It’s Better To Waste Food Than To Waist Food

Carambola, or star fruit

I have a mental hangup with letting perfectly good, clean, wholesome food go uneaten. I’m talking about the best of the best: crispy, organic apples; juicy, delicious grapes; vibrant, sun-kissed oranges, luscious strawberries, plump mangos, fresh-cut pineapple, ripe avocado, and so forth (if you live in a tropical environment, there is plenty of exotic fare to be had). In short, I don’t like seeing food go to waste. This is especially true if I bought the food myself. It’s like watching dollar bills disintegrate before your eyes.

But this mentality cannot possibly serve a person concerned with being in peak physical condition. After all, the needs of the body are totally unrelated to the circumstances of the external environment. Think about that: if you eat based on external cues, rather than internal drives, you are clearly eating more than your body requires. Calories eaten, even from optimal foods, that are not needed by the body to maintain its lean mass are stored as fat. At best, they will prevent your body from burning any stored fat.

Another thing to think about: if you’re “hording” calories into your body that you will knowingly burn off later (to lose weight and get into the condition you want), then technically that is “wasting” food.

The solution: operate from the mentality that a surplus of healthy food is a good thing. It’s there when you need it (i.e. when truly hungry). Worst case scenario, when the food goes bad you can throw it away, or better yet, recycle it into the soil as compost.

It’s better to waste food that to let food go to your waist.