No clean plates. 
I'm about to turn all of your old familiar food mantras onto their heads!  No clean plates? That's right. Think about this. Why on earth do we let other people dictate our portion sizes? When we "clean our plates" that is exactly what we are doing. We are saying that someone else knows better than we do how much of a particular food we want or need to eat.

Even if you are scooping up your own food, I maintain that you cannot know exactly how much food you need before you start to eat it. I have seen people (so have you) who are eating dinner and they say "Oh! I am soooo full!" and yet they keep on eating!!! What is that all about? They are letting someone else determine how much they should eat.

By leaving food on your plate, you are expressing your own independence, your own ability to stop eating when you choose to, not because you are out of food.

By leaving food on your plate, you are expressing your own independence, your own ability to stop eating when you choose to.

jne

Enjoy your food.
Ummmm ... But if you didn't enjoy your food, you would not be in this predicament, right? Well, you would be amazed at the amount of food that you consume when you are not even paying any attention!

When you are eating, make a bit of a production of it. Don't just eat stuff out of a bag  or a box; put it in a bowl or on a plate, and then put the bag or box away.  Then relish each bite! Feel it on your tongue, its crunch or its coolness, taste the salt, the sweet, the tang. Every bite!

Are you eating this next bite because you truly want it, or just because it is there?

And this next part is harder to get, but it is important. Before each bite, anticipate it. Do you really want it? Do you have enough of that hot fudge flavor in your mouth already, or do you need more of it? Stop and think: are you eating this next bite because you truly want it or just because it is there?

When your food is presented to you, even if you served it yourself, draw a line down the middle of each item, marking its halfway point. Then when you are halfway done, look away from the food. Assess your appetite. Pretend like you have just been presented with this meal (the food that is left on your plate) Ask yourself very seriously "Do I want this? Am I *hungry*?" If you realize that you really do not want more of this, "there is all this food here," you think. "It is going to go to *waste*!" Well, this is another misconception. Keep reading.jne

The biggest waste of food is carrying it on your waist.  
"Oh, I can't let this good food go to *waste*!" You have heard the lament. We have all said it. We have all thought it. The idea that if we do not eat all of the food offered us, we are somehow wasting it, is an idea that contributes to the culture of obesity in this culture.

A woman wrote to Marilyn Vos Savant, columnist for Parade Magazine, well-known for her high IQ which has earned her a place in Guinness Book of World Records. Her question was, "Which is the bigger sin -- gluttony or waste? I feel guilty eating so much, but I feel guilty throwing it away." Marilyn's answer rang a bell with me, because this is something that I have long believed, and have actually felt quite alone in believing. She said that she believes "the greater wrong is gluttony, because it is actually two wrongs combined: gluttony and waste." (Parade, 7/18/99) 

When you think that it is a waste of food to not eat it, consider this: Wouldn't you toss into the landfill twenty pounds of perfectly good groceries if, by doing so, you would be ten pounds lighter?

jne
Wouldn't you toss into the landfill twenty pounds of perfectly good groceries if, by doing so, you would be ten pounds lighter?
When you eat something, if it is something that you are not simply craving, even if it is just one more bite than you want, that, my friend, is waste. Begin to think like this. Begin to rid yourself of the childhood myth that somehow you can help starving children in China by eating food that you do not want or need.

To TRULY help starving children in China and elsewhere, go to The Hunger Site. It won't cost you a thing!

Never eat till you are full. You know the feeling. You pat your tummy, sit back in your chair, sigh heavily and say, "OOOooh I'm so full!" Well, for a moment, think about that feeling. Is it a good feeling? Really? One should never eat to the point of being uncomfortable. EVER. I have seen people in fine restaurants so full that they can hardly walk when they get finished. Is this the experience that you pay for when you go out to eat? I doubt it. You should feel GOOD when you leave a restaurant. 

For more on strategies to use when eating out, see Nuts & Bolts.

jne
The biggest waste of food is carrying it on your waist.

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This author does not purport to be a nutritionist or expert in this field. The author has consulted with a physician who verifies this material to be medically and scientifically sound. Consider talking to your physician before beginning any sort of weight loss or exercise program. Web space for this site is paid for by the site owner and author. The author maintains this site and is not monetarily compensated in any way for this.