How do you make peace with throwing food away?

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Replies

  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    I must be weird, I can't remember ever having too much food at the restaurant ever since I started this... but I guess I don't order high calorie stuff anyway.

    You're right, it totally depends on what you order. I don't get out to sit down restaurants much, and can all but guarantee I ain't ordering the lean chicken breast, fish, or broccoli. These are home staples that I can easily make myself, so I'm more interested in things like steak, fall off the bone BBQ meats, ribs, Mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, that sort of thing. If I know my fellow diners well enough, we'll usually wind up splitting things. Otherwise I'll for sure have more food than I alone can or want to consume, since most entrees come with one or two sides

  • markburnett70
    markburnett70 Posts: 66 Member
    I try not to waste food. I try not to make too much and I try to use any leftovers. But eating extra food that I don't need is not less wasteful than composting it. I wasted that food when I bought it or cooked it, not when I threw it in my compost bucket. That's the way I look at it anyway. Also, be sure you aren't rationalising. I'm not saying you are, but I know I might be when I'm taking that extra yummy morsel and saying 'well I don't want to waste it'. Yum yum.
  • turquoisefish
    turquoisefish Posts: 5 Member
    I cook at home for myself and husband, and I know how much we'll eat, but my two younger girls on the other hand, it totally just depends on the day with them. They're naturally intuitive eaters right, so they just stop eating when they're full like we're all supposed to, so sometimes I end up with more leftovers than I planned for. And it's more than one serving, but not two, so I put it all into one tupperware, bring it to work for lunch, then eat it all bc I feel guilty throwing it away. I think the poster that said give up feeling guilty, is the thing I've got to work on. Thanks for all the great suggestions though!
  • cmtigger
    cmtigger Posts: 1,450 Member
    edited September 2015
    turquoisefish wrote: »
    I cook at home for myself and husband, and I know how much we'll eat, but my two younger girls on the other hand, it totally just depends on the day with them. They're naturally intuitive eaters right, so they just stop eating when they're full like we're all supposed to, so sometimes I end up with more leftovers than I planned for. And it's more than one serving, but not two, so I put it all into one tupperware, bring it to work for lunch, then eat it all bc I feel guilty throwing it away. I think the poster that said give up feeling guilty, is the thing I've got to work on. Thanks for all the great suggestions though!

    Portion the left overs into single servings. Put some into the freezer, and leave at least one out for lunch in the next few days. If you want to eat more than a serving for lunch, then portion it that way, just figure it into your daily calories.
  • angelexperiment
    angelexperiment Posts: 1,917 Member
    Make your portion smaller or half it before you eat and save for a meal later. You will get to know if a portion is too big this way. And you don't waste anything. Also try a smaller plate.
  • Mary_Anastasia
    Mary_Anastasia Posts: 267 Member
    turquoisefish wrote: »
    I often eat more food than I want or need in a sitting. I will be noticeably full and satisfied, but there's still some food left and I always feel so guilty throwing food away, so I'll eat just that little bit more, but then end up very uncomfortable (and eating unnecessary calories). What I have left and end up eating isn't enough to make a portion to eat another time, if it were, fine, I have no problems with leftovers. How can I learn to be at peace with throwing food away. I'm the anti hoarder and love to throw pretty much everything else away with no problem. How can I overcome this issue? Anyone deal with this?

    I always keep leftovers. When I was little I wasn't allowed to leave the dinner table until I'd eaten everything, even if it meant falling asleep in my food and eating it at midnight. What I do now with unwanted leftovers (is there even such a thing?) Is gather them up in a to go box, along with any unwanted leftovers from my friends, and bring them home to my dog. I know someone else who takes leftovers home to put outside for a couple federal cats. I never throw leftovers away if there is someway to feed the circle of life.
  • OsricTheKnight
    OsricTheKnight Posts: 340 Member
    I want to pile on to all those suggesting "smaller portions". That's definitely important too. I'm afraid I can't remember the source, but an experiment was done where people were fed soup from bowls that were bottomless - they secretly had a nozzle feeding more soup very slowly into the bottom of the bowl so that you'd make progress as you ate but you'd be eating a lot more than it looked like.

    They found that basically all subjects ate dramatically more soup from these bowls than they'd ever choose to eat from non-trick bowls.

    So there is definitely some evidence behind a smaller plate -> smaller intake.

    Osric
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,881 Member
    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    I must be weird, I can't remember ever having too much food at the restaurant ever since I started this... but I guess I don't order high calorie stuff anyway.

