Eating off your kid's plates..

AmandaMonique
AmandaMonique Posts: 34
edited September 26 in Food and Nutrition
Does anyone else do this? It drives me crazy. I'll be done with my food, they don't eat (whatever) and for some reason my hand just grabs it and sticks it in my mouth.
I'm not even kidding, I literally don't even give it a second thought. It's the worst habit and I end up eating a lot of things I don't need. My lunch today was a good half of my calories because I can't control myself apparently. ):

Anyone have any advice?

Replies

  • JulieBoBoo
    JulieBoBoo Posts: 642
    try feeding your kids less. They can always ask for more if they're still hungry
  • mpfand
    mpfand Posts: 98 Member
    I've never done this. It just seems disgusting to me. The food is cold by the time they're done with it and usually picked at or partially eaten so it just doesn't even look appealing. I'm very anal about that type of thing, though, and don't even like sharing drinks with anyone (family or not). Maybe try giving them very small portions to start with so if they don't eat it then not much will go to waste. They can always have seconds if they eat everything and want more!
  • TLMonroe
    TLMonroe Posts: 32 Member
    That is/ was one of my issues. Now when they are done eating - I quickly dump what they don't eat. Cause I know it will go in my mouth if I don't.
  • SunshineRowe
    SunshineRowe Posts: 78
    now the way you make this work for you is be sure to order yourself less, so that when you do eat off their plate it's not over eating. Like when we go to chick fila, I order just the nuggets but get my kid the kids meal knowing he will not finish the fries and then I can have a few and it's no biggie
  • gingerfoxxx
    gingerfoxxx Posts: 267 Member
    Are they old enough to clear their own plates into the garbage? Maybe even train them to do the dishes too! :D
  • vicki9168
    vicki9168 Posts: 89 Member
    I used to do it, but more so of the ex hubbies plate if he didnt eat all of it. I stopped it years ago, thankfully.
  • BryanAir
    BryanAir Posts: 434
    If my mom had tried that she would have gotten a fork in the hand. It appears that my siblings and I were just looking out for her best interest.
  • moylie
    moylie Posts: 195
    I was the worst offender of this before I started MFP. After having to track calories I stopped it almost entirely. It takes extra time to figure out the calories of all those bites, and I really want to be accountable for EVERYTHING that goes in my mouth. I find it helpful to basically tally all of my calories for the day, right away in the AM, or as soon as I know what I'm going to prepare for all meals. That way, I know that there's NO room to take those extra bites. My kids are also picky eaters, so I have no interest in eating their leftover chicken nuggets, hotdogs, etc. Have veggie sticks, fruit, nuts, air-popped popcorn at the ready, so you can go to those things, instead of kids' leftovers. WILL-POWER BE WITH YOU! :)
  • Kellee_76
    Kellee_76 Posts: 91
    try feeding your kids less. They can always ask for more if they're still hungry

    That's just what I was going to say.

    They look little in your picture but as they get older, you could ask them to get up dump their plates in the trash as soon as they're finished.

    Poor moms. They eat some gross, cold, soggy, drooled-on nasty stuff.
  • AmandaMonique
    AmandaMonique Posts: 34
    Haha they're all under 3.. I would really be in heaven if they could do their own dishes!
    Thanks for all the suggestions, I will definitely try.
    And I'm not easily grossed out I guess.. but I will just think about how it NEVER tastes as good as mine did because it is cold.
  • AmandaMonique
    AmandaMonique Posts: 34
    try feeding your kids less. They can always ask for more if they're still hungry

    That's just what I was going to say.

    They look little in your picture but as they get older, you could ask them to get up dump their plates in the trash as soon as they're finished.

    Poor moms. They eat some gross, cold, soggy, drooled-on nasty stuff.

    I definitely need to work on that, I have always served my daughter more than she will eat. And I'm getting into a bad habit of doing it with my twins too.
  • kentlass
    kentlass Posts: 325 Member
    my problem is that my son(who is 18months) is always trying to 'share' his food and pops it into my mouth....of course, i'm trying to encourage his sharing but don't want to fill up on his tidbits! lol
  • JulieBoBoo
    JulieBoBoo Posts: 642
    try feeding your kids less. They can always ask for more if they're still hungry

    That's just what I was going to say.

    They look little in your picture but as they get older, you could ask them to get up dump their plates in the trash as soon as they're finished.

    Poor moms. They eat some gross, cold, soggy, drooled-on nasty stuff.

    I definitely need to work on that, I have always served my daughter more than she will eat. And I'm getting into a bad habit of doing it with my twins too.

    Their stomachs are about the size of their fists. It's really not very big at all.
  • Solat37_Neil
    Solat37_Neil Posts: 379 Member
    I totally did this too before I started MFP. And my wifes plate. I have been brought up to not waste food, and it's ingrained in me that a clean plate is a good thing, but I'm slowly breaking that down and now I'm even leaving food on my own plate when I'm full/satisfied. Weird things our brains.
  • lulusmom
    lulusmom Posts: 71
    I have always ordered one meal and fed my kids from my plate. It does several good things: it keeps me from picking at their unhealthy "kids meal" food, it keeps them from eating said "kids meal" food, it exposes them to better foods/flavors and it is cheaper.

