"Clean your plate"?

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Tuesday, August 30. 2022

This is not intended to be about either weight loss or weight gain. It's about feeling good and lively all day without a siesta.

According to the stats, adult Americans are overfed or, more accurately, are overeating. Food is a pleasure, usually. Too much of a good thing makes us slothful, if not foggy or sleepy. The trick is to consume food until the moment that any feeling of hunger disappears. It is a "Stop" signal.

The challenge for many is that the sensation of satiety lags behind food intake by 15 or 20 minutes. If you eat quickly, you can miss that signal especially when the offering is delicious.

My advice (feel free to ignore it) is, unless underweight, to quit eating when a feeling of hunger disappears. It doesn't take much food if you eat slowly and chat with whoever is with you. After all, the reason to sit down with others is to socialize.

Most restaurants have "small plates" these days. They are usually plenty for most people. The point is that there is no law that we must clean our plates anyway.

The Hunger Scale: Mindful Eating for Weight Loss

Posted by Dr. Joy Bliss in Psychology, and Dr. Bliss at 14:52 | Comments (19) | Trackbacks (0)

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Texas is in the land where obese people are common, but I am still frequently amazed when we go out to eat at the sheer numbers (we don't dine out very often). Normally we both end up asking for boxes, because portions here are large. On rare occasions, we'll split an entree and I guess this must be something fairly common too, because most of the restaurants here have a 'plating' upcharge if you split an entree between 2.

#1 Aggie on 2022-08-30 15:24 (Reply)

Hi, just curious, I never heard of a plating up-charge, how much do they usually charge for this service?

#1.1 John on 2022-08-31 10:08 (Reply)

About $1.50 - $2 in my experience.

#1.1.1 Aggie on 2022-08-31 10:41 (Reply)

When in our good senses, my wife and I often order an "appetizer dinner" at a restaurant, consisting of 2 or 3 appetizer items. Better portion control, and far less carbo loading.

I do confess though, to ordering the Gigante Steak Tampiqueno (now with extra cheese enchiladas) at my new Tex-Mex fave last night. Hello, Sleepyhead.

As to Aggie and his large portions? Both Asian and Tex-Mex diners usually up the ante with a big side of rice. We put the rice in a takeout box and freeze it at home for future use in dishes like Cajun Gumbo. Pay once, eat twice.

#2 Mike Anderson (Link) on 2022-08-30 15:42 (Reply)

It's good advice for most of us. I don't really think it will help the obese (the truly obese not simply people who are overweight) because their problem is genetic and almost impossible to overcome.

#3 OneGuy on 2022-08-30 15:53 (Reply)

How about we stop blaming fat people for overeating in an effort to get nutrition from massively diminished nutrients in our food supply?

Hybridization and genetic modification for higher yields have come at the the cost of lower nutrition levels in our food. All you skinny people who can afford to shop at Whole Foods are just getting more nutrition per calorie so you don't need to eat as much.

On the other hand, regular people HAVE to eat more to meet their body's demand for nutrition ... Eating more calories to get the same amount of vitamins and minerals = Obesity.

So, please STOP blaming fat people for being fat and START blaming the Big Ag and Food Processors for sacrificing nutrition in pursuit of profit.

#4 edaddy on 2022-08-30 16:09 (Reply)

I don't think you can prove that. You may dislike processed food or you may have acquired biases about processed food but you cannot prove your claims about processed foods.

There are almost 8 billion people living today and the only reason we can feed them is thanks to modern agriculture and distribution. There simply is no alternative agricultural method that would feed that many people and certainly not those methods typically endorsed by those who feel like you do. But there is good news: For about twice as much money you can choose to eat only foods that meet your criteria. Good luck! Hope you live to 100.

#4.1 OneGuy on 2022-08-30 17:16 (Reply)

I think Michael Pollan proved it in one of his books perhaps "In defense of food", about the declining nutritional value of food. He makes some very good points about food, obesity and nutrition in them. The free market has responded since providing, many more options. The food does cost more but the better quality is worth it. Most importantly he makes you think.

#4.1.1 grant1863 on 2022-08-30 17:25 (Reply)

Sure there are a million authors and pundits with a million different views on the food we eat and it is literally impossible for them all to be right. If you like a particular wild ass opinion about food then great! We live in a free country and you can buy and eat what you like. But it is a different story to prove your food bias and simply because you agree with one of the million or so different opinions about food doesn't give you any more creds. Literally no one agrees on what is good and what is bad and even the "experts" all point in different directions.

#4.1.1.1 OneGuy on 2022-08-30 19:39 (Reply)

OneGuy, I debated a guy on an internet forum one time before I researched his social media and discovered that he was a greeter at Wal Mart. You remind me of that guy.

#4.1.1.1.1 edaddy on 2022-08-31 21:16 (Reply)

I do not blame the food for overweight. I do not blame anybody or anything for not being fit, strong, and energetic.

It's all life choices. Nobody can define "healthy eating," but luckily in the US our choices are amazing.

#5 Dr B on 2022-08-30 17:50 (Reply)

there is no law that we must clean our plates anyway.

You never met my Grandma!!!

#6 dave on 2022-08-30 19:59 (Reply)

It was law when we were growing up too. Shirkers would get treated to the lecture of "the Great-Grandfather X who never left food on his plate...." Escalation in severely intractable cases would be getting left to sit at the table (with plate) alone, contemplating the sin of uneaten food while the siblings went to play outside.

We also had an aunt who came for holidays that would tell all the kids that they must 'eat every bean and pea on their plate' which we always interpreted scatologically of course, with many ensuing giggling fits. Of course we realized once we grew up she was being wicked.

#6.1 Aggie on 2022-08-30 22:57 (Reply)

actually my mother always said, next time don't take so much, once it's on your plate i can't put it back in the bowl. so she looked at it as a punishment, pity i was a slow learner and had a huge appetite when i was young, farm work did that to you. By the age of ten i was outside all day on the dairy farm and by the time I was 14 I could keep up with my dad and was stronger than him by 15. A day of packing hay bales under a hot tin roof really worked up an appetite.

#6.1.1 dave on 2022-08-31 09:49 (Reply)

Fact is, if your not hungry, your not losing weight. Period.

#7 LibDis on 2022-08-30 21:32 (Reply)

I think that's right. When I go on a diet, I stay hungry all the time. It only hurts at first.

#7.1 snopercod on 2022-08-31 17:54 (Reply)

Want to subscribe..please add me to your list. Can't find where to sign up.

#8 Susan G on 2022-08-31 05:44 (Reply)

Pritkin...no on so many levels. Mediterranean diet, yes.
https://theskepticalcardiologist.com/2015/11/29/the-pritikin-diet-discredited-by-medicine-but-now-endorsed-by-your-federal-government/

#9 Missy on 2022-08-31 07:58 (Reply)

I refuse to read anything that has "mindful" in the title.

#10 Phloda on 2022-08-31 09:12 (Reply)

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Tuesday, August 30. 2022

"Clean your plate"?