[nostrademons]

It works when you serve yourself or otherwise have control over your own portions. When I moved away to college I found that suddenly I usually cleaned my plate and didn't overstuff myself. Ditto when I cook for myself.

Not everybody eats under those conditions. When I was a kid my parents would always put food on my plate, and I was expected to eat it all. They usually put too much, because nobody wants to be the parent who starves their kid. Similarly, restaurants always tend to err on the side of serving too much rather than too little, as do family gatherings or dinner parties where the guests do not serve themselves.

[saagarjha]

Interestingly, the my parents were the ones serving me for the majority of my childhood. I guess they had already internalized this rule and knew how much food I needed ;)

At restaurants, we would usually skimp on appetizers and other “fluff” before the main course, which I have found makes the total amount of food not overly large.

[tapland]

Tbh your post reads as 'I avoided overeating by me learning how much I needed to eat and me never putting extra on the plate'

In reality I guess you had unusual parents who were good at telling how much you needed, so you didn't avoid this problem in any way at all, you were just not subject to it.

[saagarjha]

I need to serve myself now, so I still think the suggestion applies?