Clean Your Plate Club

[angelamarie]

How many of you grew up in a "Clean Your Plate" household?

This is a topic that came up with my counselor the other day, and it made me curious. I am not trying to find anyone to blame or anything like that. My younger brother grew up in the same house as me, and he does not even come close to having the same weight issues that I do. And I am 40, so when I was a kid it was all about "starving children in [insert country here]" and my parents didn't know what they were setting me up for so I don't want anyone to think I am not owning my own circumstances that I have to work with.

Do you make your kids eat everything on their plate? Do you let them dish up their own food? If they say they are full do you let them stop or make them take one more bite?

I was telling my counselor about my dad's food addiction and overeating and I was telling him not only did I not dish my own food up, my food-addicted-overeating parents did!

Thoughts?

[christopher]

You damn skippy! There were plenty of starving children in China.

[MsThang]

WOW!! LOL @ 'when I was a kid it was all about "starving children in [insert country here]"' I heard it ALL the time as a kid and thought it was something only said in African American households! My grandmother...my mom...my aunties...Too funny. I agree that it's not about placing the blame on anyone else. I try to break the cycle with my own kids, but I have to "catch myself" when I insist that my daughter takes one more bite...

[Tarheel2012]

Hahahahaha...I thought only African Americans said this as well or just my mom...lol! I don't blame anyone for my weight issues or addiction to food! I do however know that limited knowledge of nutrition and a history of bad eating is consistent throughout my entire family. The biggest battle I have now is being ok with eating less than half of my plate and cooking very small portions. This was a excellent topic AngelaMarie....

WOW!! LOL @ 'when I was a kid it was all about "starving children in [insert country here]"' I heard it ALL the time as a kid and thought it was something only said in African American households! My grandmother...my mom...my aunties...Too funny. I agree that it's not about placing the blame on anyone else. I try to break the cycle with my own kids, but I have to "catch myself" when I insist that my daughter takes one more bite...

[lidibear]

Yup, I grew up like that. I try not to do the same with my little ones. I want them to have a healthy relationship with food. This has it's own problems.my 3 year old would be happy on pediasure, salad and watermelon. She underweight for her height. Her doctors always say we have a super model on our hands and not to make her eat but we worry. And she gets headaches. Grrrr... My little guy is 10 months old and is a perfect weight for his height and loves everything. He looks like a giant next to most babies his age bit due to height as well. The docs call him our linebacker.
We don't force feed either.
Makes me think it is an individual's thing. The overeating. Both are too small for these bad habits but are completely different when it comes to eating.

[angelamarie]

We also didn't talk about food in our house, other than, "EAT IT!" LOL! I just never learned to listen to my body. I just had to listen to my parents. I am glad for this retraining phase so I can maybe actually learns what it feels like to be hungry and satisfied.

And my dad is still a food pusher! He took me to my one week appointment then asked if I could eat a milkshake, as he was on his way to get a root beer float. I told him I didn't want one. He said, "But CAN you?" I said I suppose, but I don't NEED it. I asked him, "Would you pick someone up from rehab and take them to a bar? WTF is wrong with you??" The night before he took me to the pharmacy and stopped at McDonalds first. I told him to enjoy his pink slime burger, but it concerned me because he couldn't even put aside his need for food for an hour for me.

I am trying also to help my kids have realistic food habits. I don't use food as a reward anymore. I am lucky because their school does a lot about healthy living so I feel like it helps me be more accountable at home too.

I am just glad I can recognize where it at least came from, and how feeling "full" to me is completely different than "full" to someone else that grew up listening to their body instead of their parents. Full to me is "uncomfortable stuffed" and full to a healthy person is "I have had enough to eat" so now instead of asking my kids if they are full, I ask them if they have had enough to eat. Small shifts in habits, right?

[itsmytime]

When my kids were little, i was guilty of doing that. I used to tell them to eat all of their food on their plate or at least their vegetables if they didn't eat the main course. Now that they are older, I don't do that. I let them eat till they are satisfied and tell them it's ok to throw out their food.

