Food Pushing in the Family

The carry over from yesterday will have to wait one more day.  I told my family that they were blog material for tonight and I am sticking to that. 

Today my sister, whom I have previously mentioned as a super successful Weight Watchers graduate and now life time maintenance member, made a decadent breakfast for our niece and our niece's guest.  My mother and I were invited as well. 

My sister is very wise about foods and cooking techniques and keeps her weight stable (this is true of the last five years or so).  She is a fantastic, thoughtful host.  I believe I have blogged about the special care she takes in making sure that I have low calorie food options at all our get togethers.

Today she was not catering to me (:)) She made thick bread french toast, a cannoli filling spread (ricotta cheese and sugar, basically - I can't tell you everything - family secret), served fruit and Greek yogurt and a type of sausage.  She had butter on the table as well, but I do not know why.

Her first comment regarded people being shy or something to that effect.  She noted that everyone had only taken one piece of french toast.  I think everyone then took another.  Her next comment went to my mother who reached for the sugar free syrup - as if it were sinful and had to be a mistake on Mom's part.  Then she admonished my niece's beau to eat more, he declined and she "pushed"  - I called her out, she embraced it, we all laughed and my niece said that she would gladly be pushed and took some more.  She also reached for the sugar free syrup and almost got her hand slapped - she accepted the regular syrup.  My sister referred to the sugar free as not worthy to be poured on her french toast - so we asked why it was on the table.  Oh, she said, she put it on the table for ME.  [I was eating eggs and fruit - not french toast)
We did add - in our joking- that my niece, who ate the most, only paused between filling her plate to go and have a cigarette.
It was all in fun - sort of - I am still anti food pushers.  If someone says they have had enough, they have had enough.  Believe me, many people have had enough.

Interestingly, the research articles I have been reading these last two days are about external cues to eating - such as readily available high fat foods, large portion sizes and serving plates as well as social pressure.  Some of the theories being tested are that overweight persons do not respond to internal cues to eat - i.e. hunger, but to external cues. These persons are especially susceptible to overeating when (high fat) food is around and also eat when they are NOT hungry.  Another thought regarded eating all one needed vs eating all one wanted.  In these two small studies, and others before them, normal weight people are more in tune with their internal cues and do not give in to external cues or pressures.  A person may become overweight because they had this lack of self regulation in the first place, or vice versa.

In sync with these hypotheses, the man who refused the extra french toast was one of the normal weight people at the table :)