Waste or Waste

Many habits that we form can be traced back to our childhood and upbringing. The most important influencers of our eating habits are our parents/guardians. ‘You are not leaving the table until your plate is empty’, ‘you will eat what you are given’, ‘if you don’t eat your dinner you can’t go back out to play’, ‘eat your veg and you can have a dessert’ ’there are children starving in the world and they would give their right arm…’ and so it goes. We are not born with the ability to know when we are full but have to learn it. The common mistake that parents make is anticipating that they know how much a child should be eating. It’s surprising how small a portion children actually need and, providing the meal is balanced (contains all the main food groups), then they will eat what they need and stop when they are full.

These early habits stick with us into adulthood and become ingrained and it takes a huge effort to change. Next time you reach for something to eat, ask yourself first, ‘am I hungry’? When you put a meal on your plate, make the portion size smaller, eat slowly and stop when you feel full. Hopefully it won’t take you long to realise that you are scrapping too much food into the bin and you will adjust.