Or in my case, the camera. I get so inspired by the colors of fruits and vegetables. And food in general. My husband thinks I’m nuts sometimes – I’m constantly taking pictures of our fruit bowl, or the food I’m preparing. lol… If I had time, I’d paint this particular arrangement. I only took up photography years ago to snap shots of things that inspired me to want to paint at a later date… but life got busy. So I kept taking pictures. It makes me happy. =)
Now the challenge becomes eating all that beautiful fruit before it spoils. I actually managed it last week, but this week I went more tropical with the pineapple, coconut, mangos and star fruit. We used to pick star fruits off the neighbor’s tree when we’d visit my Grandparents in Florida. Such a cool-looking and distinctive-tasting fruit. I’ll have to look it up and see if it has any interesting benefits beyond the usual vitmins, etc.
Interestingly… they say that overweight people eat more with their eyes than their stomachs – in that they eat what they see vs. paying attention to what their body is telling them [been there]. I read about a study where people were blindfolded and asked to eat a meal – they found they ate 22% less than if they weren’t blindfolded. Similarly, people who see how much they’ve already eaten, right in front of them [wing bones during a superbowl party, for example] at 27% less. So, tables that aren’t bused so quickly can be better for your calorie intake.
What does this all mean? Well, for me – I don’t mind eating more of something if it’s colorful – ie: full of fruits and veggies. I think serving food ‘family style’ is better, too – because you can put a little on your plate and eat it and take a little more if you aren’t satisfied, but the reminder of what you’re eating is still in front of you, vs. stacking up a plate full of food and bringing it to the table and scoffing it all down.
In the end, I’m sure many of us have trouble NOT eating everything on our plates. I don’t know if it’s just a built-in behavior of being a human being, or conditioning from being told nightly about the starving children in China or Africa. Either way, I’m slowly accepting that finishing what’s on my plate when I’m no longer hungry isn’t any different than just throwing out what I can’t finish [if it's not worth saving]. It all ends up in the same place eventually – or on my hips. No thanks. I am NOT a trash can. ;)
