I'll never totally give up the clean plate mentality but at the same time, giving up the clean plate mentality was instrumental for me losing weight. Just put less on your plate. Then add more, judiciously.
The ‘clean plate’ mentality drives us to overeat?
91–100 of 127 posts
Re: The ‘clean plate’ mentality drives us to overeat?
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
My dad grew up in The Great Depression, so waste was strongly eschewed. Like you, I do my best to put as much on my plate as I think I will actually eat. But I was never told to clean my plate. I don't practice that philosophy. I have a serious medical condition. The mental freedom to just say no to some of the food on my plate has played a critical role in my ability to manage my condition with diet and lifestyle. I…
I mean, I was never 100% on cleaning my plate; exceptions were sometimes made if I was sick or there was some other reason that eating everything was a bad idea. The goal was to minimize waste, even if the food was slightly unpleasant; but it’s not like this was militantly enforced. Really, just do whatever is best for you to reduce waste and stay healthy.
I was (and still am) a picky eater. I was diagnosed late in life with a genetic disorder, which is the reason I'm a picky eater. I was often criticized for being so picky, but I was never told to clean my plate.
It wasn't uncommon for my father to eat what was left on my plate rather than throw it out, but my right to decide what to put in my body was always respected.
I think that -- respecting a person's right to control what goes in their body -- is an excellent policy. I'm not trying to talk trash about your parents. I'm just saying it's possible to be anti-waste without this rule. There are other ways to do that and I think they are better.
Re: The ‘clean plate’ mentality drives us to overeat?
#93just get smaller plates. large plates encourage over eating by encouraging you to put more food on them than is reasonable.
Re: The ‘clean plate’ mentality drives us to overeat?
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
> advocating more personal responsibility It's interesting that nobody wondered people are just concerned that food would get more expensive. Restaurants set their prices by complex rules, and if people just started some movement to reduce portion sizes on the "if you want more, you can always ask for 2" argument, with no extra change, it's almost a certainty that prices would raise.
I believe part of that is that usually the bulk of the cost of food is the labor and not the ingredients unless you have something 'extra fancy' with ingridents. If it takes as much work to make a cup of pasta as it does to make a quart or gallon of pasta. An extra serving would add more labor as the expensive part and not save anything. The way to avoid that would be to keep a fresh surplus in the kitchen which woul…
Bingo. I feel coffee shops are the worst for this. No I don't want a bucket of milk still with only one shot of coffee in.
Theres also the problem that no one ever complained that the portions were too big. Small portions could make people feel ripped off.
Re: The ‘clean plate’ mentality drives us to overeat?
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ridiculous idea to downvote. I almost never finish restaurant meals, I’ll take the second half for lunch the next day or give it to someone on the walk home. But suggesting portion control would be advocating more personal responsibility, so maybe that explains peoples’ “disagreement.” So much easier to toss in the trash, right?
I always feel bad when asking to pack the leftovers at the restaurant. is it rude or a sign of being poor? I'm unsure.
At least here (Germany) it's totally normal and no one would think anything of it.
Re: The ‘clean plate’ mentality drives us to overeat?
#96At least where I live in Norway I would argue that it is not the amount of food you eat during a meal that is a problem but everything else in between regular meals (coke, chocolate, chips etc.).
I've eliminated all snacking and soda calories from my life and I still have a big problem with maintaining/losing weight. Definitely should be helping though.
Maybe lower your carb intake or incorporate a daily intermittent fasting regime. What does your usual day look like food-wise?
Re: The ‘clean plate’ mentality drives us to overeat?
#97The best that ever happened to my health was gaining complete control over what I eat. I eat only what I want, when I want. And how much I want. The trade off, of course, is dying alone. But hey, health!
> dying alone
I don't think it's unreasonable to have a partner and eat differently to them. It's pretty common where someone has a dietary requirement.
Re: The ‘clean plate’ mentality drives us to overeat?
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
That makes sense as a training mechanism for kids to not just overfill their plates regardless of how hungry they are. But it is important to realize that food that you force someone to eat after they feel properly full is worse than wasted. Not only have you already spent time and money to prepare it, which you won't get back, but you also just made their stomach ache. And you have taken whatever little agency they…
They do learn to have agency: think plan ahead and make your own decision. Live with the consequences of your decision. As I noted every decision is modulated by parental intervention — if a kid made an obvious mistake, possibly intervene early “are you sure you want six bao? Just take a couple — you can always have more” or late “ok, but see the problem? Next time let’s be more careful.” Yeah, parenting is non-algor…
> Yeah, parenting is non-algorithmic, and once (if?) you get good at it it’s too late to do it again.
Arguably multi-generational households with grandparents on hand are able to take advantage of this. This is perhaps not as useful as it was centuries ago, due to how fast society and the situations a family might face have shifted.
Re: The ‘clean plate’ mentality drives us to overeat?
#99Coming from south asia, I wish cleaning your plate was enough in my family. If you don’t take seconds and thirds it’s an insult to the host.
Re: The ‘clean plate’ mentality drives us to overeat?
#100Earlier quoted context omitted.
I mean, I was never 100% on cleaning my plate; exceptions were sometimes made if I was sick or there was some other reason that eating everything was a bad idea. The goal was to minimize waste, even if the food was slightly unpleasant; but it’s not like this was militantly enforced. Really, just do whatever is best for you to reduce waste and stay healthy.
I was (and still am) a picky eater. I was diagnosed late in life with a genetic disorder, which is the reason I'm a picky eater. I was often criticized for being so picky, but I was never told to clean my plate. It wasn't uncommon for my father to eat what was left on my plate rather than throw it out, but my right to decide what to put in my body was always respected. I think that -- respecting a person's right to c…
Don't you think your condition is special and do not apply to majority? But even if you are a picky eater, the solution seems easy. Just put on your plate enough for a tip of your tongue. If you don't like it it's fine, not much has been wasted that way. There you go. You can keep clear plate rule. Still, I think the major problem is not clear or not the plate but rather do you have an influence on how much it goes on the plate in the first place.