Leftovers Are Known to Cause Weight Gain!!

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I eat leftovers all the time, restaurant portions are insane so I usually only eat half and the other half as a different meal. My lunch is usually leftovers from dinner the night before.

I have left or thrown away food if there wasn't enough for another meal when I was finished before so that I don't overeat anymore. I had to get over the 'clean your plate' mentality I was raised on too, I think feeling like throwing away food is a victory might be an overcorrection.

Confusing thread is confusing.

I think what OP was TRYING to say (and failed amazingly) is that the "clean plate" mentality can lead to weight gain. Unfortunately, his solution is to simply throw away uneaten food, rather than to show some self-control and package it up for later.

OP, by your logic... you say it's the cleaning of one's plate that causes weight gain. So, therefore, would having leftovers not be the solution to this? You could have a plate of food that amounts to 1600 calories, but if you eat half one day and take the second half home as leftovers to eat the next day, you've eaten 800 calories for each meal. Your post makes no sense.

When proper portions are used, being in the clean plate club isn't a big deal...I mean, an appropriately portioned plate might look something like this...



The problem is that many of us think this is more appropriate...or at least thought at one time it was...



so the problem isn't cleaning your plate, or even having leftovers...the problem is understanding what a proper portion of something is for you and your goals. Cleaning an appropriately portioned plate isn't a big deal...cleaning a plate that is overflowing when you've already maxed out for the day is...

johnnylakis wrote: »

2) Taught me how to cook smaller meals and avoid unnecessary weight gain

Yeah, this is the most useful bit, I think. I don't "like" leftovers, in that they're a ticking timebomb of deterioration in the fridge and a failure of portion-sizing.

So I prepare exactly how much I'm gonna eat, and that's that. If I mess up and eat more than I expected somehow, that means I've pre-eaten for the next meal which is therefore smaller. (Thanks to the calorie-banking idea, which is the single most useful thing I've learned about on this forum.)

SideSteel wrote: »

I'd say the opposite is more true than the claim you're making, OP.

For restaurant food, eating less than the serving size and taking some home (rather than wasting it which is silly) is likely to lead to better weight management.

Additionally, preparing food in bulk to intentionally create leftovers is a very smart move because it allows you greater convenience throughout the week. This is especially important for people who tend to make poor food choices when they are stressed out and pressed for time. Think about the times you get home from work, or you are on the way home from work and you think "crap I don't have time to make something "healthy" so I'll just hit the drive through" or order a pizza or whatever. Preparing food in bulk (or having leftovers) is a great thing in this circumstance.

This!

Oh, clean plate, not actual leftovers? If you're able to portion/weigh your meal, then there's no problem.

OP your post is just depressing because you fail to understand what MFP tries to teach you.
Your statement is just dumb, if thats what you believe.

lisajo89 wrote: »

While the wording of this is ridiculous, I know what the OP is trying to say.

For me, it was always considered rude to leave any food on the plate, which caused a bad habit of eating past the point of hunger. It was always "No dessert unless you finish what's on your plate" and I aaaalways wanted dessert.

Eating only when hungry is a key to good nutritional intake - fuel your body when it needs it, and sends signals to tell you to eat. This is a good habit that I could have been better educated on by my parents. Not saying that my parents did a bad job or anything!! I'm just saying.. I get where the OP is going. ... Sort of... Haha!

^This.

As a small (5'1") woman, I have had to get over the mental hurdle of leaving food over on my plate without guilt. "Clean your plate" is ridiculous advice when I'm being served up a portion of food that's the same size as what a 6' man is getting. And the pressure I would feel (at restaurants, in social situations) to eat as much as everyone else, even though my calorie needs are much smaller, is one of the factors that led to my weight gain in the first place.

Of course, at home, I try to cook smaller portions. Even that requires adjusting recipes and shopping carefully, since individually-portioned foods in grocery stores are also meant for larger people. But I have more control over that.

In restaurants, though? I've finally realized that cleaning my plate isn't going to help that hungry child halfway across the world one iota. Instead, it's just going to make me fat. I've learned to either share with someone else, take half of what I get home, or -- if it's something that simply won't reheat well the next day -- to simply send half of it back with a smile and an "it was very good, thank you, just too much" to the waiter.

Wasteful? Yeah, maybe. But it's better than eating all those extra calories just to be polite.

But.... if you have leftovers, you didn't clean your plate.

I make a meal with the intention of having leftovers for lunches, for back up dinners. Throwing "leftover" food away is wasteful and ridiculous.

And I always clean my plate. Because I only put on my plate what I intend to eat.

Lasmartchika wrote: »

OMG... what a bunch of food wasted... if you're not gonna eat it, at least give it to the homeless. There are starving people in this world. And how about serving yourself on a smaller plate so you don't have a lot of food on your plate? People like you OP seriously piss me off cuz there are people who can't afford food and you're just throwing it away. :noway:

See, this is exactly the attitude that I've had to overcome in order to lose weight.

There are people going hungry, yes. But me eating everything on my plate when I'm not hungry anymore isn't going to help them. Whether the food ends up on my hips or in a restaurant's bin doesn't affect whether people will keep on going hungry in the world. And piling on the guilt ("finish your food! children are starving!") is how so many of us got to where we are in the first place.

Know what will help them? Volunteer or donate to a food bank. Organize a food drive. Cook and bring food to a homeless shelter. Get involved with the community.

Yes, I cook with an eye towards avoiding waste. In restaurants, ordering less isn't usually an option since most restaurants have set portion sizes. I share food when it's practical, and I take leftovers home with me when it's practical, but sometimes the best thing to do when faced with too much food is just to send it back.

But world hunger will not be solved by me finishing my french fries.

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segacs wrote: »

lisajo89 wrote: »

While the wording of this is ridiculous, I know what the OP is trying to say.

For me, it was always considered rude to leave any food on the plate, which caused a bad habit of eating past the point of hunger. It was always "No dessert unless you finish what's on your plate" and I aaaalways wanted dessert.

Eating only when hungry is a key to good nutritional intake - fuel your body when it needs it, and sends signals to tell you to eat. This is a good habit that I could have been better educated on by my parents. Not saying that my parents did a bad job or anything!! I'm just saying.. I get where the OP is going. ... Sort of... Haha!

^This.

As a small (5'1") woman, I have had to get over the mental hurdle of leaving food over on my plate without guilt. "Clean your plate" is ridiculous advice when I'm being served up a portion of food that's the same size as what a 6' man is getting. And the pressure I would feel (at restaurants, in social situations) to eat as much as everyone else, even though my calorie needs are much smaller, is one of the factors that led to my weight gain in the first place.

Of course, at home, I try to cook smaller portions. Even that requires adjusting recipes and shopping carefully, since individually-portioned foods in grocery stores are also meant for larger people. But I have more control over that.

In restaurants, though? I've finally realized that cleaning my plate isn't going to help that hungry child halfway across the world one iota. Instead, it's just going to make me fat. I've learned to either share with someone else, take half of what I get home, or -- if it's something that simply won't reheat well the next day -- to simply send half of it back with a smile and an "it was very good, thank you, just too much" to the waiter.

Wasteful? Yeah, maybe. But it's better than eating all those extra calories just to be polite.

So it is in fact the lack of leftovers which contributes to weight gain...ie. the reluctance to leave anything for leftovers, because we've been trained to feel obligated to clean our plates.

I fail to see how left overs cause weight gain. From what you said leaving no left overs and finishing everything on your plate even though you're full causes weight gain. Soooo...how does saving the extra food on your plate until tomorrow instead of wasting it and throwing it in the trash save your waistline? It sounds like it saves your waistline as well as your wallet!