Throwing Food Out

First, wanted to ask if anyone else is having problems with blogspot's "reader"? I just go to my blogspot main page usually to see the list of updated blogs that I follow - but it has shown for weeks that I don't follow any, won't let me add any, etc. So it's just irritating and I was wondering if it is just me or if others are having that problem?

But onto my thought of the day - throwing food out. Specifically, throwing out perfectly edible "food" that isn't on plan.

I was thinking about this because it has happened several times this past month (a month where you know I have been struggling with my eating... but this goes to show you that I am still TRYING to make better decisions!).

We had several occasions (such as hosting a party or receiving gifts) that left us with junk in the house (chips, cake, fudge, etc) that we would normally never buy. If you've been reading me for a while, you know that I really like to keep my house stocked with only paleo foods, no grains, no processed stuff, etc. Since we eat the majority of our meals from the house stock, that really helps us stick to the template. Even when I am TEMPTED to eat a cookie, there is never a cookie IN the house, so I would have to get in the car and drive somewhere to get one. All that effort really derails any momentary craving I had, I get over it and eat a banana or something instead, haha.

But with the social events, gifts, and such, we kept winding up with junk in the house. But edible junk.

We found ourselves nibbling on it.

I realized what was happening and made a quick choice - in the trash it goes.

Now, I felt weird doing this. Throwing food out when there are people in this world who don't have food (but I couldn't have donated open, half eaten food to them anyway). I also felt weird because we aren't exactly rocking it out financially and free food is always tempting to reduce the grocery bill.

One item was really easy to throw out. Someone had brought over a chocolate cake they were making for their kid's birthday, but it had fallen, so it was a crumbly mess in a bowl. After everyone left, I looked at Chris, laughed and just tossed it.

Other things, mostly full bags of chips or the fudge that my cousin had given me, it was harder. I felt... guilty? Wasteful? Weird?

Eh.

It WAS the right decision for me and for us. Everything I threw out had almost no nutrition, was packed with sugars or chemicals and would have hurt us in the long run. So it was worth feeling a little weird throwing out food in order to keep us just a bit healthier. We had been having a hard enough month making good choices as it was!

But it goes to show that things are usually a little grayer than black and white. I got rid of junk food and stayed really active in January, but ate socially/emotionally too much. Some months I am perfectly on track, some I falter. Usually in between, somewhere :) But, I think, with a good base of healthy habits and good choices, things even out in the end. I think that's where I find my maintenance to be (I have been in the 120s since 2012!).

And I am down to 125.7 today, so a lot of the inflammation/bloat did decrease after only two days of lots of water, good food (tons of veggies, of course), and sleep :)

Namaste, my friends, make a few good choices today ;)