Waste Not, Want Not

One of the big chores that I got done yesterday was going through all of the dry, canned, and frozen food that is in the house and making a mental inventory of what we have. It’s been a long time since this was done. I am going to be trying to incorporate a lot of these items into my diet over the next few weeks to try and use up the majority of the excess stuff that we have. I will be doing this in a healthy way.

There is quite a bit of preserved fruit, so that shouldn’t take too much adjusting. I know it’s not as good for me as fresh produce, but at least I am not letting anything go to waste. There are a number of cans of flaked meat, plus lots of the frozen packaged variety too, which means that I will be making more meals that utilize that food group. There are a few pre-packaged dehydrated items that I will go through a little more slowly. Also, I have a lot of soup that should be used up before the warmer weather hits and it is likely shuffled to the back of the cupboard.

The biggest thing that I need to be careful of while implementing this process is monitoring my sodium intake. I don’t want to make these temporary adjustments to the detriment of my weight loss, and the potential for water retention could result in exactly that. I think, though, that the biggest selling point of this plan is that it will shake things up for my body and keep it guessing. A lot of the items were bought prior to me beginning this journey and I want to make sure that they aren’t wasted, but it is also an opportunity to surprise my system with the introduction of unfamiliar foods in a health-conscious manner.