My mother always taught me that it’s rude to leave food on my plate.  Even after my siblings and I would eat every last crumb on our plates, mom would often encourage us to finish whatever was left in the pot and she ladled a second helping on our plates without even asking.  “No leftovers please!”  This practice of forced overeating would occasionally be justified with a story that started with “Back in my day…” and usually ended with “be grateful for this wonderful meal and respect those who are less fortunate.”

I suspect the American habit of preparing too much food and then encouraging people at the table to overeat started with the The Great Depression.  The Great Depression of the 1930’s was the longest and most severe economic depression of the 20th century.  Affecting the entire industrialized world at the time, it exacerbated many social challenges such as unemployment, malnutrition, and child hunger.  Soup kitchens had long wait lines and many families had to wonder where their next meal would come from.  In that environment, people grew to appreciate food and to be thankful for the good fortune of the occasional large meal.

How can you leave food on your plate when others are starving?  You don’t want to be that person, do you?  Your parents worked very hard to put that meal on the table and they raised you to be polite.  Be grateful and eat all of it.  No “ands, ifs, or buts” about it.  You might not be so fortunate tomorrow!

But did you ever stop and think if that makes any sense in this day and age?  Having a second helping of meat and potatoes is not trivial.  More than anything, weight loss is about calories in and calories out.  People in America consume more daily calories per person than anywhere else on earth.  This would have been wonderful news in the 1930’s, but in our current life of abundance it actually means higher rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

In America, men consume an average of 2,618 calories per day, women consume 1,877.  It’s more than enough.  We don’t need more.  Men who want to lose weight should aim for no more than 2,000 calories per day, women no more than 1,500.  A second helping of meat and potatoes at dinner can easily add up to 300 calories or more.  Another slice of apple pie?  411 calories.   You don’t need these extra calories.  It’s too much.  Forget about how you were raised, what your mother would say, or what others think.  Just say no.

Overeating has become a part of American culture.  Studies have shown that Americans tend to fill their entire plate with food and usually eat all of it.  People in France eat until they feel full, and then stop.  It’s perhaps not a coincidence that people in France are healthier and have lower rates of obesity than Americans.

Framing this in terms of weight loss, eating an extra 200-300 calories at every meal will torpedo any other weight loss effort you may be undertaking.  Jogging for an hour will burn about 400 calories.  Think about the math for a minute.  Having seconds at lunch and dinner will pile on more calories than you can burn while jogging for an entire hour!  (And let’s be honest, you probably don’t work out for an hour everyday anyway.)

Saying no to seconds and eating smaller portions is one of the easiest ways to control our weight.  Leftovers?  Put them in the fridge or throw them out.  Yes, throw them out.  And don’t feel guilty about it.

My mother, now in her eighties, still prepares dinners that could feed an army.  It’s a part of who she is and a part of American culture that is often overlooked in the discourse on American obesity.  And yes, she still puts a second helping on my plate, whether I ask for it or not.

Sources

Max Roser and Hannah Ritchie (2017) – “Food per Person”. Published online at OurWorldInData.org
https://ourworldindata.org/food-per-person

ABC News – How Americans eat today
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-americans-eat-today/

Healthline.com – How Many Calories Should You Eat Per Day to Lose Weight
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-many-calories-per-day