Throwing away food...

Clawsal
Clawsal Posts: 255 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello everyone!

I was taught as a youngster that you should never throw away food (usually followed by a reminder that there are starving kids in Africa).

So, I always finish my plate. However, now that I am counting calories, I notice I have become a lot pickier about food. I am also trying new recipes which sometimes result in unappetizing food.

Tonight I had a particularly nasty meal, and have two more portions of the same to eat tomorrow. Just the thought of eating THAT tomorrow... and "wasting" allotted calories on THAT...

I will probably just throw it away... but the guilt! (it's two entire meals!)

Do you have a similar problem? How do you deal with it?
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Replies

  • xKoalaBearx
    xKoalaBearx Posts: 181 Member
    Just throw it out and promise yourself not to waste again by making it again.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    I'm not a youngster any more, so I make my own choices.
  • determined24girl
    determined24girl Posts: 382 Member
    I feed it to my dog or cat and if one doesn't finish it I feed it to the other one lol.
  • Clawsal
    Clawsal Posts: 255 Member
    On a similar note, last week I really disliked a sauce I used with spaghetti. So I spent 10 minutes washing the pasta and separating it from the chunks of sauce so I could re-use it with another sauce. :neutral:
  • TaraTall
    TaraTall Posts: 339 Member
    See if it's salvageable? A salad or soup or with alow cal sauce?
    Otherwise, don't beat yourself up - just don't make the same 'mistake' again.
  • PhoenyxRose
    PhoenyxRose Posts: 70 Member
    Just realize that it's going to waste or to your waist because if it's that awful I know I would want something else which might just put me over. It is difficult though, to throw away food, but if keep with the idea that you won't eat anything you don't like, it helps. Now (since I am on the hunt for the best hot chocolate in my area), if I drink a hot chocolate that I don't like, I throw it away and it's just "oh well lesson learned and money wasted", rather than being disappointed that I drank all of it and now can't eat a treat I would have loved.
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    I hate food waste but I wouldn't eat something I didn't like! The dog would have it if it didn't contain onions/mushrooms/gravy etc. If it did te bin would have to have it.
  • kristen6350
    kristen6350 Posts: 1,094 Member
    You do know those starving Africans (btw, who was the crazy person who even thought of that?) don't benefit by you eating more, right? My mom said it, and I'm pretty sure her mom said it. I was telling my Mom the other day to try and not eat everything on her plate, gradually, and she's like "what about those starving people?". I'm like "Seriously? How will they benefit if you stay fat?".

    I throw away food all the time. I rarely eat a whole meal at a restaurant. I'll take 1/2 home to probably not eat it. It's not my fault if their portions are insane.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    I don't really get the connection between me throwing away food, and others' starving... but it's throwing away money, and it feels disrespectful and greedy at least not to try to eat up. But sometimes you just can't.

    I try to imagine how it will taste before I make a new dish - if there are familiar ingredients. Any new ones, I will incorporate slowly into my repertoire. And I make just a small batch of new dishes, if possible just enough for one meal.

    Do you know a dog you can give it to? Or a human with less sophisticated tastebuds? :#
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
    Yeah, if it's that gross, don't torture yourself. Just don't make it again. Technically it's wasteful of food, but it's more wasteful of your life to spend two more meals trying to eat it and being miserable while doing so.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    edited January 2016
    I've thrown away bad food but honestly it doesn't happen much. But yeah, if it's not worth the calories for me, in the trash it goes.
  • ThinkinPositive827
    ThinkinPositive827 Posts: 11 Member
    Just because the food is there doesn't mean we must eat it .. We are not garbage cans
  • Bella0531
    Bella0531 Posts: 309 Member
    I definitely have that problem (especially after working at a food bank for 3+ years)! I feel awful throwing away food, but still have to do it every once in a while. I try my best to make my meal plan for the week around what we have to use in the fridge and freeze those things that I know we won't get around to eating. I will also give our stale bread to the birds/squirrels. It makes me feel a little better knowing something is eating it!
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    edited January 2016
    This content has been removed.
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
    ThinkinPositive827 wrote: »
    Just because the food is there doesn't mean we must eat it .. We are not garbage cans

    Yes, agreed. One of my seriously bad habits was to finish off leftovers so they "wouldn't go to waste." Nuh uh, not any more. I try not to waste food and eat plenty of leftovers, but I don't eat things I don't want or that blow my budget, just because they are there.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    I throw it away. Usually outside for the critters to eat so it's not really wasted, but mostly so that it doesn't smell up my trash bin. My eating food I don't enjoy will do nothing to solve the problems of those that don't have enough to eat.
  • VioletRojo
    VioletRojo Posts: 597 Member
    juggernaut1974 wrote: »
    I'm not a youngster any more, so I make my own choices.

