I overeat because I'm the family garbage disposal. Does the following statement remind you of your childhood? "Eat your dinner! There are starving children in [insert foreign country name here]!" For some it may have been the children of China, for others it would have been Ethiopia. Either way, I'm sure this sounds familiar.
I can't remember if that line was ever actually said at my family dinner table, but I do remember hearing it on TV, in movies, and it seems to have made an impact. It absolutely kills me to scrape my kid's plates of leftovers into the trash! I've tried guilt tripping them into eating (hey, it worked on me as a child!), tried packaging up their leftovers (which they refuse to eat) and even had them serve themselves so that my eyes weren't bigger than their stomachs. It didn't work.
Now, I don't think this was too much of a problem six years ago when it was only one child eating "real" food. But now that all three of my kids are at the "real" food stage it means three plates to clean. I'm embarrassed to admit this, but it doesn't just happen in the privacy of our own home but when we eat out at restaurants as well! Heck it happens at other family members houses too!
Now please understand, I don't lick their plates clean. In fact, I almost always leave a little behind. I guess, I more or less nibble off all three of their plates until I reach a point in my mind that is an acceptable amount to throw away. I think some people refer to it as grazing. Horrible, yes! Disgusting, I know! Now admit it; you've done it too!
How do I stop this madness? I've recently started having my kids clear the table. This involves them scraping their own plates into the trash. Do you see where I'm going with this? I can avoid most of the guilt that is associated with wasting food! I've also modified both the children serving sizes as well as my own. Knowing that I tend to graze (yes, like a cow - I find using disgusting imagery helps curb the temptation) off the children plates, I've cut back considerably the amount I serve myself each meal.
This is one of those lifestyle changes that I mentioned in my previous blog. It's going to take time and a little help from my friends but eventually I WILL get over my "issues." If you're looking for a little inspiration or just a good laugh, read the following post. It opened my eyes... and helped close my mouth : )
http://www.gadling.com/2008/04/01/starving-kids-in-china-growing-tired-of-us-leftovers/
Photo borrowed from: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://blstb.msn.com/i/E3/3B96DEA2B25E1D9CAF8CD448DBB.jpg&imgrefurl=http://health.msn.com/nutrition/slideshow.aspx%3Fcp-documentid%3D100218116%26imageindex%3D5&usg=__vFV6yWjguQH_aiHKZTl1E6G5_Wo=&h=300&w=350&sz=26&hl=en&start=11&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=bDXXVojxhNy2TM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=120&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dplate%2Bwith%2Bfood%2Bleft%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26channel%3Ds%26tbs%3Disch:1
No comments:
Post a Comment