[cowgirldiva17]

I was totally raised like that. I even find myself still doing it even if I am full. Probably why I am obese. LOL. With my kids, I tell them they have to try 1 bite. Then if they don't like it, then they don't have to eat it. My youngest is a little different. He is autistic. Sometimes he just won't eat because he is too distracted by something. In that case, I know how much he usually can eat. I tell him, "You are 6 years old, so you need to eat 6 bites".

[snmtazz]

My step mom was a witch and she used to tell her daughters "eat it or wear it", I saw them wear it a couple of times. In todays world, she should or would have been arrested!!

Matt

[angelamarie]

We did three "no thank you" bites for new food, and now that they are older (9 and 11) they are wonderful adventurous eaters. As for vegetables, if I know they don't like it, I don't buy it.

I asked my dad once, "If you knew that every meal was going to be a battle over the green beans, and you knew that I would eat cucumber right out of the ground, why couldn't you just get the healthy thing you knew I WOULD eat" He had this look on his face that told me it had never even occurred to him. If one kid wants broccoli and one wants carrots, them we have two veggies with dinner.

I have one that occasionally isn't ready to eat at the same time we are, so I finally just decided to not make food an issue or dinner time a chore and let him eat later, especially if he is outside playing. Can you imagine, "Come in from your outdoor play so you can sit and eat even though you aren't hungry and you have to eat as much as I tell you"

When I first became an evil stepmom, I was like yours Matt, but I quickly learned I didn't want them to turn out like me (at least in that area of my life LOL)

[Grace]

My step mom was a witch and she used to tell her daughters "eat it or wear it", I saw them wear it a couple of times. In todays world, she should or would have been arrested!!

Matt

Ouch, that's twice today my feelings get hurt. Must be having a sensitive day. As a witch, it hurts to have people slur my religion. Just saying... and not joking. You'd never say, my step mom was a Christian/Jew/Mormon/etc and mean it as though she was a bad person, right? this message gently spoken....call me the local wiccan anti-deflamation speaker.

As for the clean your plate club. I didn't have to be told. I grew up in an Italian household. We had salad, bread, pasta and THEN dinner and dessert. Every night. And I never left a morsel on the plate.

[itsmytime]

Oh Grace you know I bet he didn't even think about a Wiccan reading this. Witch was probably his less profane way of saying the b word. I bet I probably wouldn't have ever thought of it that way. I usually just call someone the b word. One of my good friends is Wiccan and I love her. She's so open minded and friendly. One of the coolest people ever. I think Wiccan people are far less judgmental and accepting of others. Love her :-)

[Grace]

Oh Grace you know I bet he didn't even think about a Wiccan reading this. Witch was probably his less profane way of saying the b word. I bet I probably wouldn't have ever thought of it that way. I usually just call someone the b word. One of my good friends is Wiccan and I love her. She's so open minded and friendly. One of the coolest people ever. I think Wiccan people are far less judgmental and accepting of others. Love her :-)

I know, but people can't know it hurts if I don't say so. So, I'm saying so. I'm a witch. Wiccan is a polite term but really, I'm a witch And really proud to be. Thanks for your support and tell your friend merry meet for me.

[GinaK]

I've taught my daughter to stop when her tummy says stop. It's actually hard for her to throw food away because she feels like she is wasting (she is 10) but I've told her over and over, I don't care... if you're not hungry, don't eat. She's a picky eater and I do need to introduce her to more healthy foods and am trying to figure out a way to do that without making her feel that I am force feeding her... any suggestions in that arena would be welcome!

[angelamarie]

GinaK, I had a friend that used to play "Fear Factor" with her kid to get her to try new things! Funny, but it worked!

Since she is the perfect age to learn to cook, that might be a great way to let her pick out a new recipe and you all try it together. We have what I call "experiemental" dinner night, where everyone has to try it (three no thank you bites), but if it is bad, they are all free to make their own peanut butter sandwiches. Everyone says what they liked or didn't and what might be changed, and we decide whether or not to add it to our rotation.

When I first got my kids (I am a custodial stepmom) we went to Costco and I introduced them to samples. They loved it and it was only one bite and I even tried things that I knew I didn't like, just to set the example.

You could also have your daughter just save or freeze her left overs if that makes her feel better (no matter if she forgets about them and they get tossed LOL).