To Toss or Not to Toss Leftovers - That is the question

I did something REALLY hard a few weeks ago. I threw away half of a perfectly good, delicious French almond croissant. It was leftover from a delightful coffee date with a friend.


It was hard because my mom taught me to NEVER throw away edible food. I bet your mom did, too. Love our moms!


I ALWAYS take home leftovers from restaurants. Leave no food behind!


Do you do that?


In this case, I even carried the cute little brown leftover box all around another store while I shopped after the date and made sure it was in a safe place in my car so it didn't spill out. It was perfectly good food. Why wouldn't I?

When I got home I realized ... I didn’t need this croissant, my husband didn’t need it, my daughter didn’t need it and my son didn’t need it. Not only did we not need it, eating it would keep us from reaching our goals. IT HAD TO GO!


Don't get me wrong, I love eating all kinds of pastries, especially donuts. But, in this case after I'd had my fill and the experience was over there was no need to eat more.


The croissant experience was done. But, the leftover sat on my counter wanting to be eaten. "NO!", I shouted to myself in my head, "you already enjoyed it now move on."


Into the garbage it went!


It felt so liberating to throw it away that I started throwing away other perfectly good food I didn’t need - boxes of pudding, coconut butter (bought two years ago for one recipe that I never made), two leftover slices of homemade pizza (this was the most painful! I LOVE pizza) and four slices of leftover homemade carrot cake (oh, yes I did!).


I could’ve eaten all of those foods at some point and enjoyed every bite. But, in the scheme of things, there is only so much room in your meals for foods that help us reach our goals so we should eat more of those and less of others.


I’m not suggesting YOU go throw away a bunch of food.


I’m sharing my experience of liberation from fear of food waste in an effort to make you aware that throwing away food isn’t a sin. Often, instead it can be cathartic, invigorating, freeing!

Sometimes painful, yes. But, could eating too much processed or rich food be more painful in the long run? Ask your body.

We need to give ourselves permission to throw things away (food, clothes, stuff) that don’t get us to our goals. Otherwise we'll never reach our goals.

I value working hard to supply my family with the basics they need to survive. They didn’t need pudding, leftover pizza or a half croissant to survive. My kitchen is full of eggs, cooked pork, fruit, yogurt and almonds. Similar flavors, higher quality nutrition. 

Yes, I will order an almond croissant again. And, I will savor every bite mindfully. When I am 80 percent full (not stuffed) I will put my fork down. Maybe I’ll take it home. Maybe I’ll  share it. Maybe I’ll eat the other half. Maybe not. But, if it gets in the way of my goals that week it is outta here!

Got some Easter candy you don’t need in your belly? If you throw it away can you easily buy more if you want to enjoy some? Are you an adult with a car?


Might be painful to throw it away or freeing.


Only you know what's right for you. You are the expert of your own body.