To Waste or Waist?

elguapoloco

If you grew up in a home like mine, there was ample appreciation for what we had and it was unconscionable to allow food to go to waste. Translation? You cleaned your plate, and did not allow food to go into the garbage. While well intention-ed, this approach to eating fails to take into account the possibility of not having a well balanced meal, or have portions in excess of what we actually need. Add to to this the pressure of needing to validate family cooking by going back for seconds, and you have the makings of some potentially bad eating habits.

Of course, in high school this wasn’t such a big deal with football and plenty of activities to counteract the massive calorie intake. However, enter college, and then marriage with that same mentality in place but no exercise to balance it and it can create a bit of an issue. I was able to compound this problem further by looking at every plate put in front of me as a challenge as to whether I could finish it or not. With so many restaurants offering outlandish portions it became extraordinarily unhealthy for me when we would eat out.

This got me to thinking: why do I force feed myself when I know that I’m done with my meal? Then it struck me! I was still using the same eating philosophy from my childhood. I began to actually think through this idea of “Leave nothing to waste!” It occurred to me that just by shoveling what was left into my face does not mean it has benefited my body. Whenever I eat in excess, the bottom line is that it goes to MY waist, which means by eating it the food has gone to waste twice over!

I had to get a different mindset once I had kids as it became of critical importance to me to set a good health and fitness example for my family. As I used MFP and found a system that worked for me, I was able to achieve success in part because I paid attention to what was in front of me and what my body actually needed. Made back down to 190 from 276 so far, but still get to eat out and enjoy good food

Please know, I am not abdicating that we should get in the habit of throwing food away. I believe that if we reprogram ourselves to learn our bodies better, we can be better prepared to know when we are best served by ordering smaller portions or being ready to take food home. There are those occasions when it doesn’t work to try to bring the food home due to spoilage or distance from home. While it may be aggravating to throw perfectly good food away, what’s worse is if we waste the food twice over and pretend that by eating it we made a good decision. I am learning to listen to my body better. I encourage you to do the same, and when appropriate allow some food to go to waste so that it won’t go to waist

Thoughts?

blankiefinder

I throw away food. If I buy something that turns out not to taste great, I chuck it. It doesn't help anyone, anywhere, if I eat that nasty GF brownie.

lemurcat12

One thing that's been helpful for me is deciding on portions in advance, putting them on my plate (or at a restaurant mentally deciding that I will take 1/2 or more home), and then considering anything left over leftovers. I know I'm bad at deciding I'm finished otherwise, even if I'm not actually enjoying the food anymore (which is bizarre, but clearly not that uncommon), but I will be perfectly satisfied with what is actually a reasonable size 99.9% of the time.

My mind does the "but I can't let it go to waste" thing too, and I've had to get over it (although it's still a struggle sometimes, also the "but I might hurt the restaurant's feelings if I can't take a doggie bag and yet don't eat that much"--weird again). But, yes, my logical feeling is that it does no one good and me harm if I eat it solely to avoid the waste.

tekkiechikk

I grew up the same way... when your grand parents survived famines in the Old Country and your parents survived the Depression, you were taught that wasting food was tantamount to heresy so you cleaned your plate. It would be untrue for me to blame my lifetime of being overweight solely on that, but I understand the mindset.

Browncoat_McNac

Same here.. If we didn't clean our plates, we were in huge trouble. But we also were outside running around the yard and riding bikes every minute we could so it wasnt a huge deal. Now as an adult.. Its a little hard to break out of that mindset that I grew up with. So I started using salad plates, got the same satisfaction of 'cleaning my plate' without overeating.

RunningforCake

My family was like that at least on my mom's side. If you didn't clear your plate you were rude and you weren't allowed to leave the table until it was done. It's insane. Now I can't even eat seconds even on cheat meals because I haven't forced myself to do that in over a year. However I stopped running so now I have join myfitnesspal again to record my exercise and eating habits to get back on track and maintain this balance a bit better.

iheartdinosaurs

I too grew up in a home where I couldn't leave the table until I finished my plate (meals with mushrooms or tomatoes were the bane of my childhood existence). This translated into a huge appetite as I grew (i.e. I was eating adult-sized meals at restaurants well before I was close to being an adult) and that's probably what hurt me the most.

Now, I'm all about dem leftovers and much better at portion control, but I'm not perfect at finishing all of the leftovers before they go bad, so I often feel guilty about having to toss stuff (especially as I live in a country with a lot of malnutrition...). Slowly getting better at cooking for one, so that helps a bit!

Lois_1989

Oh, I grew up with the "There are starving kids in Africa..." speech if I didn't finish my food. If it is a couple of mouthfuls I will chuck it, if it's more (small meal size) I will freeze it.

lemurcat12

Browncoat_McNac wrote: »

Same here.. If we didn't clean our plates, we were in huge trouble. But we also were outside running around the yard and riding bikes every minute we could so it wasnt a huge deal. Now as an adult.. Its a little hard to break out of that mindset that I grew up with. So I started using salad plates, got the same satisfaction of 'cleaning my plate' without overeating.

I just fill my plate with lots of veggies. Use the clean your plate mentality in my favor!

Need2Exerc1se

Yeah, I grew up in a "your not leaving the table until you clean your plate" home too. Luckily we had a dog that ate anything, so I got in the habit of throwing unwanted food to the animals at a young age. I still have no problem tossing out food I don't want, but rarely put it in the trash. Scraps go in a bag I keep in the freezer for making stock, the compost bin, to the chickens or just thrown over the hill for the wild critters to eat.

4legsRbetterthan2

I am really bad about if there is food in front of me I just have to eat it, not really raised to not throw food away, just how my mind is I guess, I see it and I want it!

When eating out I try to go in with a plan and stick to it, order what will fit in my goal for the day, I have a tough time taking leftovers home and not just eating them right there.

At home I try to measure out appropriate portions prior to cooking and just cook enough for the one meal. Can't overeat when the rest isnt cooked Has saved me quite a bit of money in food too!

melimomTARDIS

I grew up poor, so food has always been emotionally charged for me.

I am still really weird about food waste, and avoid it whenever possible. My husband tells me "whether its lining the trash, or padding your *kitten*, waste is waste". that helps me alot to be able to throw food away/turn down food.

When I was a kid, if we went out to eat, at a buffet (rare!) we had to "get our money's worth" and eat eat eat eat. Also if a food was inexpensive,like ramen noodles, you could eat as much as you want of that food, guilt free.I have lots of examples like that, but I wont bore you.

My husband's family is also poor, and they took the food thing in the complete opposite direction. Ie- food is sacred! they all ate the "serving size" on the pack of the package, ate on small plates, split their dinner portions in half at a restaurant to save for the next day's lunch.

Moral of the story= hubby's family is all slim. Father, mother, all the siblings. My family= all have had/have weight problems. I am the only slim (former fatty) member of my immediate family, and they still guilt me tremendously about food stuff.

melimomTARDIS

added to my weirdness- I dont feel good about eating luxury foods, still. if there is a less expensive option, I go for that. Food snobbery drives me nuts. i know that is a direct relation to growing up the way I did. I am still broke folks, so there is that too.