Clean plate club

lkn42
lkn42 Posts: 37 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I have a tendency to eat everything on my plate....even when I don't like the food that's on it.
Example: I bought a cheesecake from a cute, trendy bakery near my home. This place was so CUTE and everything in the display cases looked absolutely scrumptious. The cheesecake was fairly large considering that it was meant to be an individual portion. I got it home. Had dinner, then excitedly took the first bite of cheesecake and was immediately disappointed. It was quite dry and the taste was sort of.....cardboard'ish. I have no idea why I kept eating it until it was gone. Why did I, essentially, WASTE all those calories? Why didn't I throw it away after that first disappointing bite?
This is something that I do frequently and I'm making a conscious decision today to not finish eating something if I'm not enjoying it.

Replies

  • TinaLeigh67
    TinaLeigh67 Posts: 669 Member
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    The "clean plate" club is also an attributing factor to why so many American citizens are overweight. From finishing leftover kids foods left on plates (ever notice kids are more normal weight versus adults) to getting great deals on take out food but the portion is enough for 3 people.
    One of the key strategies I tell my clients to eat off a 9" plate instead of a 13" plate. Eating off a full plate subconsciously may let someone know they are satisfied. But of course the bigger the plate, usually the more calories consumed.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png

    I was/am a member of the "clean plate" club. I HATE spending money on food and then not eat it. So, I clean my plate. And in the past I cleaned my kids plates as well. And I struggled keeping my weight down. It's something I have been working on for years, with some improvement. Kids are all grown, so it's easier lol.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    I was looking for an article about food-specific Completion Compulsion, but these techniques for managing energy might be helpful as well:

    https://www.prohealth.com/library/no-1-pacing-tip-unlearn-completion-compulsion-90317
  • jo_nz
    jo_nz Posts: 548 Member
    How disappointing that the cheesecake wasn't delicious!

    I have definitely been a member of this club in the past, and actually kind of still am - I have learned to put less on my plate in the first place, and most nights I serve an extra meal into a container for my DH to take for lunch (or if there is a lot, then some for me too).

    I do still find it hard when eating out - often get large servings, and I like to have dessert. But fortunately I don't do that too often.

  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
    langstontl wrote: »
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    The "clean plate" club is also an attributing factor to why so many American citizens are overweight. From finishing leftover kids foods left on plates (ever notice kids are more normal weight versus adults) to getting great deals on take out food but the portion is enough for 3 people.
    One of the key strategies I tell my clients to eat off a 9" plate instead of a 13" plate. Eating off a full plate subconsciously may let someone know they are satisfied. But of course the bigger the plate, usually the more calories consumed.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png

    I was/am a member of the "clean plate" club. I HATE spending money on food and then not eat it. So, I clean my plate. And in the past I cleaned my kids plates as well. And I struggled keeping my weight down. It's something I have been working on for years, with some improvement. Kids are all grown, so it's easier lol.

    Yep, that was me as well. Plus, I did child care for 39 years so would nibble/taste/snack while making meals for them. No wonder I had so many pounds to banish. And being an emotional eater never helped me resist temptation. :( My parents were the ones, back in the day, that would pass out dessert only if you ate everything on your plate. And we had dessert every single day. My sweet tooth was(and IS) a problem.

    OP, don't feel bad; cheesecake (and hard-earned money) is a terrible thing to waste. :) Today's another day. Attack it.
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
    I like @ninerbuff idea with smaller plates. That's what I do. The only time I use a regular dinner plate is for salads with lots of veggies.
  • lkn42
    lkn42 Posts: 37 Member
    wilson10102018 wrote: »
    It was a problem for me until I learned that it goes to waste either way.

    Interesting and helpful way of looking at it.
  • lkn42
    lkn42 Posts: 37 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    I was looking for an article about food-specific Completion Compulsion, but these techniques for managing energy might be helpful as well:

    https://www.prohealth.com/library/no-1-pacing-tip-unlearn-completion-compulsion-90317

    Hey, thanks!
  • TwistedSassette
    TwistedSassette Posts: 8,825 Member
    I think I am the president of the Clean Plate Club!

