Throwing food away?

CashierCantin

My 1/2 cup and 1 cup measuring utensils are my best friends now! I use a smaller dinner plate and measure out an actual portion of what I am eating so I know how to calculate the calories. If I leave a little on my plate, I don't fret about it. Teaching myself to enjoy smaller portions is slowly becoming second nature but its a very slow process. Now if you're leaving a lot of food...then yes, I would just serve myself less and if I needed more, then just get more vs throwing it out or saving it for later.

Circa1964

Making a menu for the week and then shopping for those items at the store has helped me not buy a head of lettuce only to throw it away a couple of weeks later because I didn't have a meal plan that included lettuce. I buy chicken breast and hamburger in large quantities at Sam's and divide up in freezer bags at home. This way it's less expensive and I only use the amount I need. The hubby and I are good at making enough for two meals and putting the extra in left over containers to take to work. I don't throw away that much any longer. I was never a member of the clean your plate club. Thankfully!

Rilke

oh i'm struggling hard with this myself. I find myself always dishing out the same portion size and i will eat until it is gone, as i just can't waste the food.....and i know there is no logic and it must be some psyche thing compelling me to get as much as i can and hoard it like it's the last supper. Am definately going to try a smaller plate. Keep thinking i can dish out my usual and then scoop half off the plate into a leftover box for lunch the next day, but somehow it just feels wrong and like i'm going to miss something or be deprived. Argh, i hate that we have things inside our brain that push us into maintaining these types of things...makes it so much more work to get rid of, but i suppose we'll get used to it at some point!

I hope you don't mind if I recommend a couple books to you (and anyone else in the same boat):

Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole, Elyse Resch
The End of Overeating by David A. Kessler

Fantastic books that address the exact struggles you mentioned.

CharityEaton

I cook less now, use a smaller plate for myself and we have a one night a week "Clean out the fridge" night. We keep everything leftover until Thursday night. Even if it is one small portion of veggies or half a can of soup. Everyone has to choose one item out of the fridge before they can add a "new" item to their meal. Makes a great night off from cooking for me, cleans the fridge, let's the kids choose a very creative meal, uses leftovers, eliminates the waste problem too. Any fruit and veggie scraps go to our chickens.

Oooooh. I like this idea!!!!

Thank you! It works wonders in our house. The kids get into it because they get to "cook" their own meal. Nothing like a waffle, a scoop of spinach and some grapes for dinner....add a chic. nug or two and you gotta meal! Pasta with a scoop of chili on top...anything goes as long as you havea fruit and a veggie with it.

UnderCoverShyGirl

oh i'm struggling hard with this myself. I find myself always dishing out the same portion size and i will eat until it is gone, as i just can't waste the food.....and i know there is no logic and it must be some psyche thing compelling me to get as much as i can and hoard it like it's the last supper. Am definately going to try a smaller plate. Keep thinking i can dish out my usual and then scoop half off the plate into a leftover box for lunch the next day, but somehow it just feels wrong and like i'm going to miss something or be deprived. Argh, i hate that we have things inside our brain that push us into maintaining these types of things...makes it so much more work to get rid of, but i suppose we'll get used to it at some point!

I hope you don't mind if I recommend a couple books to you (and anyone else in the same boat):

Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole, Elyse Resch
The End of Overeating by David A. Kessler

Fantastic books that address the exact struggles you mentioned.

Thanks, that is exciting - i hope the OP sees this too - sounds like she and I (and i'm sure lots of others), struggle with the psyche on this issue! It's funny as i read through the thread, there definately is a set of people that don't quite understand it, and some that do. I know there is a lot of mental with me about eating (and i see my therapist once a week and nutritionist once a month to deal with it LOL)...so i also like to "observe" my behaviors and really give them thought....this one really is bigger than i thought it was. Because i do measure my food (kinda have to in order to track accurately) and have dried the less portions and putting things to the side or leaving in the kitchen....yet feel compelled to go back for more until i've probably eaten what i would have originally. I know there's the "volume" theory (i read about that in volumetrics - each person is kind of predetermined to eat a set volume of food, therefore replacing foods with watery foods helps fill the need for volume while lowering the overall caloric intake) which i'm not sure how i feel about, but i see this as definately being something in the mental realm - because i do feel "compulsed" in a way...even though i'm not hungry anymore, even though food is out of sight...and i would say this happens for me mostly at dinner...other meals are fine...but dinner.....i dunno, the dinnertable wasn't our "happy time" as a youth, etc. etc...but it was probably the meal that was formal and the clean plate club was enforced (many a night my brother had to stay up all night at the counter with his uneaten meal, or eat his meal for breakfast the next day)....and i always succeeding at cleaning my plate (albeit peas and green beans got slyly pocketed and taken to the ahem restroom when we were done LOL).

Of course, our struggles don't prevent us from winning the battle ;-), they are just blips along the journey and work we have to do. Thank goodness for that!

firedragon064

It takes me a long time to STOP treat my body as a GABBAGE DISPOSAL. I were raised to clean the plate. I still have guilt whenever I thow food away when there are so many starvation in the world but
I know it's dumb to think that stuff myself would help anyone. Once a while I bring dog food to humane society, cans to food bank,
change to beggars....that actually helps me lose weight and help some other living being also.