Eating Family Style

I’ve heard that one of the rules of eating less food is not to serve your food “family style”. It’s been thought that having the food right in front of you is way too tempting where you’ll find yourself going back for more. But think about the Chinese who serve their food family style. On the whole, they are not an overweight population.

Think about your experience the last time you had Chinese food. You knew, as the platter was being passed your way, that there were others who also had to eat from that plate. You couldn’t just pile the food onto your plate, leaving little for the rest of the table to eat. How many times have your had a dish with shrimp in it and you quietly counted the shrimp to make sure you didn’t take too many?

Can we take that mindset and apply it to the American way of serving dinner? Now, it’s possible that the dishes you get in a Chinese restaurant start out with less on the platter than you’d do at home. Okay, there’s Lesson #1 – start out with smaller amounts of food presented at the table.

Lesson #2 – Be mindful of other eaters at the table and take just a little to start with. You probably will find it’s more than enough to satisfy you. Remember, it takes a little time for the brain to register that food has been eaten. Our eyes tend to be bigger than our stomachs and what you’d put on your plate when you first start eating is probably far more than you really need.

Lesson #3 – It’s not just about the food. It’s about enjoying the company of others at the table. When you’ve filled your plate too full, you won’t have the time or attention to socialize. And with socializing, you’ll tend to eat slower and probably eat less.

And while we’re on the topic of eating healthy, visit www.spinarecipe.com and play the recipe slot machine for healthy recipes.