DON’T Clean Your Plate!
Most of us were raised by parents who encouraged us to eat EVERYTHING which was served to us on our plates—whether or not we liked what we had been served. If it looked as if we might be finished eating before our food had been fully consumed, we were met with guilt-inducing statements which began with phrases like: “There are starving children in Africa…” or rhetorical questions such as: “Do you want waste the food I worked so hard to prepare?”
What was a kid to do? Clean. His. Plate.
Likely those parental voices still run through your mind as you look down at your plate on which remains more food than you need to feel satisfied. You sigh, take stock of the situation, and mechanically shovel it into your mouth so there will be no waste.
Unfortunately, there will be another kind of waste which will become apparent over time, an expanded one spelled, W-A-I-S-T! The calories we consume beyond the point of satiation sure can add up. That indented pile of mashed potatoes and gravy, the second half of that sandwich, the back piece of that slice of pie, might have 100-300 extra calories packed inside of it. Think about how much physical effort and time it would take to burn these bad boys off your waist!
Walking (30 min): 150-200 calories
Bicycling (30 min): 150 calories
Swimming (30 min): 300 calories
Given these figures—and for the protection of your own figure—I would like to put a new, revolutionary thought into your head:
Don’t. Clean. Your. Plate!
If you are approaching full, quit eating. If you just wanted to have a taste of something (or sample something to be polite), stop after a bite or two. Put those leftovers away for later. Scrape them into the garbage, if need be. Send the last half of that cake or box of doughnuts home with your guest who brought it over. Whatever you do, don’t push yourself to finish unnecessary leftovers. It’ll wind up biting you back if you can’t shed all those extra calories.