Do you save your favorite thing on your plate for last or eat it first? In essence, do you “save the best for last”?
I sure do. I eat my veggies first, then my boca burger. Even if it means it gets cold. I eat my fruit, then my pizza. Okay, I just eat my carbs last. Ha.
Brian Wansink, a food researcher of sorts, wrote about this in his book Mindless Eating. He did a study on who eats their favorite thing last, and who eats it first.
He concluded that people who ate their favorite dish first were more likely to be from large families or be the youngest child. People who ate the favorite dish last were likely the oldest or an only child.
His reasoning is that the oldest or only child had the luxury of saving their favorite dish for a reward, knowing it would still be there. The youngest, or person from a large family, ate it right away, because they were used to competition in the family growing up – they didn’t know how long it would last.
I have four siblings, and I am the second-oldest, and I still eat it last, so I guess your research isn’t correct for me buddy (although I DO understand the competition thing!). Is his research correct for you?
(In Wansink’s defense, he used this study as an example to illustrate that your childhood eating habits follow you into adulthood. I defintely agree with that!)
I used to save my favourite thing until last. But then I realized that meant I’d be eating it, even if I was full, because It’s my favourite thing, damnit, I’m not going to toss it away. Which doesn’t really help the whole trying to learn to stop eating when I’m full part.
So now I eat my favourite thing first – or at least eat it along with my lesser favourite items at the meal – so I don’t feel compelled to eat it even if I’m full… It works some of the time…
I like to vary my eating, so I usually have a bite of this and then a bite of that and then maybe a bite of the other, or this & that together. I do usually save the last bite of my favorite thing for last, though. And, odd duck that I am, I usually have seconds on vegetables instead of dessert.
Great question…I eat most of mine last.
I eat a little bit of everything at once. I have known people who eat clockwise off the plate or only eat one thing at a time until it’s all gone.
i used to be an eater like sizzle described… i put things in order on my plate clockwise, starting with my least favorite and working around to my most favorite… i would start eating at “12” and work around the plate clockwise, eating all of one thing before starting another, saving the best for last… but i don’t want you to think that i might be the slightest bit ocd or anal or anything, lol!!! dc has helped break me of that habit and as much as i hate to admit it, i like this “new” way of eating!!! like suze said, i always found myself stuffing myself just so i could finish my favorite food… now it’s varied… i’ll eat some of this and some of that… i’ve been learning to “mix” foods too, like corn and mashed potatoes… but as far as my favorite food, i usually try to make it my last bite. oh, and to answer your question, i am the oldest, i have a younger brother, so i guess his research applies to me…
=^..^=
I’m like Sizzle–I try to alternate bites for variety and to make sure I am eating everything (including my vegetables, which I sometimes don’t want to eat). The only thing I really save for last is dessert.
I’m an only child, for what it’s worth, but E. is also and he eats by sections…i.e., meat, then vegetables, then potato…everything very separate. Also he can start eating if everything is not ready and I CANNOT. I must have the full meal on my plate and I want it all hot, so I am anal about making sure everything is ready at about the same time. 🙂
mine’s up!
http://masipagwapa.net/2008/12/friday-question-1.html
I am the middle child and I eat my favorite thing last usually. That way it is the last flavor in my mouth and hopefully, savoring it will keep me from choosing to snack on something bad so soon after a meal. 😉
suze – Gosh. I didn’t even think of that. But it really, really makes sense. A lot of my meals are so calculated that I know I can eat my favorite thing last and it will still fit in my daily calorie range, but I didn’t even think about the fact that I might not be hungry for it!
Odie – I think that I eat like that – a bit of this and that – when I am out at restaurants or having a big holiday meal with my family. But at home, I just stick to my dishes, in order! I wish I was going back for seconds on veggies. I do sometimes, but because I’m not having dessert and am still hungry!
drgngrl – Yup, me too. I thought more people would say that. Hmmm….
sizzle – Hmm. Do the clockwise people put things in a certain order then? Interesting.
CourtneyInControl – That is so interesting! I wonder where you developed the habit to do that! This all makes me think I need to vary it up a bit when I am eating. I just like to eat my veggies first and focus on my carbs, dammit 😉
diane – More and more, you sound like the perfect cook to me! I love it when everything is done at the same time too 😉 It’s hard to coordinate though.
pipnaymama – Great, I’ll check it out!
teeni – I do love the lingering flavor of something good. When we eat out then drive home, Steven often has a piece of gum right away in the car. He usually asks me if I want a piece, but I always so no, so I can keep enjoying the flavor 😉
I usually eat a little of what I like best first and then eat some of what I like not best but save the last bite for what I like best so that is what I end with. Bizarre, I know!
I eat my favorite thing last. Or at least I save a bite of it to be last so I can take it with me. I am the youngest in a small family so I think someone needs to re-reserach!
That’s funny – I am the baby in the family, and I eat SUPER quickly because growing up, if I didn’t eat fast, my food was gone. I termed my parents the vultures because they went after my food faster than I did! 🙂 But now that I’m older and it’s just me and my boyfriend at the table, I eat much slower and I do, indeed, save my favorite foods for last!
I don’t even KNOW! I don’t really think about it, but I know that I usually eat very fast. I think this is a trait of motherhood…..I want to finish before I get interrupted and need to get up and get something for someone who can’t otherwise get it for themselves. This is becoming less of a problem as my kids are getting so big and independent, but the habit still takes over. I’m a fast eater, in no particular order.
I do have a friend who eats VERY SLOW because she can’t stand to be at a table and to have finished her food and to have others eating around her.
tori – I don’t think ANYTHING is bizarre with it comes to eating habits! 😉
Cheryl – Yeah. I think so too. That is just too broad of a conclusion!
marissa – So you know how hard it is to reprogram and eat slower now that you are older! I am still struggling with that. When my younger sister (the youngest) was in town, I noticed she eats super fast, and I wonder if it is because of that.
beth – I didn’t even think of that – eating fast so that you can tend to the kids! 🙂 Well, don’t feel bad, I am a fast eater too! I wish I was more like your friend – I hate finishing first!
I tend to save my favorite for last unless of course I have something on my plate that I simply do not like cold, ie eggs. I just so happen to be the oldest and our family wasn’t large. I have noticed that my youngest daughter always saves her favorite for last and the oldest too, so I’m wondering how much validity there is to that study. but then I guess that if you’re writing a book you need to pick an angle and stick to it (even if you just did a really small survey and are kinda wrong) or maybe not
my unusual habit (or maybe not unusual) is that I will sometimes eat all of something before moving on to the next item.
DeAnne – I do that too – eat all of my food in little groups. I rarely move around the plate, sampling, unless I have A LOT on there!
For the most part, yes. Although it depends on what it is and if it gets cold too fast and isn’t very good cold. Most seafood items that are mixed in with pasta or noodles I save until the end, but they normally stay warm until I’ve finished what they are surrounded by.
martymankins – That is funny – I always pick the favorite things out of a pasta dish first! Like all the broccoli! Hee hee.