Why is it SO HARD not to eat kids' leftovers?

Just don't give a second's thought to any leftovers, get them in the bin/trash asap. The very idea of eating kids leftovers which have to be cold by the time they were finished with them would turn my stomach . I have heard of people squeezing some Fairy Liquid/washing liquid over any leftovers so they weren't tempted.

amc2509 wrote: »

I am now giving my kids much smaller meals and letting them have seconds if they are really hungry. They generally don't have the second helping which just shows me that I was over feeding them before and setting them on the road to future weight problems. Although as a family we do tend to eat decent home cooked food, I can honestly say that our portions were way too big. I still save their leftovers and have them for my lunch or snacks sometimes For example my lunch yesterday was in my daughters lunchbox the day before!! I couldn't allow myself to throw out smoked salmon on brown bread that she didn't have time to eat in school!!

And this is constructive advice without just thinking that food has to be totally wasted.


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

RunRutheeRun wrote: »

ps do you never leave leftovers on your own plate? I think its a good habit NOT to eat every single thing on the plate, its something I do regularly and it's let me be more aware of my hunger signals - I'll stop when I'm starting to feel full regardless of what is left on my plate.

Weighing food has helped me tremendously not fall into the Clean Plate Club trap. I now know how much potato, veggie, and meat will fill me up, so I rarely have leftovers on my plate, because all I put on there is all I will want. Occasionally, I will put a whole piece of steak on my plate and refrigerate what's left. Last time I did it I was amused to see what I ate ad libitum was my usually amount (4 oz). I'll have these less-that-a-full-serving portions of meat with eggs.

Yesterday for dinner there were 7.5 ounces of mashed potato left from a previous meal. I had my usual 5 oz (with meat and veg) and was wondering what to do with the remaining 2.5 oz. Eating it now under a fried egg and a little bacon.

Ready2Rock206 wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

Ready2Rock206 wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

Ready2Rock206 wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

Ready2Rock206 wrote: »

snickerscharlie wrote: »

Ready2Rock206 wrote: »

You're not a trash can. You don't need to eat garbage. Throw that stuff away. Think of yourself as something to be treated well - not as a human garbage disposal.

That would only be true if she was feeding her kids garbage.

An omelette hardly qualifies.

I was raised in a clean-your-plate generational mentality, because food wasn't something we had an excess of back then. It did take me a while to break that mentality when I became a mom.

We have green bin recycling here - food scraps go into the bin and are collected once a week and composted by the town. Every spring residents can pick up free compost. Works for me, and I no longer feel guilty about not eating leftovers.

But once the kids are done and have eaten all they are going to eat it is garbage - not something she needs to be shoving in her face no matter how healthy it is. Compost bin is fine but she's not a compost bin either. She needs to realize she has more value than that and treat herself accordingly.

I'm confused. When I eat all I'm going to eat and there are leftovers, they are leftovers, not garbage. I often save leftovers for a frittata.

Is it because the food was touched by an apparently toxic child that leftovers become garbage?

I hardly think of feeding my kid garbage. Processed food isn't the devil. People who got fat did because they just flat out ate more than they needed to on a daily basis.

Oh I give up. Eat all the damn food and get fat as hell what do I care. I never said processed food was garbage or kids were toxic. I said not to treat your body as a trash can by eating food your kids are not going to eat and no one else is going to eat. If you don't want to keep them as leftovers and they only other option was to throw them away then YES they are garbage. But apparently I should encouraging the OP to shovel every morsel of food in the whole damn house into her mouth without any self control because EAT ALL THE FOOOOOD!!!! Good lord. You people are impossible.

I fail to see how not understanding why 'leftovers = garbage' equals "encouraging the OP to shovel every morsel of food in the whole damn house into her mouth without any self control."

Perhaps what you're trying to do is encourage the OP to think of leftovers as garbage as a mental trick? In that case it would be more clear if that's how you framed it, instead of insisting that something is garbage when it is not necessarily so.

