Many of us are brought up from childhood where we have been told they we are not allowed to leave the table until we finished all the food on our plate. While this was done generally with the best intentions in mind it is not the way that we should look at eating. You don’t need to eat everything that is on your plate.
If you’ve had enough to eat you should stop whether there is more food available or not. You shouldn’t need to get rid of food as these days it is no longer necessary to be concerned with keeping the food fresh as it was in the past. Stop eating and put that excess food into the refrigerator where you can eat it tomorrow.
If you are constantly finding there is additional food left when you are satisfied then you need to reduce the quantities that you are cooking or making available for your meals each day.
It is better to have a little less than too much.
Don’t feel obliged to eat all the food that is placed before you when you’re eating out. Even then you should only eat to feel comfortable and not feel full.
For most people it is a habit to eat everything that is on their plate and this belief has been drummed into them from childhood. Now is a good time to reverse that train of thought.
Where possible put the food on your plate that you intend to eat at any particular meal and then take that plate with the food to the table. This will encourage you to put limits on the amount of food that you will eat. Having additional food available at the table only encourages you to eat more. If it is not in sight you are less likely to feel the need to eat it.