Are you a member of the clean plate club?

Do you feel like you have to eat everything on your plate - or else you feel guilty?  Are starving children in Africa or a nagging fear that you won't get dessert keeping you in front of the plate until every bite is gone?  Stop right there.  Listen.  There is no rule that says you have to eat every bite of food on your plate.  In fact, you may be hurting yourself and others by doing so.  Clean-plate thinking represents an unnecessary connection between the food on your plate and false guilt.  Replace those old messages with better ones...with truthful ones.  Try this, "I'm going to take care of myself by paying attention to how I feel at this moment instead of eating." Or how about, "By not overeating, I'm going to take better care of myself so that I have more to give others."  Or "I'm going to stop eating because I feel satisfied." 

On the practical side, try putting a little less food on your plate than you think you want to eat - a good rule is 80% - and then see how you feel.  If you're really still hungry after 15-20 minutes, have a little more.  If you're a road warrior (like me these days) and find yourself eating out often,  you may not always have control of the portions on your plate, however you still have control over the portion you eat.  Remember that you don't have to eat it and make up your mind to leave some on the plate.  Here's a real world example for you...

This fried oyster po boy was huge!  But I love fried oysters and since I was in a place known for good seafood, I splurged.  Not to overdo it, I skipped the tarter sauce and asked for steamed veggie in place of french fries for a savings of hundreds of calories.  =)  I could have also chosen to have a salad with broiled shrimp or fish or a sandwich with one of the other, but this is my dietary confession for the day.

I ate all of my veggies and the fried oysters, but left 1/2 of the (very large) baguette for an additional savings of more than 100 calories. The meal was still calorie dense, because the oysters were fried, but it was a treat!

To help compensate for some of those calories, I took a stroll after dinner.  Walking after a meal like that does three things: (1) helps burn off some of those extra indulgent calories, (2) helps promote digestion, and (3) helps me relax.  Going to straight to bed after a meal like that makes me feel heavy and uncomfortable (if your one of millions with gastric reflux, it could make you feel even worse).

What do you think? Can you reprogram those messages and get out of the clean plate club?  I know you can do it!  Just replace them with better messages...like, "I'm worth it."  'Cause you are.