doggie bag poll

[2big4mysize]

okay the overeating topic made me stop and think about it but I never had leftovers to take home before Atkins now every time I'm out I do how about y'all?

[G-Mom]

Before Atkins I would eat high carb, high fat. I always ate until stuffed and felt terrible afterward.

It's interesting you just posted this, 2Big, as my family just ate at Skeeter Barnes and I had the smoked chicken salad. I ate until just full and had to bring the rest of it home for the chickens. But I felt phenomenally good. Having bread and potatoes with a meal always made me feel so gross after a meal.

[changing]

I was a member of the clean plate club before Atkins. I ate like the world was ending.

But oddly enough, in the last 2 months (I've been on Atkins for 9 months), I've started always having leftovers when I go out. I've had to start ordering less food, and it always takes me less time eat than my companion. I usually start talking their ear off or drinking several cups of tea from the same tea bag (I'm a bad girl that drinks caffeine) or both. I never thought I'd be someone who went out to eat more for the companionship than the food, but here I am, and you know, it kinda feels good.

[MommaGlass]

I voted other but to clarify, I still ate waaaaay more than I should. Portion sizes can be larger in some eateries and if you are ordering an appetizer (or two because your carb craving butt can't decide and your are starving with low blood sugar when you get there) and then salad and then your entree, a veg, baked potato or fries and dessert, paired with atleast 32oz of southern sweet tea. Yeah, food would come home but not nearly as much as should have!! Good poll!

[doeskin]

I put other, because I ate a LOT but I would still have leftovers pretty often. It was a sometimes thing. Now I almost always have leftovers but the bf is only too happy to eat them up, so no doggie bags!

[CroweKitty]

Good poll.

Before I was very "eat everything on my plate" because, darn it, I paid for it and if the restaurant gave me that HUGE portion, I'm going to eat it! Don't want to waste money, right!

Now, I make a point of asking for a doggy bag at the same time I get my food. For instance, the salads at restaurants these days are just too much food so I split half into a take-home container (prior to the dressing being put on) and eat it at lunch the next day (with my own dressing).

[dotsamantha]

I almost always had a doggy bag, but i invariably ate it shortly after getting home.

[Richt]

My parents brought me up to eat everything that was put on the plate in front of you. So for quite a while after I left home I was still doing that. Never had any left overs when I went out.

Now is a different story though.

Rule number 1 in going out to dinner with Heidi is ...you have to love to share your food ....

what I have found is the most effective way of eating less when you go out and getting a good sample of the menu ....is to order what you want ala carte and then stick the plates in the middle of the table and everyone share ....this way you avoid all the things you don't want to eat .I think it is easier to avoid the rice if there is one bowl at the far end of the table rather than a scoop on your plate.....you can taste a variety of things in small bites and I eat far less this way moving from dish to dish tasting each thing on its own...than I would if ordered a big plate of food and had it all to myself ...

do I have more or less leftovers? not sure.. because it depends on the appetite and food ..if it is really good and we are all hungry ...nothing will be left at all ..if it is not so good or we are not hungry there are some and we either split it up or one of us will take it home ...

I have always eaten this way but now I intentionally make better choices choosing to begin with

I was raised to believe you should always leave something on your plate believe it or not....my father always told us to "leave a table a little bit hungry never full" that never worked for me ..I am happy leaving the table content ....but never want to leave it hungry!

[Lady_Hawke]

Before Atkins I too was a member of the clean plate club.....and I used to guard my food when I ate.
I'd have the fork in my right hand and my left arm on the table around my plate. I never realized I did this until one night I was out to dinner with a friend and she grabbed a french fry off my plate......first I looked up and gave a dirty look, then the next time she grabbed one I said hey and moved my plate closer, the third time she grabbed one I went to poke her with my fork and she cracked up laughing. I didn't see what was so all fired funny until she explained what I was doing.
Food was very important to me at one time - my main focus in life. Now I not only share whats on my plate - there is usually some left for the dogs or trash.