Small Appetite?

In the Help Me Help You thread, a reader asks:

Dana, you have a small appetite. Doesn't seem like much food when all you eat is a chicken thigh that fills you up for the day. Or are you not telling us some of the stuff you are eating?

No, when I post my Daily Menu it includes everything I've eaten. Indeed, when I don't post my Daily Menu it's generally because I didn't get around to writing everything down, and I'm afraid I'll miss something.

But when have I ever posted that all I ate was a chicken thigh? First of all, it's a rare day that I eat less than either two eggs plus some cheese -- ie, an omelet -- or three eggs for breakfast; often I have three eggs plus some sort of meat. And I always cook my eggs in at least a teaspoon or two of fat, which increases the satiety value. I have been saying for years that a big, high protein, low carb breakfast lessens appetite for the whole day.

I do often eat a chicken leg-and-thigh quarter for lunch, but usually not just a thigh. When it is just a thigh, it's because the cheap sacks of leg-and-thigh quarters I bought for some ridiculously low price seem to be from the mutant chickens raised near the nuclear power plant, and have thighs about the size of a linebacker's. Rarely would I eat less than 6-8 ounces of chicken in a serving; that's double or more what I would get in, say, a grilled chicken salad at Applebee's. And keep in mind I always eat the skin, again, a good source of appetite-reducing fat.

When I don't have chicken for lunch, I often have a pan-broiled pork shoulder steak. These are a pretty fatty cut -- one of the reasons I like them! -- and mine usually weigh at least eight ounces. That doesn't seem like a teeny portion to me. Sometimes I have tuna salad -- made with 7 ounces of canned tuna, a couple of ribs of celery, some onion, sugar-free bread and butter pickles, and three or four tablespoons of mayo -- that's 300-400 calories of mayonnaise alone.

Dinner portions are often as large as those I have for lunch.

And of course I also snack a little, on pork rinds (often with cream cheese and jalapenos), nuts, low carb baked goods I might have hanging around, and other filling stuff.

It's a rare day my calorie count comes in below 1700 calories, and it's not uncommon for it to top 2200. That doesn't seem abstemious for a 5'2" woman in her fifties.

But of course, you must go with your own appetite. So long as you keep your carb intake quite low, simply let your hunger be your guide. However, I do warn you against using food for entertainment. Americans have been trained to munch endlessly and mindlessly, regardless of actual hunger. Eat real, low carb foods, when hungry, enough to feel satisfied. Then stop eating and don't eat again until you're hungry.

Sounds so easy, but it's something very few of us grew up knowing how to do.