“There is a difference between
eating and drinking for strength and from mere gluttony.”—Henry David Thoreau
Henry Ford
is one of the greats of all time.
He was a
visionary entrepreneur who pioneered the mass production of automobiles among
many other useful developments. He was a definition of worldly success by many
standards.
In his
mid-seventies, he was asked about the secret of his great success. And he gave
very simple answer, which some of us may find quite difficult to practice.
Meanwhile,
only one of his three core-value answers is what I need for the purpose of this
article but I will mention the three so that we can learn his full personal secrets
for our own use but I will stay focused on the first.
Here are his
answers:
Number One: “I
never overeat.”
Number Two: “I
never worry too much.”
Number
Three: “Whatever I do, I do my best, and I know whatever happens to me, it is
for my best. I trust in the Lord.”
Now let’s
get back to the theme of this write-up: controlling our intakes, which happens
to be the number one secret of Ford’s uncommon functionality.
From the
words of Henry Ford above, this seemingly ordinary idea is the number one
principle behind the greatness of the phenomenal industrialist.
Please
consider the sentence again: “I NEVER
overeat.” And he said this after seventy decades on earth.
Take note
that this was not coming from a Prophet or a saint or a nutrition expert. This
was coming from a multimillionaire in the age of sensuality and hedonism, as
Benjamin Franklin wrote, long before Ford’s time:
“In general,
mankind, since the improvement of cookery, eats twice as much as nature
requires.”
Now, how
many of us can honestly make the same claim?
I know I
can’t.
But if you
can truthfully make that claim, then maybe you don’t to read the remainder of
this article.
However, if
you need more discipline with regards to what you take in, the essence of this
article is to prod myself and yourself to always eat for purpose rather than
for pleasure.
A remarkable
woman, Helen Keller—like Ford— understood that the real joy of life is not
about satiety but about purpose and meaning. She said: “True happiness is not
attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.”
Greatness is
built upon principles and morality. As Henry Ford demonstrated, it is clear that
the foundation of great success is often made up of some basic moral principles
that many people do overlook as ‘no big deal.’
So, if we
want success—whether spiritual, intellectual or material kind— our daily
choices must be guided by sound principles and good system of practical ideals,
like controlling the portion of whatever we put in our mouth.
Our Turn
If you get
the import of Henry Ford’s ideal and you want to control how much you take in,
one proven way to changing your eating behaviour is by making a slight change in
your culinary cues: the size of your plate.
When it
comes to eating moderately, the medium rather than the food itself could be the
determining factor. No matter how ordinary this idea may sound to you, don’t dismiss
its power to strengthen self-control.
Imagine a
buffet arrangement where you can go into a room filled with many delicacies,
and serve yourself with no one looking over your shoulder to judge the amount
of food you are putting in your plate.
Each person
enters, suit himself and goes out alone to reserved arena to enjoy the meal. Under
this setting, my guess is that most people will pick large plates and fill the
plates accordingly.
Even though
you might sense that the quantity of the food you are serving is probably more
than enough but, the size of the plate will still make you think it is really not
too much. And, that is the beginning of eating far more than your body needs.
This has
actually been proven by two scientists from Georgia Institute of Technology and
Cornell University: Koert van Ittersum and Brian Wansink respectively. They
discovered that a shift from twelve–inch plates to ten–inch plates resulted in
disproportionate reduction of twenty-two percent in calories intake.
You see, it
doesn't matter what you're eating, your mind can tempt you to eat based on the
size of your plate and the quantity of food it contains. Therefore, choosing a
smaller plate will help reduce the amount of food you eat and allow you to feel
satisfied at the same time.
Another
proof of this is found in the book, ‘The Spirit of Kaizen’ written by Robert
Maurer, PhD. He writes: “One of the strongest determinants of fullness is
purely psychological. It’s whether you
finish everything that is given to you. To feel full with less food, put your
meal on a smaller plate.”
In
conclusion, if we want to get accustomed to controlling our intakes, we don’t
need to rely on our willpower; we should just allow the small plate help
control the portion we take, every time.