    If we are eating at home, I serve them small portions and let them ask for seconds.
  • LainMac
    LainMac Posts: 412 Member
    Two things. Yes, I agree with feeding them less and more often with the under 5 crowd. Also, kids don't really need "kid food" (fries and chicken fingers), they need the same healthy food you do. (Biggest difference is that they need to have more healthy fats as part of their daily diet than you do- ie, their veggies are sauted in olive oil, yours in a non stick pan.

    Also, can I be a tad jealous? I have 4 kids (two them teen boys) and I am lucky when they don't try to EAT off of my plate after they inhale their own food.
  • caberselli
    caberselli Posts: 34 Member
    I have been guilty of this in the past. Especially since I really hate to waste food (remember all those starving children in third-world countries?).

    What I do now is save the leftovers (not things partially eaten or slobbered on), put them in the refrigerator & if they aren't eaten in 3 days, I throw them out.
    Sometimes in restaurants we joke that we want the leftovers packaged up so we can throw them away at home!
  • dlaplume2
    dlaplume2 Posts: 1,658 Member
    I have 5 kids and I have done that too. You need to either make a concious effort to not do that. Feed the kids stuff you don't like. :wink: The biggest thing that helps me was having the kids clean up their own plates. Even a 2 year old can dump their food in the trash and put their plate in the sink, or on the counter.

    It's something moms have struggled with for generations.
  • crrc78
    crrc78 Posts: 207 Member
    I was about to post the same topic this morning but decided to search for it first and voila...here it is... glad I'm not alone.
    I realized last night that with my husband working long, unpredictable hours, and my daughter being hungry right when we get home, I'm kind of stuck in the middle. I could make 3 dinners (one for each of us), or I could make my husband eat cold food, or I could snack on my daughter's leftovers and then eat with my husband at 8-9pm... it's just a tough situation. I find myself constantly picking at my 2.5 year old's plate - not so much her snacks or treats, but the proteins and stuff... it's just extra calories that I don't even think about as they go into my mouth, and then some how manage to forget to log into MFP.
    I'm pretty confident that this is the thing that is keeping me from losing weight since without these bites, licks and tastes I am sticking within my calories and getting exercise.

    Enough is enough. Today is the day to stop. I will dump her plate as soon as she's done, wasteful or not. My own health is more important than wasting a little food.

    Thanks for the motivation!
  • Supermel
    Supermel Posts: 612 Member
    This is something i conquered about a year ago. Not really just their plates but what is left in the serving dishes. I also run a home daycare and i make healthy choices for the daycare like wrap pizzas, quesidillas and grill cheese (whole wheat bread and real cheese) that just don't fit into my daily calorie or sodium limits... and its so hard when i'm hungry to smell those yummy foods. Sometimes i make myself a healthier version but usuually i serve their lunch and keep busy til the grill cheese gets colder then its not appealing at all hehe. I think one of the biggest challenges and what mfp has been perfect for me is accountability for every bite!
  • AmandaMonique
    AmandaMonique Posts: 34
    Two things. Yes, I agree with feeding them less and more often with the under 5 crowd. Also, kids don't really need "kid food" (fries and chicken fingers), they need the same healthy food you do. (Biggest difference is that they need to have more healthy fats as part of their daily diet than you do- ie, their veggies are sauted in olive oil, yours in a non stick pan.

    Also, can I be a tad jealous? I have 4 kids (two them teen boys) and I am lucky when they don't try to EAT off of my plate after they inhale their own food.

    We don't eat out very often and that's pretty much how I've been cooking their things, that's why this is so frustrating. I'll cook mine with a lot less fat, more protein, whatever it is and they feed me or I start picking up theres even though I made mine different. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but sometimes I just feel like I might as well have made the same thing for all of us because I ruined mine by eating theirs.
  • ladyhawk00
    ladyhawk00 Posts: 2,457 Member
    This was a large contributor to how I started gaining weight. My son has HUGE growth spurts, so his eating (especially when he was 1-2) was very erratic. He'd eat a TON for a couple of weeks, then all of a sudden eat very little. So trying to judge how much he was going to eat was difficult. And when his growth spurt stopped and there were leftovers on his plate - it started my growth spurt! :laugh:

    But I gradually learned to better judge his eating, and to NEVER finish his plate - if there's enough left, it goes in the fridge as leftovers. If not, it goes in the trash.
  • Rebeccasluckyduck
    Rebeccasluckyduck Posts: 168 Member
    My kids are now teenagers so I don't eat off their plate. (But I used to!) My problem now is they'll make themselves lunch and leave the chips (or whatever) out on the counter. Before I started MFP I would go through the kitchen, grab a handful and keep walking without even thinking about it. When I started logging calories I saw how much that added up to be so I worked hard to break that habit.
  • Vqueen
    Vqueen Posts: 13
    I have 5 kids and I have done that too. You need to either make a concious effort to not do that. Feed the kids stuff you don't like. :wink: The biggest thing that helps me was having the kids clean up their own plates. Even a 2 year old can dump their food in the trash and put their plate in the sink, or on the counter.

    It's something moms have struggled with for generations.


    LOL! I have 5 kids too...and this is what I was going to say! Only you probably said it better ;-)
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