Cancel your Membership in the “Clean Your Plate Club”
by Sonja Rose on Jul. 07, 2010, under HealthThere came a day in living the thin lifestyle when I resigned my membership in the “Clean Your Plate Club,” and I threw phrases like this out the window (even if they existed only in my head):
Sonja in Tucson in June 2010
“You can’t have dessert until you clean your plate.”
“Think of all the starving children in Africa.”
“Finish your supper and then you can go outside and play.”
“Don’t waste food.”
For the first one, eating everything on your plate, and then adding dessert, can add huge amounts of calories to meals. Why not eat less during a meal, or bring some food home if you’re eating out? Then just have a few bites of dessert, or, eat it later.
As far as starving children go, how does us eating all the food on our plates keep them from starving? It only makes us fatter if we eat it — it doesn’t keep them from starving. So, send them a check instead.
For children, we can serve them smaller portions – then send them outside to play! Exercise and playing outside is good, and food is for keeping fuel in our bodies to burn, so we can keep going.
The last one, wasting food, is one that I had to have a radical change of mind as I started to live thin. Before, I would feel guilty if I didn’t eat all the food on my plate, or I threw it away. Now, I would rather save food until I’m hungry again later, when my taste buds are rejuvenated. I learned this in the Weigh Down Workshop, and that’s not wasting food. However, if I didn’t want to eat it again, or ever see it again and throw it away — that was okay, too. It’s worse to waste it on my body and gain weight.
I could spend tons of time figuring out why I was this way, but mostly it doesn’t matter anymore — just get over it and throw that membership card away! These days I only eat until I’m satisfied, I leave lots of food on my plate, and I don’t worry about “wasting food” anymore.
Next: Visualize Your Way Thin (Your Brain Wants to Help!)
