The bottom of your plate will make you fat!

sttrp........shtwp........thhtw, its usually the sound of my tongue or fingers against my saliva shiny plate. I finished first! I would scream for all my cousins to hear, for the first to finish cleaning their bowl gets reward ranging from Ice cream to chicken. My mum always told me 'God frowns on those that waste food' which in my understanding meant I had to finish whatever food is in my plate and stop not til my plate was shiny. In the habit of listening to my taste buds which constantly wants more and ignoring the loud protest of my belly and brain, I would eat until my belly was protruding and my leg staggering and all I want to do is sleep, an habit I horned from my boarding life where food comes only once in a while so when it does, we eat for the present and shaky future.

Out of school,I never remembered to unlearn it, so I would go about eating till the bottom is up regardless on the type of meal.

My wake up call came when Wura and I decided to take a break and eat an elaborate meal at barcelos, ordering a burger and french fries, it was time to gossip!. Half way through the meal and chattering, I noticed Wura going quiet with her fork in the air as if pondering something important. "what are you doing?" i asked, "I'm trying to decide if I'm full, i think i am" she said, and with that she dropped the fork into a plate still half filled with burger and fries, lunch was over.

A couple of days pass bye and I'm still wondering if Wura was crazy. Truth be told, she was slim and never had a problem with weight gain but that didnt make it easier to understand, "for petes sake, who leaves her burger unfinished!" where i come from, i was taught to clean my plate completely and the reward for doing so was dessert.

Slowly, i started the painful process of tearing myself from my plate before it hits the bottom and believe me when i say it wasn't easy. Dropping my fork half way through the meal wasnt working for me, so i tried something different. drinking water before my food and in between mouthful thereby tiring out before i hit spoon 10

It takes about 20minutes for your stomach muscle to communicate with your brain that you are full, so i also tried eating slowly and taking time to savor the taste of each spoon. Eventually, I found it easier to slash my meals from its preparations,reducing deliberately, my cups of rice , my packs of noodles, my slices of yam. thereby cooking only half of what i usually eat and subsequently removing the temptation to overeat. Also eating with my little sis helps me eat slower and reduces the amount I take in

Now,  i have choosen to believe that being full is psychological, you are full when you tell yourself you are. Discipline is the watch word.....


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