Leaving food?

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2

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  • jjmariposa
    jjmariposa Posts: 9 Member
    edited August 2015
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    I made a casserole for dinner last night. I used the recipe option and logged the ingredients. It was well over 1,000 calories - for the entire dish. I then logged it into dinner as a 25% portion. I was convinced I'd be hungry and would want more. Previously I'd have eaten a 50% portion. Nope, I didn't need more or want more to be full. It was enough.
    Part of it for me is the ability to dish up an appropriate portion in a smaller sized dish. I could have used the larger pasta bowl but used the smaller soup bowl. My eyes told my brain that I was eating a larger portion.
    I had calories left over after the dinner's entry. I asked myself, do I want to just eat more of this or have something else later? I knew I'd have leftovers for tomorrow so the dish was put in the fridge.
    Getting away from the "I'm not full yet" or "I'm still hungry" is hard. I rarely leave anything on my plate as my portions are now smaller and it's the dish size that matters. If I am "full" then I do throw out what is left on my plate.
    If I go out to eat it's another story and harder to stick to what I should be doing.
    I've been focusing on taste and quality rather than quantity.
    I'm glad we have this option for supporting each other.
  • Horrorfox
    Horrorfox Posts: 204 Member
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    It takes about 15 minutes to start digesting. If you inhale a plate prior to that time limit, you're more likely to grab that second plate.

    In regards to your question, there are two things you can do. Weigh your food, so you are accurately logging what you're eating, and use a smaller plate.

    https://youtu.be/Lfdvjlm1V7k

    Don't worry about whether you should eat everything on the plate, as long as you're being accurate about what's on the plate.

  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    wiggawaggle wrote: »
    Is it good practice to always leave a small amount of your meal on your plate to teach yourself that it's okay to leave food? Sometimes i'll think okay i'm satisfied now, i could finish here and leave the rest. But then i end up eating the rest of it anyway because the plates not empty.

    I put the calories in before i eat so i've logged the whole plate, but what do you do / how do you make yourself leave the rest if you're satisfied? Won't you just be hungry soon anyway if you leave some of your meal?

    If you are actually full then stop eating and put the rest of the food away. Have some containers ready.
    I suppose you would stop by telling yourself that you ate a good amount, are full but can choose to eat more later if you want.
    If it happens a lot to you then maybe you need to take smaller portions to begin with or check to see that you are weighing/measuring/logging accurately.
  • AspenDan
    AspenDan Posts: 703 Member
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    I always eat what's on my plate but I feel your struggle =P
  • wiggawaggle
    wiggawaggle Posts: 50 Member
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    Lounmoun wrote: »
    wiggawaggle wrote: »
    Is it good practice to always leave a small amount of your meal on your plate to teach yourself that it's okay to leave food? Sometimes i'll think okay i'm satisfied now, i could finish here and leave the rest. But then i end up eating the rest of it anyway because the plates not empty.

    I put the calories in before i eat so i've logged the whole plate, but what do you do / how do you make yourself leave the rest if you're satisfied? Won't you just be hungry soon anyway if you leave some of your meal?

    If you are actually full then stop eating and put the rest of the food away. Have some containers ready.
    I suppose you would stop by telling yourself that you ate a good amount, are full but can choose to eat more later if you want.
    If it happens a lot to you then maybe you need to take smaller portions to begin with or check to see that you are weighing/measuring/logging accurately.


    Thanks.

    I am eating small portions on a small plate, so maybe i'm just surprised at the full feeling and should try listening to it.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
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    What I usually do is make or serve less next time.
  • DerekVTX
    DerekVTX Posts: 287 Member
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    When this happens to me, I just put the plate back on the scale, zero it, and remove the extra food and remove it from the logged amount.
  • conqueringsquidlette
    conqueringsquidlette Posts: 383 Member
    edited August 2015
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    It's mostly only difficult for me if I'm *served* food, like at a restaurant or as a guest. There's a whole lot of "clean your plate / don't be rude" and "starving kids in Zimbabwe" voices in my head because it's just how I was raised. It's actually the whole avoiding waste thing that gets me eating everything on my plate even if it's too much for me. Leftovers are where food goes to die in my house - it's better just to not bother with it and let it go.