Take leftover grapes or baby carrots for example. Would you have a problem putting these leftovers back in the frig if they had been untouched by the little munchkin's snotty hands?

I wouldn't have had an issue with putting the omelet in the fridge but if the only option I was entertaining was the trash can or my mouth and I didn't actually want to eat it then I would chose the trash can because clearly at that point it is garbage. I'm sorry that offends you so much. I'm still not changing my opinion to make you happy.

You don't offend me. You confuse me.

I don't want you to change your opinion, I want you to explain it, preferably without all the drama, as this hurts your case.

I can't explain it to someone who has their own agenda. I don't play those games. I'm out.

If my agenda is to get you to articulate an understandable and defensible position, then yes, I have an agenda. Sorry you find it offensive.

Omg !! This post is me,i noticed once i get tempted to eat my childs last chicken nugget or last three pieces of chips I just throw it right away as fast as I can and once it's in the garbage it helps me not want to eat again

Giving a child adult size portions is never a good idea what made you do this?
Also eating other people's portions is just extra calories. If you're not losing weight on your method right now it's because you're over-eating and one of the reasons is because of these extra portions.

Ready2Rock206 wrote: »

You're not a trash can. You don't need to eat garbage. Throw that stuff away. Think of yourself as something to be treated well - not as a human garbage disposal.

At what point did this food become garbage...?

Or, are we to assume that this lady was feeding her children garbage to begin with...?

A lot of very unhelpful comments here. OP, I would go with the suggestions about limiting portion sizes in the first place, which would mean less waste, and less overeating.

Good luck!

CattOfTheGarage wrote: »

ninerbuff wrote: »

CattOfTheGarage wrote: »

Thanks @amusedmonkey, that's pretty much it. Now I just wish I really understood why!

To all the people scrapping over leftovers: everyone has a different policy on this. I will save leftovers if they have not been served up, but if they have been on someone's plate and are half-eaten, I won't. So in this case, the omelette was either going to be finished at that meal, or thrown in the food waste.

I wasn't really looking for advice on whether to eat it or not. I was looking for strength to resist the urge (I got that just by writing the post) and then some insight on why I feel driven to eat things like this when I don't actually want to.

It's such a weird urge, and being intellectually convinced that I needn't eat it, while useful, doesn't seem to make the feeling go away and so in weak moments, like last night, it can still be a problem.

It's habitual behavior, which can be changed. That's basically why we do just about anything in life. We are creatures of habit and like to stick to routines. Changes in them may throw us off a bit, but as I've mentioned they can be changed to better habits with discipline and consistency.
Habits are why people smoke, have dessert after dinner, exercise everyday, have a drink a the end of the day, etc.


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

What surprises me is how stubborn this particular urge seems to be.

CattOfTheGarage wrote: »

ninerbuff wrote: »

CattOfTheGarage wrote: »

Thanks @amusedmonkey, that's pretty much it. Now I just wish I really understood why!

To all the people scrapping over leftovers: everyone has a different policy on this. I will save leftovers if they have not been served up, but if they have been on someone's plate and are half-eaten, I won't. So in this case, the omelette was either going to be finished at that meal, or thrown in the food waste.

I wasn't really looking for advice on whether to eat it or not. I was looking for strength to resist the urge (I got that just by writing the post) and then some insight on why I feel driven to eat things like this when I don't actually want to.

It's such a weird urge, and being intellectually convinced that I needn't eat it, while useful, doesn't seem to make the feeling go away and so in weak moments, like last night, it can still be a problem.

It's habitual behavior, which can be changed. That's basically why we do just about anything in life. We are creatures of habit and like to stick to routines. Changes in them may throw us off a bit, but as I've mentioned they can be changed to better habits with discipline and consistency.
Habits are why people smoke, have dessert after dinner, exercise everyday, have a drink a the end of the day, etc.


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

What surprises me is how stubborn this particular urge seems to be.

Could be linked to something that brought you joy in the past. Or maybe you had the "clean plate" mentality instilled in you when you were young. Or maybe seeing commercials of Sally Struthers affected you. Who knows, but it's still a habit that can be changed.

