Wasting Food

keithcw_the_first

Anyone struggle with the notion that not finishing your plate, or passing on free food (lunch leftovers at the office, dinner leftovers at home) is wasting it? It's a hard one for me to wrap my mind around - either throwing food out or having to throw it out through inaction.

LazSommer

Don't put it there in the first place.

CassidyScaglione

So stick it the freezer. You don't have to eat it instantaneously

concordancia

Better to throw it out than to waste it in a way that will affect my health!

Queenmunchy

I either cook in order to split into an equal number of servings to put into the freezer for other days, or I pack or re-purpose my leftovers so that I can get another meal out of them. I don't like to throw food away.

Work meals aren't mine, so I just ignore them.

SIMAKRA

Someone wrote earlier: what is better, throwing it in thr trash or throwing it in the loo after passing through your system and adding fat?

ForeverSunshine09

Leftovers usually go to the fridge for a later date. Since I cook 90% of the time and plan the menu I rarely put more on my plate than I can eat.

sanfromny

Lunch leftovers at work I either stick in the fridge for lunch the next day or bring it home. Someone will eat it there! Dinner leftovers become lunch or dinner the next day. The one thing I like with my job is that if there is a tremendous amount of leftovers after a meeting they donate it to a domestic violence shelter a few miles away. Might want to look into that.

StacyChrz

I think there are always going to be people at work who will help eat the leftovers, if not then they need to go. At home putting extra portions in the freezer is a good habit to start.

jemhh

Nope. Never.

I'd rather "waste" food than end up overweight and diabetic like so many of my relatives. The monetary and psychological costs of diabetes--meds, dialysis, amputation, etc. outweigh the cost of a few bites of food that I throw out.

Diana_GettingFit

jemhh wrote: »

Nope. Never.

I'd rather "waste" food than end up overweight and diabetic like so many of my relatives. The monetary and psychological costs of diabetes--meds, dialysis, amputation, etc. outweigh the cost of a few bites of food that I throw out.

This. As a diabetic who has my disease under control I'm not going to do anything to risk going backwards. I'll happily throw unwanted food in the bin. As far as free food goes, it's not my responsibility to worry about if it gets wasted or not. If I have calories to spare and I fancy something then I'll indulge a little. Otherwise I'll happily leave it alone.

treehopper1987

Try to cook to a decent portion size so that you can split into a certain amount of days/meals, or stick it in the freezer for later.

janejellyroll

Eating food in excess of my calorie needs is equally wasteful.

Grimmerick

I totally understand and HATE to waste food, HATE it when people do it too. That being said you don't have to waste it, you have many options, throwing it away is wasteful and unneccessary. Now that being said as well, sometimes you can't save things like when bread gets soggy but you can at least make an effort with the stuff you can save. I usually plan my portions so I don't waste, give it to someone who will eat it, stick it in the freezer or put it in the fridge and use it with another recipe the next day or after. You can make some surprisingly good meals by throwing leftovers together.

Gamliela

I had a mind set about having to clean my plate and having to use every food leftover from meals, preventing any wasting of food. I read a book on how to lose weight written in the 60's and one of the first 'excersizes' the writer gave to the readers was to throw a perfectly good plate of food on a paper plate in the garbage. You know, it gave me a freedom somehow.
I learned that when I was full I was under no obligation to keep eating. As an adult I get to make the sole choices in what I eat or don't eat.
This and her other 'excersizes' enabled me to lose 75 pounds and keep it off for 5 years. She didn't include any diet advice in her book at all. Unfortunately out of print now.

Mentali

I have struggled with it but I'm getting better and better at it. Part of the weight loss struggle of those of us that were poor as children - my family was so focused on getting the most calories for a buck that now that I'm food secure I have to deprogram all the things that say "you need at least 5 plates if it's all-you-can-eat" and "if you're full, finish your food anyway" and "if someone offers you free food, you better take it".

Don't really have any advice. I just have to convince myself rationally and try to ignore the feelings that I'm doing something wrong until they subside.

tomteboda

There is a miraculous invention called the refrigerator.

becky10rp

Nope. I think you get that from your parents.....my Sister and I were always picky eaters - my Mom would serve dinner 'assembly' style - you walk yourself to the stove - dish out what you want. Eat what you can - no guilt if you can't eat it. Same rule applies in my house now (especially since my Daughter has an eating disorder) - take what you want - eat what you can - no pressure, no guilt.

ASKyle

Passing on free food can be hard, but it's a false economy.

TheLittleRedHairedGirl

As someone who grew up with the 'you eat what I put in front of you or you don't leave the table' environment, I think I get where you're coming from.

Here's what I do. I meal prep, I vacuum seal portion sizes, I weigh and measure my food. I put on my plate what I know I've planned for and am going to eat. I don't leave it open-ended, there are rarely left overs from dinner, if there are, I'm not tempted because I'm usually too full, and I can plan on eating it for the next day's lunch.

With left-over food at work find out if you can start donating left-over food to a food pantry or homeless shelter. If not, then avoid the kitchen.

It's not your responsibility to eat everything anymore. When you're tempted run down a mental list as to why you're on this journey to begin with and will eating that left over food help you to succeed?

brb_2013

I have had to employ some tricks to circumvent some serious "wasting food" guilt issues. As kids we were definitely told to clear the plate. I was also a fat kid. Huh funny how that works?

Anyway, you come up with ways around it. Always serve yourself a small portion to begin you can always take more if you need but you're less likely to have excess on a plate you don't want to waste.
At work, even if the food is offered to you, it belongs to someone else. Begin to use this a lot. If you didn't directly buy it you don't own it, therefor should drop any feelings of obligation to have some.

Im a nanny and my boss often offers me parts of treats they buy or receive, such as taking a slice of a cake or offering me a few muffins. I don't even have to say no I just don't take it. It's not mine.

I have started leaving one bite on my plate. I'm almost always satisfied, I just like to taste it all. So denying myself just one bite is helping me let go of this compulsion to finish the plate. It's not waste, it's got hot sauce and my germs all over it - not going back in the pot and surely doesn't get a whole container in the fridge.