    Yup! I don't eat anything I don't want to eat. I rarely make food I don't like, but when I do, it goes in the trash with no guilt at all.
  • NikiChicken
    NikiChicken Posts: 576 Member
    I used to have that problem. I couldn't stand to throw food away, but then I got over it. If I don't enjoy what I am eating and it's not "worth" the calories I'd spend on it, I absolutely get rid of it! If it's something I can give away (cookies, candy, unopened packaged food, etc.) and I know someone who would want it and enjoy it, I'll give it away. I will also donate unopened pre-packaged food to the local food banks. However, if it's leftovers, or opened perishables and I am not going to eat it (and neither is anyone else in my house), to the trash it goes! I'd much rather it go to waste than to my waist!
  • jessicarobinson00
    jessicarobinson00 Posts: 414 Member
    I would toss it...though I have DEFINITELY eaten things I don't like simply because they were already logged...
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    I just threw away some leftovers. I could have made myself eat them but it wasn't food I wanted to eat again.
    I don't love throwing away food because of the cost and waste but if no one is going to eat something it is garbage. I don't feel guilty over it.
    Start a compost system. http://vermicomposting.com/
    When you make a new recipe maybe you should scale the recipe to make just 1-2 servings to try so you don't have leftovers that you may not want.
  • krithsai
    krithsai Posts: 668 Member
    edited January 2016
    If it makes you feel any better, Africans starving has more to do with supply issues and local corruption than it does to you wasting food. There's plenty of food around the world. So go ahead and trash the food but next time look up for a reliable recipe.
  • nordlead2005
    nordlead2005 Posts: 1,303 Member
    krithsai wrote: »
    If it makes you feel any better, Africans starving has more to do with supply issues and local corruption than it does to you wasting food. There's plenty of food around the world. So go ahead and trash the food but next time look up for a reliable recipe.

    haha, I was going to say something similar.

    I don't like wasting food because it is bad for my pocket. Since I count calories I rarely leave anything on my plate. If I logged it then I eat it, and I won't log something just so it doesn't go to waste. If we make something horrible, then it gets tossed and oh well, we learned what we didn't like. Luckily that doesn't happen often.

    I get more irritated by my children who beg for a bowl of cereal only to eat 1 bite and then be "done", only to come back and want an apple, only to eat half of it and then be "done, only to.... you get the idea.
  • evileen99
    evileen99 Posts: 1,564 Member
    kristen6350 wrote: »
    My mom said it, and I'm pretty sure her mom said it. I was telling my Mom the other day to try and not eat everything on her plate, gradually, and she's like "what about those starving people?". I'm like "Seriously? How will they benefit if you stay fat?".
    .

    I used to tell my mom that I would box up the food and send it to Africa. She didn't think I was the least bit funny.
  • skeo
    skeo Posts: 471 Member
    I also hate wasting food, my mom tells me 1 cup of rice can feed a family of 5 in Cambodia (my home country)
    So I try my best to just finish it, even if it doesn't taste the best. But if it isn't absolutely horrible to the point it may make someone sick, I will take it out and give it to someone who needs a hot meal, so that way I can feel better about not wasting it and knowing someone else has eaten, just me though..
  • brb_2013
    brb_2013 Posts: 1,197 Member
    Clawsal wrote: »
    On a similar note, last week I really disliked a sauce I used with spaghetti. So I spent 10 minutes washing the pasta and separating it from the chunks of sauce so I could re-use it with another sauce. :neutral:

    Oh my. I'm not sure I'd ever be so cost effective.

    To answer your question, I don't mind throwing out food if I hate it. I was once prepping breakfast for the week and made eggs with bell peppers but something about it was off and I couldn't stand it. Better to toss than to make myself gag over a meal!

    I do have trouble when I set a meal in front of me and I find myself with 3 or 4 bites left. I'm not hungry anymore but I logged it and it isn't enough food to save for another day. I still eat those bites, it's never enough to make me feel stuffed but I do wish mentally I could stop when I want to and feel okay about the throwing away. THAT is a hold over from childhood.
  • angerelle
    angerelle Posts: 175 Member
    Is it something that turned out wrong and ended up tasting horrible, or just a combination that you personally didn't like? A group near me keep a freezer full of donated meals for local people who need them, if they're ill, or new parents or just going through a tough time - anything similar near you? If it is just truly horrible, I'd chuck it though!
  • SweetestLibby
    SweetestLibby Posts: 607 Member
    edited January 2016
    evileen99 wrote: »
    kristen6350 wrote: »
    My mom said it, and I'm pretty sure her mom said it. I was telling my Mom the other day to try and not eat everything on her plate, gradually, and she's like "what about those starving people?". I'm like "Seriously? How will they benefit if you stay fat?".
    .

    I used to tell my mom that I would box up the food and send it to Africa. She didn't think I was the least bit funny.

    When I was a kid I'd said "well why aren't you sending it to them?" My mom never liked that question.
  • teacherkatz
    teacherkatz Posts: 101 Member
    "better waste than waist" my mother always says
  • chulipa
    chulipa Posts: 650 Member
    determined24girl wrote: »
    I feed it to my dog or cat and if one doesn't finish it I feed it to the other one lol.

    But they may not eat it either then you know its bad
  • Odilerubia
    Odilerubia Posts: 80 Member
    edited January 2016
    Hilarious all these comments. I think you just have to find a balance, you know you are a very responsible person when it comes to taking care of your food, so allow yourself to throw in the the cats dish and then the trash. Take a deep breath and thats it.
    For keeping your fresh ingredients as long as fresh as possible, Pinterest has the best tips to not waist too much.
    I m living with my 12 year old and me, so a very small household and I hate to see food go to waiste. Specially since I pick up food from a bank every week and I feel I owe it to the volunteers to be super responsible with all those precious gifts. When I notice I have to many fresh products I will pass some houses of people who I know have a tight budget. They are always so happy when I come by and the foodbank knows this so they will always give me much much more than their other regular clients.
    To make a long story short: be consious and forgive yourself for not always being the greatest chef in the world.

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