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Food Portions
Wednesday, July 26, 2006

My husband is a big eater, so when I pack up his lunch, I pack a lot. Tonight, he informs me that I'm feeding him too much. Huh? I never figured he was such a little boy that he felt he had to clean his plate. Who says he has to eat it all?

I guess that made me begin to wonder. The media is full of reports on how obesity is becoming an epidemic problem. And my question remains, why do people feel they have to eat the whole thing?

Aside from our parents reminding us, as children, that there are starving people in the world (and I think that was more to guilt us into eating our vegetables), why do we as a society think that we have to have these huge food portions and eat every bit of them?

I blame the media for a lot of it. Advertising has done its job to make us believe that we deserve more and more of everything. Wasn't that the whole point of 'super-sizing'? We work hard, so we deserve more. Alas, it worked too well. American's are over-eating to the point where they are putting their own health in danger.

How do we, as a culture, change this? I have no idea. But I do think the answer lies somewhere is how we look at food. Somewhere in that mix, is determining what role food plays in our lives.

Everyone claims to love a home cooked meal, but according to reports, very few actually cook them. The latest KFC commercials are a great play on that concept. You have Mom, Dad and the kids sitting at the table eating out of a bucket. With Mom smiling because she's happy that they're all eating dinner at home. What's up with that?

More and more restaurants are beginning to offer curbside service for their menus. The concept is clear, call ahead, pick the food up, go home, and have dinner with your family. Is this really any different that having fast food out?

But because of the meals themselves, what being served is loaded with fats and because it costs so much, you had better eat it all. Not to, would be throwing money out the window (or in the trash). So maybe this plays into why people feel they have to eat the 'whole thing'. I don't know.

I know all the arguments for doing this pick up dinner thing. When I was working full time, I'll admit, I was guilty of choosing quick to fix menu items at the grocery store for my family. The difference was, I still cooked. Every night. Whether it was simple tuna and noodles or a crock pot meal, I still made choices that were, at least an attempt to be, healthy.

And if someone said, I'm full; I never pushed them to eat more. Never laid the guilt trip on them and never will. The worst I ever did was the line - get what you want, eat what you get. Seemed to work out fine for my kids. Everyone walked away from the dinner table content and not hungry any more.

Where my husbands viewpoint came from that I'm feeding him too much, I'll never know. But, I will cut back on how much I put in his lunch since he seems to think it's my fault that he eats too much. Maybe I should cook less altogether and that way neither of us will be tempted. Or maybe, make the meals I cook for his lunch less appetizing so he won't want to clean his plate. Like many of the mysteries of life, I don't know what the answer to this one is.

I suppose my point is this - how much you eat is, and always will be, your own responsibility. You can say no at anytime. I suppose though, it's always easier to blame someone else. You gave me too much or whatever excuse people come up with. The bottom line is simple: take control.

When eating out or eating in, be big enough to say, I've had enough a push your plate away. And when you do overeat, don't blame the person that served you that terrific meal, blame yourself. After all, you didn't have to eat the whole thing, now did you?

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