Are you a member...

...of the "Clean Plate Club"?

I found this article while reading the numerous blogs I look at everyday. It came from Weighty Matters.Thought you might find it interesting: 

Mindless Eating's and USDA's Brian Wansink, one of my favourite researchers, has released some preliminary results from a study he's been working on. 
 
He's been looking at kids who belong to the so-called Clean Your Plate Club and has found that preschool aged members ate 35% more fruit loops than non-club members when given an unlimited portion.35% more is a lot! Think maybe the Clean Your Plate Club might play a role in childhood obesity? 
 
The study will be published down the road in the journal Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. 
 
His advice? Same as mine. If your kids aren't cleaning their plates perhaps you ought to be offering them smaller portions, or better yet - ensure your child tastes all the foods you offer and then allow them to determine how much they want. 

Disband the Clean Your Plate Club!!!

So what's you take on this?  I am gonna post how I feel in a reply later on today!

Scott

I find some pretty solid thought processes inside myself...  even as a wls patient.  Sometimes they conflict with what we are told to do as a wls person.  One is that a meal consists of a meat, three vegetables, bread, and a dessert.  I find that even when we go out to eat, I am constantly having to make choices about what side items I want.  I like to order chicken breast, and a salad.  The server reminds me that it comes with another side item.  Do I want fries, baked potato, blah blah blah blah....  I want to say "It doesn't matter what you give me. I can't eat it anyway.  There's NO room."  But I make a choice usually like mushrooms or sweet potato.  Now, I might pass it off to Tim, or shove it in my to go box just because part of me doesn't want to waste it.  But 99% of the time, it goes in the trash.  

When you tell a server, "No, nothing."  You get a third degree.  "But it comes with the meal... are you sure?"  OH JUST GIVE ME THE DANG ITEM AND LEAVE ME ALONE!  Do you ever feel like that?

 Then there is the issue of guilt.  Remember when your parents said, "There are children starving in Ethiopia."  My response used to be "Well then box this food up and send it on over to them."  I was told to clean my plate as a child.  But, then I loved some of the food so much, I would clean my brothers plate, my sisters plate...  whichever plate had mashed potatoes, peas and corn left on it... I would even clean out the bowl should any be left... which, in our house there were 4 kids and there wasn't always a whole lot left.  We were semi borderline poor! Now you can see why I would be prone to obesity! 

I like the idea that one guy on the original posters' website said...  he taught his kids to eat until they were full.  Which was my first suggestion.  I never knew what full meant... so when it was time for wls, I started getting worried, and would ask myself, "How do I know when I am full?"  I paid close attention to my stomach and how it felt.  What was the difference between hunger, real hunger, and just wanting food/desire?  I started to eat slower so that I could tell the exact point when my body/tummy said, "That's enough."  I wanted to know what it was like to feel satisfaction without feeling that gross full feeling, the one after you've eaten a huge feast and your stomach is about to explode.  I think its important to teach kids what full feels like...  and to teach them a healthy respect for food... that we eat it because we need it... not because it tastes good.  Not because it makes us feel better.  Food is not something that we turn to when we hurt or need to feel better.  I think that is a key to stopping obesity.

 I find that if I let them serve themselves they eat it. If I portion it out there is usually food left on their plates.

gidget

former member of the clean plate club and breaking the habit with my kids!!

Club member here!!  I did the same thing to my kids as my parents did to me.  Clean Your Plate!  Then I realized,  that was what me fat in the first place.  I cleaned my plate, my kids and my husband's and anything that was left in the pots so it wouldn't be wasted.  Then I started letting my kids eat what they wanted and when they were full they stopped, usually with food left on the plate.  I am glad to report that I didn't raise any fat kids.  All are slim and healthy and will probably stay that way.  Oh, my kids are now 38 and twins are 29.  I think I did the right thing by not forcing them to clean their plates.

When Beth had surgery last year, things changed around our house.  We all started eating smaller portions, the plate size we ate on changed, and the type of food we ate changed.  I honestly believe this is what caused RJ and I to lose weight on our own!

Since then,I had surgery, so all of the above stayed true for me.  Things changed!  But they also changed for RJ.  His plate size went up, the amount of food we gave him increased, and so did his belt size..

We are guilty of being overseers of the "Clean Plate Club".  Not on purpose mind you, but guilty!  When we would make plates for dinner, Beth and I would have RNY size portions of the meal on a salad plate.  RJ would have "Hungry Man" size portions of the same meal.  Even though we were eating healthier, he was eating heftier!

Then the dreaded question always came..."What are we having for dessert"?  Unfortunately, our response was always the same, "It does not matter what we are having for dessert, you have to clean your plate before you can have any"!

What the H**L was going on in my mind?  Clean you plate!  So, RJ would force down all the food on his monster size portion of a meal, just to make room for dessert.  Thus increasing his weight, pant size and girth!  We would rationalize how we felt by saying something like, "It's OK, he plays football".

Since then, we have made some adjustments to our lifestyle.  RJ eats on the same size plate as us.  He receives the same size portion as us.  But, he always has the option for more if he wants it.  Most times, he's happy with what he receives the first time around.  So, we are still members of the "Clean Your Plate Club".  It's just a salad plate instead of a monster size plate!

Scott