    Despite what my mother used to tell me, it IS actually ok to leave stuff behind. My not eating it won't have it magically transported to starving children (only to my butt!), my host's feelings are secondary to my own health, and it's most likely going to be tossed anyway (albeit with a lot more fuzz growing on it) if it comes home with me. Walking away is ok.
  • cbelc2
    cbelc2 Posts: 762 Member
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    I don't leave food on my plate unless I'm going to eat it later. So I'm careful what I put on that plate!
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    i guess if it helps you eat less/ say within your calories.

    but its a waste of food. dish up and weigh what you will eat.

    there are plenty of times when my eyes are bigger than my stomach, but unless i want the calories for something else later, I don't even change the weights in my log.
  • vivmom2014
    vivmom2014 Posts: 1,647 Member
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    Serve yourself smaller portions. Don't waste food!
  • GardenGirlie
    GardenGirlie Posts: 241 Member
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    You can always go back and modify what you logged. If you said 8 oz of something and really only ate 3/4 then just change it to 6 oz. Just because you logged it does not mean you have to eat it all if you are satisfied.
  • Pinnacle_IAO
    Pinnacle_IAO Posts: 608 Member
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    arditarose wrote: »
    I don't really understand the question. You already logged the whole plate. Eat it if you want. If you're not hungry enough for it all...eat it later.
    Well said.

    As for me, elephants will roost in trees before I ever leave food on my plate.


  • sashayoung72
    sashayoung72 Posts: 441 Member
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    I totally get it. I am a "finish the whole thing I logged it" type. I haven't gotten to the point where I can listen to my belly if it's full. I hope to someday be able to listen to my body, but for now it's all about the calories because I wouldn't be overweight if I could listen to my body.
  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
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    I only put on my plate what I plan to eat. Since I don't like to waste food, I don't put any more than that amount. Human learning isn't like, say, dog learning where I drop a treat on the floor and tell my dog to leave it and make her sit.
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    You're already training yourself by logging ahead of time and serving yourself smaller portions. So it's fine to finish what's on your plate, because what's on your plate is less than what would have been on it before you were being 'serving conscious'. If you really aren't hungry, then sure, stop eating. But don't force yourself to stop as some 'retraining' effort, because you are already doing that.
  • _Terrapin_
    _Terrapin_ Posts: 4,302 Member
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    danieltsmoke wrote: »
    I always eat what's on my plate but I feel your struggle =P

    Buy smaller plates ;)

  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    wiggawaggle wrote: »
    strong_curves wrote: »
    wiggawaggle wrote: »
    Is it good practice to always leave a small amount of your meal on your plate to teach yourself that it's okay to leave food? Sometimes i'll think okay i'm satisfied now, i could finish here and leave the rest. But then i end up eating the rest of it anyway because the plates not empty.

    I put the calories in before i eat so i've logged the whole plate, but what do you do / how do you make yourself leave the rest if you're satisfied? Won't you just be hungry soon anyway if you leave some of your meal?

    If you've logged it and it fits into your goal I don't fully understand the why of it.

    Because many people always finish what is on their plate even if they have had enough to eat before the plate is empty, so wondered if some people make sure they leave something to retrain this?

    This is me exactly. If it's on my plate I'll finish it. Whether I was stuffed 5 minutes ago or not.

  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
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    It doesn't happen often that I feel full and still have food left on my plate but happens sometimes. Listen to your body and stop eating. I just put what is left aside. If there is enough to make another meal I take to for lunch to work the next day. If not I save it for my snack for later, since I know I will want a snack and since it is already logged I don't have to worry about it.
  • Owlie45
    Owlie45 Posts: 810 Member
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    No. It's wastful. Take what your going to eat and just don't go for seconds.
    Wasted raised by people who make you finish your plate but I hate it.

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