Here’s a reminder that may be especially relevant in this moment of mostly-eating-and-staying-at-home: You are not a human trash can.
It sounds a little silly when I say it like that, and yet, how many of us treat ourselves like human trash cans?
There’s just a little bit left; I’ll eat it so that I don’t have to throw it away.
I don’t feel like it, but I guess I’ll eat these leftovers for the third time this week.
There are two problems with treating ourselves like human trash cans:
If we urge ourselves to eat when we’re not actually hungry, we are overriding and ignoring our bodily signals. This is the “There’s just a little bit left, I’ll eat it so that I don’t have to throw it away” scenario.
The more we do this, the fainter and harder to notice these signals become. And if we can’t notice our bodily signals, we’re more likely to make decisions about when and what to eat based on, other, less useful factors — like how much food is on our plate, or whether the donuts “happen to be there” at the office meeting.If we urge ourselves to eat food that doesn’t actually satisfy us, we may eat past fullness, searching for more pleasure. This is the “I don’t feel like it, but I guess I’ll eat these leftovers for the third time this week” scenario.
And most of us have experienced how that meal ends. Something like: “Maybe the reason I don’t feel satisfied with this meal is that I didn’t eat enough? I’ll just have a couple more bites…”
And we’re more definitely likely to go scrounging for other foods after our meal. You know, the whole “I’m full, but my dinner didn’t satisfy me, so I really want to have this cookie” thing.
In our efforts to do something good (not waste food), we’ve done something less-than-great (we’ve fed our bodies more food than they need).
Sometimes this is just a habit (“My mom always said I had to clear my plate!”), but at other times, we have good reasons to treat ourselves like human trash cans. We may feel uncomfortable wasting food when there are hungry people in the world who would love to have more food. Or we don’t want to contribute to food waste as an environmental problem.
I would argue that it’s possible to attempt to be responsible citizens of the world, while also taking good care of ourselves. Here are a couple of possibilities that you might explore, instead of forcing yourself to eat that last serving of soggy leftovers:
Donate to organizations with your time or money, that help feed the hungry or help environmental sustainability
Start composting — so at least some of your food scraps don’t go to waste.
Find other small ways to support our environment — with your home’s energy usage, paper towel usage, how often you get take-out containers, etc.
Vote for politicians who will enact policies to support the environment and the hungry — individuals alone cannot solve the environmental crisis, for example.
Keep more non-perishable options on hand, so you have options. Knowing that you have things that you enjoy eating on your pantry shelf, or in your freezer, can make you feel more comfortable buying less food at a time.
Buy less food at one time when you go to the supermarket or a restaurant. Yes, this will mean that you have to go “get” food a little bit more often — and I know that this is something that we are all particularly trying to minimize right now. But it’s also possible that if you focus on also keeping your pantry and freezer stocked, you won’t have to do it as much as you think. Over time, you will have a better sense of what you like and how far in advance you can predict your desires — so will have a sense of when to plan and when to be flexible.
Be honest with yourself about what you actually like. Buy the good stuff, the stuff you really enjoy and that makes you feel good. Yes, it might be a little bit more expensive, but it is also far less likely to go to waste. If you like a certain vegetable more in theory than in reality (or vegetables at all!), maybe give yourself a break from buying it. It’s better for the environment that way!
Of course, like almost everything, this issue is a spectrum. Do I sometimes eat leftovers that I’m not 100% ecstatic about? Sure, of course.
But here’s my invitation for you this week: Notice how often you treat yourself like a human trash can. What are you valuing, and what are you not valuing? Are there other ways, to support the things you are trying to value?