Empty Plate Syndrome.

hazelmae123

I too have the same programming. I got rid of all the plates in our house and all we use for everyone is the salad plates. My kids are growing up with the salad plate. I also noticed something when I watched my kids eat and stop when they were full. They had no problem stopping no matter what was in front of them, it didn't matter if it was green beans or cake, they stopped when they were done. I asked them if they were full and that never seemed to make sense with them. Then I changed my words and asked them "Is your tummy happy?" and that they understood. So each day, when we finish a meal, I ask them if their tummy is happy and they know if it is or isn't and that is how they judge hungry. I am still working on that for myself, but I am definitely more aware of it now. I still feel guilt in dumping food but I am doing it anyway.

kirstyfromscotland

i am the same i hate wasting food so i now use a smaller plate, smaller than a dinner plate but a little bigger than a side plate. I clear my plate and feel satisfied, i actually feel better as im not so stuffed after my dinner. Hope that helps.x

kirstyfromscotland

I love planning my day in advance, too! usually I plan breakfast and lunch the night before, enter it all, and then know how many calories I cn count on when I get home for dinner

i aslso plan in advace, i find this a big help also on my working days it means im not rushing 2 fill it in, i do a few days ahead.x

nursinggirl64

im starting this site at 211 lbs n im only 5ft short so maybe we can help each other out i dont know if u text but i have unlimited we can text msgs to each other to help motivate if ud like my name is carolyn im 47 live in missouri....636 393 9482 text any time

ninerbuff

I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels compelled to finish a meal. Empty your plate no matter what. It usually comes hand in hand with losing the ability to know when you're full.

Today for the first time in... I don't even know how long, I left my plate with food on it. To make sure I didn't go back to it a minute later, I tipped it into the bin. SUCCESS!!!!!

It's an NSV I hadn't even thought about but i feel triumphant.

You can still empty the plate and not feel bad about dumping food. Just eat off a smaller plate. Most plates are 13". I use 9" plates at home.

Jennyisbusy

I love using lunch plates!!! Less food and more plates fit in my dishwasher. lol

I also proudly show my hubby what I have left behind on my plate, (usually a bunch of bread) and jokingly ask to trade it in for something better

I also make my kids walk their own plates to the garbage can and dump their food - that way I don't feel so tempted to swipe some food off them along the way.

Jennyisbusy

Oh yeah - I also have a tiny little 1 cup bowl that I eat cereal in -just enough room for a serving and some milk.

and I have a tiny little cocktail or seafood fork that is really great to use when eating a really rich dessert that should take awhile Next thing you know I will be trying to squeeze into the doll house with Tinkerbell. lol

kjannan

It annoys me when I hear parents telling their kids to clear their plate-we've got so much to learn from kids eating habits!
They eat when they're hungry until they're full, something I'm learning now after years of thinking I had to finish everything on my plate.

significance

The key thing to keep in mind is that if you have more food than you need and can't save it for another meal, the excess is going to waste anyway. Eating more than you need doesn't change that fact: it's just as much of a waste on your hips as in the bin, but at least putting it in the bin won't make you fat or sick.

catdoc1

GREAT JOB!!!! I'm sure many of us struggle with this, me included. It's been so difficult not to enforce this on my kids, but I'm trying to teach them to take smaller portions so they're satisfied with just the right amount. My mom used to say to me "Waste it, don't waist it." Kind of a stupid play on words, but effective. Someone else told me when I was snitching something off my son's plate "You are not a trash can, so don't treat yourself like you are." We have a compost pile, so although I'm still not crazy about wasting food, at least I know now that if someone does, it's going to make soil for my garden, not the landfill.

99Tinkerbell

I so belong to this club and was raised this way. I t was hard on our parents and I understand that they worked hard to feed us. I have 3 siblings and when I was little my mom stayed home with us and my Dad worked three jobs. We always had to clean our plates,although I'm sure my mom had appropriate portions. But the idea still sticks with you and so just because you make the portions large enough for two, you still feel you have to finish. I would even clean my kids plates off I hated wasting food. I still struggle with this but I either have to put in trash right away or we have 6 dogs that love to eat the scraps. So I suggest get a dog they'll love the scraps.

Adrenaline_Queen

I could nto leave the table until the plate was cleaned!!! Also I never feel full... Apparently the hormone that travels to my brain, telling it I am full needs a little kick start... Just trying to find out what it is called and if there are any foods I cant eat to kick start it again... It would be nice just for once to feel full before I finished... But I know I can do this with all the support on this site xx

Whitneylol

Why don't you just put the amount of food on your plate that you feel comfortable eating, that way you can clear you plate and not waste food? win win!

Thing is, people who are raised like this (clean plate club) usually are trained to put more on your plate than you should really be eating. It takes some learning- so using smaller plates is sometimes the easiest thing to do!

Blackthorne99

i am the same i hate wasting food so i now use a smaller plate, smaller than a dinner plate but a little bigger than a side plate. I clear my plate and feel satisfied, i actually feel better as im not so stuffed after my dinner. Hope that helps.x

One of the things that helped me with this was realizing that the food was "wasted" whether I ate it or not, if it ended up in rolls of fat around my waist. Anything beyond what I need is a waste regardless of what I do with it. Now, if it's something that works well as a leftover, I'm all for it, but many things don't.

sweebeesmom

My husband does this.. with my plate too!! we've moved to the smaller plates, and I portion out exactly how much we should each have. It's helped tremendously.. of course, it doesn't help at buffets/bbqs/etc... but in most situations it works out great.

lemonadem

I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels compelled to finish a meal. Empty your plate no matter what. It usually comes hand in hand with losing the ability to know when you're full.

Today for the first time in... I don't even know how long, I left my plate with food on it. To make sure I didn't go back to it a minute later, I tipped it into the bin. SUCCESS!!!!!

It's an NSV I hadn't even thought about but i feel triumphant.

Congrats on the NSV!! What a great accomplishment, something you should be proud of!!

jennajava

the house i grew up in YOU CLEANED YOUR PLATE!! so now i serve myself half of what i normally would. usually clear the plate, but i'm hesitant to go for seconds, and if i do want seconds, well, i serve my self a little less then i did before.

same here! i am so NOT going to do that to my kids. definitely teaches unhealthy eating habits. both of my parents are overweight, obviously.

jennajava

I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels compelled to finish a meal. Empty your plate no matter what. It usually comes hand in hand with losing the ability to know when you're full.

Today for the first time in... I don't even know how long, I left my plate with food on it. To make sure I didn't go back to it a minute later, I tipped it into the bin. SUCCESS!!!!!

It's an NSV I hadn't even thought about but i feel triumphant.

Congrats on the NSV!! What a great accomplishment, something you should be proud of!!

word!

ddeckard46

Yup. I was always pushed to be in the 'Clean plate club' as my parents called it. Even now I really hate to throw food away, it really is a waste. I've just learned to use much smaller plates instead.

We did the exact same thing in our house. We only use "desert" sized plates now. I can't tell you the last time I put food on one of my "dinner" plates. It's been good for us to feel like we are eating a "full" meal, but actually consuming much less. I also measure everything according to the portion size listed on the product. Often, it's more that I think I'm going to get. HA! Anything that's left over gets measured out into individual containers - so that if I want to grab some for lunch the next day, I know I have the correct portion size and how much I'm consuming!

prettyfitchick

I really understand your syndrome when I was kid My mom wanted us to part of The Clean Plate Club for every meal

Great NSV