Hey, you know what? Sometimes you may feel obliged to eat especially when you are given food and do not want to either waste it, seem ungrateful or disappoint your host. Think about the following situations and see if you are more worried about your health or food wastage:
1. Your spouse wants you to eat just a couple more spoonfuls of the the remaining pie so she/he can wash the dish
2. Your spouse thinks you do not like his/her cooking if you do not eat a second or third plate
3. A certain host accepts only guests that eat heartily, and if you don't it is considered an insult
4. You see someone going to throw away a perfectly good roast just because they do not have room for it in their fridge, they offer for you to eat most of it now or she will throw it away (No, she will not allow you to take it home).
Obliged To Eat (Hover)
This reminds me of a funny story that happened to me when I was dating my current spouse. It was Thanksgiving day and my wife's mother invited me over for dinner. Well, it is also traditional in my family to get together for Thanksgiving dinner, and, being West Indian, my family usually will make some very, very good West Indian dishes.
So I went to my family's dinner first, and true to form, absolutely pigged out, because the food was so good, and I usually don't get to eat the West Indian dishes in the US. I then proceeded to go over to my wife's mom's house, and trying not to be impolite, ate quite a large serving of traditional US Thanksgiving dishes. I must say that her mom is also quite a good cook. Needless to say, at the end of it all, I was very, very full. My wife and I had decided to go see a movie that night, and, literally, as I stepped out of her mom's house into their front yard, I got sick; that's how full I was. I felt better, but we vowed never to tell her mom for fear that she might think I got sick off her cooking. My wife does however tell this story to everyone that she knows, so someday it may get back to my mother-in-law, but it proves how gluttony is a bad idea, even it has good intentions, like not offending someone.
I enjoy eating....since I don't have a problem with being overweight, I suppose it gives me an excuse to overeat my favourite food: Tacos. Sometimes I can eat so many of them that I can literally not move....shame on me...
When people invite me over for dinner, of course, I would behave myself and be a lady like small eater type of woman but as soon as I reach home, I will eat something for sure!
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1. Your spouse wants you to eat just a couple more spoonfuls of the the remaining pie so she/he can wash the dish |
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2. Your spouse thinks you do not like his/her cooking if you do not eat a second or third plate |
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3. A certain host accepts only guests that eat heartily, and if you don't it is considered an insult |
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4. You see someone going to throw away a perfectly good roast just because they do not have room for it in their fridge, they offer for you to eat most of it now or she will throw it away (no, she will not allow you to take it home) |
It is English custom to eat everything that is put on the plate before you, or it is seen to be rude if the food isn't eaten.
This is even passed down to infant and primary schools, where you could be in trouble for not eating your food.
The older that I have got, the more I have realized that this is bad practice, and later on in life, can be proven to be bad for your health.
In my opinion, you are far better, stopping eating exactly at the point you no longer feel hungry, there is no point pushing yourself when you are already full.
Unfortunately, I seem to be in the minority here with that way of thinking, so instead, I ask for a small plate of food, at least that way once you've eaten it, at least you can either stop, or have a little bit more, without offending anybody!
I agree that the smartest thing to do is not to overeat. Unfortunately, old habits die hard. Since we are young, it is pushed on most of us to eat everything on our plates, and to eat a little more until we are overly full. This is especially true for a very thin child, which I was. Then, when I became older, and after I had a baby, my metabolism changed and I started gaining weight. Well, it's not so easy to change bad eating habits. My husband is a very good cook and gets a lot of satisfaction when others enjoy his cooking. The problem is that he can eat a lot more without gaining weight than my daughter and I, which he doesn't seem to understand. He is always pushing us to eat when we're not hungry. I tease him that he must like fat women. Sometimes I have to get a little huffy before he stops pestering me to eat when I'm not hungry. I also have to constantly remind myself it's better to waste food than to be fat.
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I ask for a small plate of food, at least that way once you've eaten it, at least you can either stop, or have a little bit more, without offending anybody! |
Metabolism protein found to also regulate feeding behavior in the brain
Feeling hungry or full leads us to change how much we eat, but the molecular wiring of this process is not well understood. Scientists have identified a new player in this circuit called amylin, which contributes to reducing food consumption in mice. Ref. Source 5v.