Okay, now I get it

NoelFigart · Post by **NoelFigart** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 12:39 am

I'm going to start recommending this diet to everyone in the world.

(Stop laughing at me).

I just went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant. The portions? HUUUUGGEEEE. Gigantic. It would have been about two regular dinner plates of food.

I quietly cut my meal in half while chattering away with my friends and family, and ate one half. I was comfortably satisfied. (I did refrain from eating the chips cause I didn't want that to count towards a plate of food).

The waitress came by and asked if I wanted the leftovers. Yes, I took the other half home and it'll be a fine meal in a day or two.

This is exciting because for the first time in my life a diet did not mean that I had to be "special" or have a talk with the waitress or the cook to get what I needed to stick to it, didn't need anything special. Nope, I just took a look at my plate and decided how much was a real portion, ate that and enjoyed it...

and no-one noticed a damn thing.

Even if I didn't lose any weight doing this, and I will, it would be worth it just not to have to be bloody "special" all the damned time to try to get my weight under control.

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 2:39 pm

I'm becoming very fond of restaurants that serve "normal" portions. I've found a few in my area. All are locally owned and operated -- no chains.

florafloraflora · Post by **florafloraflora** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 3:51 pm

Awesome. That's the hardest thing for me, not cleaning my "plate" even when it's more like a platter, and way too much food for me. That's why I treasure the few restaurants I know that serve food in normal portion sizes.

katie1980 · Post by **katie1980** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:13 am

florafloraflora wrote:Awesome. That's the hardest thing for me, not cleaning my "plate" even when it's more like a platter, and way too much food for me. That's why I treasure the few restaurants I know that serve food in normal portion sizes.

I'm finding I'm cleaning my plate better, because not only am I only helping myself to "enough" (we've been eating in self-service places a lot recently), but also because I'm not snacking and so am actually hungry for my meals when they arrive. The 1 plate rule helps me to not overdo it, though, bcause I'm hungry and think I need more than I do!

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 11:18 am

That's the hardest thing for me, not cleaning my "plate" even when it's more like a platter, and way too much food for me. That's why I treasure the few restaurants I know that serve food in normal portion sizes.

I find that the platters of food overwhelm me. I know from the start that I won't be able to eat it all and I'll be taking some home. I'm definitely not a member of the clean plate club! Or, I guess "cleaning my plate" doesn't necessarily mean eating it all at one sitting. I can stretch it to two or even three sittings.

florafloraflora · Post by **florafloraflora** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 2:06 pm

Wosnes, you're lucky. It sounds like your eyes are the right size for your stomach. The best way I have of dealing with the problem is just to stay away from restaurants. It's not ideal, but it's the only thing that really works.

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 2:41 pm

I don't know if I'm lucky or not. It's the platters that overwhelm me -- just too much. But if a lot of food is presented sequentially on smaller plates -- I can eat it all because it doesn't look like so much food at once. I can graze my way through a day.

I think it's also a time thing. Usually there's not a lot of time to eat and I know I can only eat a certain amount in a small amount of time. But if there's an hour or so to sit and eat, I can put it away! I guess that would be controlled grazing!