    You're right, it totally depends on what you order. I don't get out to sit down restaurants much, and can all but guarantee I ain't ordering the lean chicken breast, fish, or broccoli. These are home staples that I can easily make myself, so I'm more interested in things like steak, fall off the bone BBQ meats, ribs, Mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, that sort of thing. If I know my fellow diners well enough, we'll usually wind up splitting things. Otherwise I'll for sure have more food than I alone can or want to consume, since most entrees come with one or two sides

    Right, I don't see any point in ordering food at restaurants that I can easily make at home.

  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
    I rarely waste food. Even if it's just two little chunks of potato, I can eat them the next morning with my eggs. Chicken can be shredded into a bowl of veggies, etc.

    It might be easier for people who eat lots of little meals than it is for those who do two or three big ones. It's much easier to make a meal out of little bits of food when you eat six meals.

    Eating out is different. I just let them throw out the extra. I eat out so rarely, though.
  • allenpriest
    allenpriest Posts: 1,102 Member
    No starving kid in India is going to be hungry because I throw food out.

    But I avoid waste by planning my menu ahead of time. That way I control the calories and I don't prepare more than I want. If I eat out I either plan for the whole meal or I get a takeout box when they bring the food and immediately put the extra amount in the box so I won't be tempted to eat it.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
    Eating food I don't need and getting fat doesn't serve a useful purpose and in fact hurts me. It is no less wasteful than tossing it.
  • JustChristy79
    JustChristy79 Posts: 156 Member
    OsricTheKnight wrote: »
    "Trash that fat"

    If I offered you a deal where you could safely and painlessly dump 1 lb of fat in the garbage each day, would you feel guilty for wasting it?

    That's all the food is going to be. So just "trash that fat!"

    This logic brought to you from some diet book that I can't even remember the title of, but it stuck with me.

    Osric

    This.

  • Cahgetsfit
    Cahgetsfit Posts: 1,912 Member
    I have that problem! Now that I weigh everything out not so much, but I still find myself having to physically restrain myself from eating my daughter's leftovers. She might leave say half an egg on toast on her plate and I have this overwhelming NEED to eat it instead of throw it out.

    But I have been getting better. I don't eat her leftovers as much now.
  • 2BeHappy2
    2BeHappy2 Posts: 811 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    i don't throw food away...i put appropriate and measured portions on my plate and i eat it. unless i'm making a stew or casserole or something, i don't really have leftovers...i make pretty much exactly what my wife and I will eat. as for stews and casseroles, I know what appropriate portions are...i like taking leftovers for lunch and/or will freeze them.

    there's absolutely no reason to throw away food and it's very wasteful...and expensive.

    Yes!!!!
    Also, if something gets to a point of expiration date I would rather donate it than toss it, someone could use it!
    If I am eating in a cafeteria that I know will give me more than what Id pre-planned, I would also pre-plan on bringing a container to store the leftovers in.
    I know how much Im able to eat, so I would rather give myself less and get more than too much.
    I don't have any qualms about saving a small portion...I know Im going to eat again :wink:
    If Im making something that exceeds what I need & don't/cant freeze it, I will offer some to a friend/neighbor or family member, its a win/win!

  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,481 Member
    They're called leftovers for a reason. Pack it and eat it later.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • xstephnz
    xstephnz Posts: 278 Member
    Feed it to your dog/chickens, make a bigger amount and divide it up before you sit down to eat, then add any left-overs to whats already in the fridge, or make less and get full on tea/coffee/water. It sounds like you are dishing yourself up too much food.
  • Labyrinthine93
    Labyrinthine93 Posts: 46 Member
    While wasting food isn't good, don't feel guilted into eating more than you want/need. This can especially be hard on beginners to portion control. People of course fall into the "starving children in Africa" cycle. Eating it isn't going to do you any good. A lot of great suggestions on what to do with leftovers have been offered here, I would definitely jot down a few.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    Have you tried not eating an entree with the meal when you go out? Just a thought, since quite a few people were talking about entrees.

    Me, I never order an entree. A main is usually more than enough for me (I often leave some of that on the plate for the trash). Unless I order an entree to have as a main.
  • freekat
    freekat Posts: 71 Member
    I have a weird little hobby. I feed it to my pet worms! Their castings feed my vegetable patch. I eat the veggies. Nature at its best!
  • caci88
    caci88 Posts: 53 Member
    Excess food in you gets turned to waste anyway - in the form of fat! You're not saving African children's lives by eating too much.. If you're worried about it serve yourself half the amount you normally would, eat it, wait 20 minutes then have a second small portion if you're still hungry. Alternatively, wrap it up and put it in the fridge for later when you're hungry. I often do that because I make a delicious meal that's WAY too big and I just have the rest as a snack later or the next day.

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