Waste Not … Want Not

To Eat … or Not to Eat!

The phrase “Waste Not … Want Not” goes back centuries. But it is burned into my memory as one of my mother’s favourite phrases, from my earliest years. I loved my Ma but, and despite that, I like to blame her for so many childhood problems that have carried over to my adult life!

One of my biggest challenges, at least while trying to lose weight, is reminding myself that I am not a garbage disposal unit. In our house, I am like the fridge vacuum cleaner! I dedicate my life to sucking up everyone else’s leftovers. I scrutinize and smell those last few slices of deli meat. I check that piece of aged cheddar for green spots. I peel the outer layers off that limp half-head of cabbage. You name it, I will try to salvage it. Real leftovers are a no-brainer! Potatoes, veggies, meat, lasagna, that chicken curry from two days ago … all great things to toss in a hot, well-oiled, frying pan.

The problem is that these leftovers aren’t always in line with my diet-du-jour. Regardless, I somehow manage to talk myself into believing that those few layers of pasta in that leftover lasagna are, by some miracle of cooking and cooling, low-carb. I just cannot overcome my desire to not waste “good food”, and I feel compelled to eat it. Ma’s brainwashing has stood the test of time. Combine this phase with her other much-proffered one about “cleaning your plate” and I’m done for.

All that said, I am encouraged. I am now nearing the end of the 4th month on my new weight-loss program. During the course of this week, I enjoyed a really nice work lunch, in the company of some great people. We went to a Hungarian restaurant. Despite my good intentions to order the diet-friendly debrecener sausage, with sauerkraut, I found myself having the beef stroganoff. With spätzle! That eastern European pasta stuff that is so good. Then there was this lángos thing on the menu. I hadn’t tried lángos before. It is a deep-fried potato bread. Who knew such a wonderful food even existed? Unless you’re Hungarian of course! To alleviate my guilt, two of us ordered one of those to share. It was hot, thick, oily, and delicious. And it was big. The darn things overhung the dinner plate it was served on by two inches on either side!

My encouragement comes from the fact that I left most of the spätzle on the plate. And I only ate a hand-sized (palm & fingers!) piece of the lángos. Leaving food on the plate? This is new for me. Is it possible that my natural control systems are beginning to work again? And if that’s the case, my new weight-loss program might be working better already than I could have imagined. Maybe one day soon, I will be able to pass on the fridge leftovers too.

That would be quite the victory!

Is there a fridge vacuum in your house?