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

CattOfTheGarage wrote: »

I know all the helpful thoughts - especially "it's still wasted if you eat it, only now you need to burn it off as well" - but I still feel this powerful urge, like it really bugs me to see the wasted food and I feel like it won't be so bad if I eat it. I don't even want it! And it's only half an omelette, it's not like it's going to break the bank (though how me eating it would somehow balance the books is a puzzle anyway).

Anyone got any insight into this? I feel if I could understand this, I'd be on my way to understanding other situations where I eat without actually wanting to.

throw it in the bin before your tempted.

CattOfTheGarage wrote: »

Thanks @amusedmonkey, that's pretty much it. Now I just wish I really understood why!

To all the people scrapping over leftovers: everyone has a different policy on this. I will save leftovers if they have not been served up, but if they have been on someone's plate and are half-eaten, I won't. So in this case, the omelette was either going to be finished at that meal, or thrown in the food waste.

I wasn't really looking for advice on whether to eat it or not. I was looking for strength to resist the urge (I got that just by writing the post) and then some insight on why I feel driven to eat things like this when I don't actually want to.

It's such a weird urge, and being intellectually convinced that I needn't eat it, while useful, doesn't seem to make the feeling go away and so in weak moments, like last night, it can still be a problem.

I think it's a pretty normal impulse to try to make use of things somehow or save stuff you went to the trouble of making. Just my sense anyway.

Everyone in my family is trim except for me. We're all clean plate eaters, every single one of us. The difference for a long time was just that my family would clean small bowls of food, or not eat anymore for the day if they polished off a huge restaurant burrito similar and stopped after a piece or two of pizza. I don't seem to balance calories intuitively like they all do. With no tracking system I just go for more more more more until I physically can't. Really glad there's MFP to give me balance, it's so useful.

Anyway, one more thought, given the things you've mentioned in this thread:

I read that you don't want to make smaller omelettes to start, in case she wants more, but how about making the large omelette, cutting it in half, and serving her half?

If she wants the second half, plate it up. If she doesn't, the second half of the omelette is still pristine and can be saved for an egg sandwich or a breakfast burrito later.

Just thoughts anyway, good luck whatever you choose.

Get a dog. Feed the dog the leftovers as additions to their dry dog food (clearly this only applies to dog friendly foods). Problem solved.

ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken wrote: »

Ready2Rock206 wrote: »

KhadijahOwos wrote: »

Ready2Rock206 wrote: »

You're not a trash can. You don't need to eat garbage. Throw that stuff away. Think of yourself as something to be treated well - not as a human garbage disposal.

At what point did this food become garbage...?

Or, are we to assume that this lady was feeding her children garbage to begin with...?

A lot of very unhelpful comments here. OP, I would go with the suggestions about limiting portion sizes in the first place, which would mean less waste, and less overeating.

Good luck!

Food becomes garbage when one has decided it should go in the trash but then eats it instead. But since I am the only one who seems to think that she doesn't need to eat food she doesn't want to eat I will concede I am clearly wrong and she should eat the food whether she wants to or not.

Where are you getting this stuff??? No one is encouraging her to EAT the leftovers. However a lot of other suggestions have been made. Things like serve smaller portions, or ruin the left over food so it won't be edible or appealing, have the kids scrape their own plates after meals etc.... You may be upset because many of us don't feel that the food becomes garbage once the meal is over until that food is actually in the trash can or sink, but saying that we are all encouraging her to eat with wreckless abandon is not right or accurate. At least keep the conversation honest.

So ruining the food so its not edible is okay but throwing it away isn't. Makes perfect sense. And no kid has ever been served a smaller portion and still not eaten it all. Gotcha.

Wow. Stray from the topic much. It's about choices. I used eat my kids food because it was there. It was all mental. So now, I ruin my kids leftovers with a spray bottle of vinegar. To create habits which allow me to change my mindset of over eating I will sacrifice food and ruin it because a little bit of wasting food means nothing to me when my health is on the line.