    I realised that I serve myself portions the same size as those for my 6'4" normal-weight husband, so I started serving myself smaller portions. I still eat everything on the plate most of the time, but it's a smaller plate and a smaller serve so it's not so bad.

    Eating out is more of an issue but we rarely ever eat out anyway - when we do I decide at the beginning of the meal how much of it I will be eating and either ask for a doggy bag for the rest, or place it to the side on the plate and don't touch it. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't - but I am a human being at the end of the day, and I am not perfect all the time!
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    I was able to make the clean plate thing work for me by controlling portions (I eat enough veg that I don't use a smaller plate). Since I tend to feel satisfied when I finish my plate, I was good, even though I was eating quite a bit less.

    Restaurants are more tricky, as are things like sharing a pizza, but I found usually it helps to decide in advance what a reasonable portion is and just eat that.
  • MaltedTea
    MaltedTea Posts: 6,286 Member
    Along the same lines of portioning, some of these food items (assuming you like them) can be frozen and saved for another day.
  • MargaretYakoda
    MargaretYakoda Posts: 2,997 Member
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    The "clean plate" club is also an attributing factor to why so many American citizens are overweight. From finishing leftover kids foods left on plates (ever notice kids are more normal weight versus adults) to getting great deals on take out food but the portion is enough for 3 people.
    One of the key strategies I tell my clients to eat off a 9" plate instead of a 13" plate. Eating off a full plate subconsciously may let someone know they are satisfied. But of course the bigger the plate, usually the more calories consumed.

    There’s also sometimes a component of emotional energy for those who grew up with food insecurity. It’s definitely a factor for me, and it took years to learn to leave things on my plate when I was already full.

    It does help that we feed our leftovers to the chickens. It gets used no matter what. Makes the chickens happy. And happy chickens lay delicious eggs!
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    springlering62 wrote: »
    My parents would make us sit at the table until we cleaned our plates. Sometimes for hours and hours. I loathed peas, and my sister hated beef.

    I would get the full lecture about starving children in China. Siblings were deaf, which is, I suppose, one advantage since they didn't have to listen to the lecture.

    Mom would sit with us for an hour, demanding we swallow, get frustrated, clean the kitchen, and then leave to go watch TV, with us still stubbornly sitting at the table, holding peas or whatever in our mouth without chewing and swallowing. Of course, we were too dumb to make the connection that we had to taste it for the extended period.

    We would outlast our parents, and then silently open the back door and throw it to the dogs real quick.

    Frankly, looking back, the clean plate club was all about control, with a huge dose of the traumatic memories Mom had with hunger as a child.

    My mom absolutely put the kaibosh on any potential I might have developed for loving vegetables. That, and all vegetables came out of a can. Yuck and Gross.

    Since being on MFP, fresh vegetables have been a revelation, and roasted vegetables are like *insert angels singing*.

    Oh, yes, I remember the table sitting. And there was no reheating of food back then in the days before microwaves. I remember being served cold mashed potatoes for breakfast once.

    The dining room was not in view of the kitchen, which made it convenient for slipping our dog liver under the table when Mom went back to the kitchen for something.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    TwistedSassette wrote: »
    I think I am the president of the Clean Plate Club!

    I realised that I serve myself portions the same size as those for my 6'4" normal-weight husband, so I started serving myself smaller portions. I still eat everything on the plate most of the time, but it's a smaller plate and a smaller serve so it's not so bad.

    Eating out is more of an issue but we rarely ever eat out anyway - when we do I decide at the beginning of the meal how much of it I will be eating and either ask for a doggy bag for the rest, or place it to the side on the plate and don't touch it. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't - but I am a human being at the end of the day, and I am not perfect all the time!

    Yes, I used to split pizza with my OH, despite him being a foot taller than me!

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