Even though we weren't poor, I was raised to eat everything on my plate, every last morsel, I would be made to sit at the table until finished. Apparently my grandparents were poor as kids in the 30s, and somehow that got handed down to my dad, who was very strict about it.
There are only a few things that help: Giving my food to someone else, or giving my food to the dog. If I can't do either, I have this intense psychological push to eat everything on my plate. Cooking less or putting less on my plate does help but it's hard to judge how much to take or cook sometimes.
Was anyone else raised this way? If so, how have you dealt with it? Or if you've overcome it, how did you go about it?
There a soooo many people who have been raised like this. Go to WalMart and get salad plates and put your food on the smaller plate and when you eat all your food it will be less. Drink an 8oz glass of water right before you start to eat and drink another one while you eat, it will fill you up faster. Hope this helps.
If I can't finish something (which is rare), I'll put it back in the fridge and have it another time. Is that an option for you? You can even eat your food straight out of an individual sized tupperware and that way you can close it and have it later.
I was raised like this and now handle it like luckymommy
(until the food spoils, thats why I use zipbags. sometimes I just dont want it anymore, and if its spoiled it can "go" ^^)
I also precook stuff like sauces and meatballs and freeze them portion size, that way I can take out just the right portion for me and all food is cosumed ^^
I was raised on the belief that you should never worry about spending money on food (which amounts to the same thing as it implies large portions).
But saying that, portion control is the hard way to play this game.
I have learnt to go for large portions of healthy stuff for breakfast and lunch combined with skipping dinner. For example, my lunch salad with fish must weigh at least 3 lbs.
That way I don't go hungry, lose weight (or at least used to) and feel satisified.
I also work out a lot (vigorous for 90 minutes a day) which allows me to eat a little more.
I have been unsuccessful in up training the clean plate mentality, and since we cannot afford to waste food by tossing it we solve the issue by taking extremely tiny portions when the food is served, so we are cleaning our plate but the quantity is reasonable. We can always go back and get more if needed. That's been a better thing for me than trying and failing to put stuff back in the fridge.
I also precook stuff like sauces and meatballs and freeze them portion size, that way I can take out just the right portion for me and all food is cosumed ^^
I also pre cook and portion food for my freezer. It makes it easy because I've already calculated that a dish will serve me 8 times (for example), and divide the calories by that, labeling the container.
Another option is weighing out 2oz of dry pasta and only cooking that or cooking 1/4 cup of dry rice at a time, 3-4 oz of meat at a time, etc. Then you can fill up the rest of your serving with non-starchy vegetables and you have a meal that is the appropriate portion size and no leftovers to pick from.
Yep. I wasn't allowed to leave until I was done, either. We were lower-middle class, so we didn't have food shortages. My father got very angry if we didn't eat everything he gave us. We weren't allowed to ask for more food, and if we didn't finish what he had served us (we didn't get to pick how much we wanted) then we'd have to sit and choke it down until it was gone. And often that wasn't even the worst punishment. So I learned to eat everything I got even if I felt sick from all of it, or if I hated the food. Not healthy.
I try not to do this now. It's a rough habit to break, though. There are strange emotions with it, too. I try now to just eat what I can and then put the rest back in the fridge. Even if I want it again in only 20 minutes. It's to help build better habits.
I also try to put less on my plate to start, and tell myself I can always get more if I'm hungry.
My husband was raised like this and I see his family members clean their plates and mop up sauce with bread. He's an intuitive eater though so at home he serves himself the right amount of food, it doesn't seem to be a problem. If we don't finish everything on out plate we just put plastic wrap over it and store for later.
I was raised the opposite way, my mother taught me that it is unladylike to finish everything on my plate and that I should always always leave something on my plate. So I do. That goes to show you that obesity lies on either side of the argument, these habits are not ultimately to blame, perhaps they contribute but not blame entirely.
So being at my inlaws is tricky because they grew up very very poor, not only do you have to finish everything on your plate but you also get no access to the food to serve yourself. The father makes up your plate for you and he decides what and how much each person eats. It's too much food for me, I've never cleared my plate. If perhaps I could serve myself then I would stand a chance at clearing my plate and fall I line with their practices but they always put an inhuman portion of food on my plate. I don't know how they do it, but yes weight is a problem for them.
I would get teased and ridiculed by my mother for eating everything on my plate. She had a deep disdain for fat. I was her worst fear incarnate, lol. Believe me, I love her deeply. But even to this day when i see her, she watches like a hawk everything I eat.
I was raised this way as well. I was not allowed to leave the table unless I ate everything on my plate...I was always the last one at the table.
Now, I use small plates so it makes it easier on me. And I also use a website that gives me recipe ideas and I guess because the food is so nutritional, I get full so fast...and for longer.
My DP comes from a portuguese family where the grandfather emigrated to Brazil when he was 12, all alone, without money or extra clothes to escape from political dictatorship. He slept on the ground of an old store where he worked and he managed to build a business by saving money. He died a very wealthy man, leaving properties and a lot of money to my MIL. It is really important for DP to cook more food than we can eat. If we throw a dinner for friends, my partner will cook maybe 2 times the amount of food the group can eat. It's said in some traditional portuguese families that you can be very poor and dont have decent clothes or a nice place to live, but you must never have an empty plate. They take pride in this. Dp has a completely diferent idea of what is a small meal or what is too much food. Food totaly equals loves for my MIL and FIL and that's how they raised their kids.
I was raised to eat the amount i wanted so i find it weird that they cook twice what they eat and then are left with a lot of leftovers. I did spend a year or so living with my grandmother and she would serve me and i had to eat everything on the plate. It was terrible and i would sometimes feel a lot of hunger and other times feel sick. I couldn't ask for more or less food than what she had served. It is terible to be in this situation. Nowadays i try not to waste food but i will throw out leftovers that i left on my plate because i'm done torturing myself even if it means sometimes i'll waste a small amount of food.
Last edited by Marina Brasil; 08-02-2014 at 02:08 PM.
Eating everything on your plate
