure by anytime you leave the table having any thoughts at all about your waistband being tight, that you shouldn't have eaten that last helping or feeling like you need to take a nap. 

Thanksgiving (if you tend to get stuff there) is extra credit.  You have moved Heaven and Earth to be able to accomodate the extra food you eat on Thanksgiving.

80% then would be a great goal!  Think of a gallon zip lock bag -- what would 80% full look like?  Now put your two fists together -- if that is the size of your stomach, what would 80% of that look like?

The trick of this is that it takes some finesse to hit 80% and not go over.  Think about how much brain power it would take to fill up your gas tank to 80% ?  You can do it but you have to think about it because the hard stop doesn't work for 80% -- it only works for 100%.

So, see what you can do with this.  Maybe you're a numbers/quantification person and this seems more sensible (measureable) to you.  However you conceptualize it, the goal is to eat a bit less.