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I don’t know what it is about our society, but most of us have been taught (and are teaching our children) to “clean our plate”. As it turns out this might actually be really bad advice. One of the more surprising things I learned from Michael Pollan’s book is 
that other (much healthier) cultures simply stop eating when they receive an internal cue that they are starting to feel full (about eighty percent full, to be more specific). On the other hand, according to Pollan, we Americans eat until we “receive some visual [or external] cue from the environment that it’s time to stop: the bowl or package is empty, the plate is clean, or the TV show is over.” Wow, what a novel idea to instead stop eating the moment you no longer feel hungry!
My husband and I have been trying to carry out this advice ever since we read the book a few months ago and, I must report that for some reason this is very HARD to do! Imagine you are eating and enjoying a delicious meal. There are two bites left, but you start to feel full…what do you do? I start to have a little battle in my head trying to force myself to just leave the last two little delicious bites alone. Is it enough food for me to save? I don’t want to waste it. Shouldn’t I just finish it even though I know my stomach is starting to feel full? I have only succeeded in not overeating (beyond 80% full) about half of the time that this has happened.
I have mentioned before that when you start to eat real food you fill up faster. When you eat processed foods that are mostly high in calories/energy and low in nutrients you need to eat more to get to that feeling of being full. So not only is it important to listen to your internal cues when you start to fill up, but it is also important to adjust your portion sizes accordingly (especially if you are eating real food). I have found that serving myself the appropriate amount helps tremendously to ensure that I also eat the right amount.
So the next time you serve yourself a meal, try starting with a half a sandwich or burger, or even just a kid plate amount of food. You can always go back for seconds! While it is unfortunately true that buying real food can cost more than the processed stuff, it certainly helps your wallet if you only buy and eat the right amount of it.
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I try hard at this one too. I never make my kids clean their plate just for the sake of cleaning their plate, I make a judgement call at every meal, based on how much I know I gave each child, and what else I know they’v eaten that day, and how much I know each child can/should eat. No two children are alike. Some days I will make some children finish their meal, but usually not. The only time we really require it is if there is dessert offered (which is rare), and on those days I really try hard to give them what I think is a reasonable portion for each child to finish.
I actually never make (or made) my kids finish their food. But when they were old enough to understand, I started telling them “this is dinner time, no more eating after this” as I started feeling like a short order cook. I learned from my kids that you naturally moderate your intake. That sounds so silly,but I was amazed that kids will eat what they need. I grew up having to finish what is on your plate and I have the shape to show for it! My kids don’t even overeat with dessert! I still get a little tripped out by it!
I agree that it is about judgment. I do not have a hard and fast rule that my kids must always clear or never clear their plates. However, I do not allow eating just the main dish and not touching the vegetables. Also, the rule for my daughter is don’t ask for more of anything until you’ve eaten everything you were given. I have a pretty good idea of how much my kids eat. They both are very good eaters when the meal is something “normal” such as bean burritos and often ask for seconds. BUT when I put something I make less often or that is new they eat a lot less. I also noticed that my one and a half year old son is starting to pick up cues from his four-year old sister. If she is picking at her food, he may resist tasting it. I do not believe that my big eaters are done eating after two bites of food. That being said, I can’t force them to eat. But I do refuse to give them anything else to eat in place of their dinner.
I work shift work an am frequently gone on my days off so I have developed a habit of being proud of myself when I emptied the fridge regardless of how big or small of a grocery run I had done . Reading this post brought this to mind because it’s similar in concept to the cleaning of a plate but instead I’ll gorge all week to avoid throwing good out . I have recently started doing some meal planning as well as freezin or preserving leftovers which has cut both my cost and waste drastically
I always try to leave a few bites at the end as the dog gets a treat. I have also bought smaller dinner plates!