When our daughter was little, she never wanted to eat. We would encourage her to make the plate "happy." That would mean eating as much as she could off of the plate. She is still slightly underweight for her age, but she is eating balanced meals.
I however have never been challenged when it comes to making a "happy" plate. I loved eating as a child and still do today. Meals have always been festive and full of food at my home as a child and adult. In fact, I would sometimes make a second or unfortunately third happy plate.
Nowadays, I don't force myself to make a "happy" plate. In fact I often make the decision to leave something on my plate. It took some time and serious self-talk to realize I didn't have to clean my plate to make it or me happy. Sometimes I still struggle with leaving something I really love to eat on my plate. It just seems wrong to leave something so delicious uneaten on my plate. But...I have been doing just that and it really saves calories. Don't get me wrong, I do still make a "happy" plate from time to time but not all the time.
It can be an adjustment for a lot of people to leave food on the plate because of childhood messages or messages from friends and family! Good post!
ReplyDelete