Top Rules for Eating All Of Your Leftovers
Diet Success
June 11, 2012 at 6:18 pm
by Irina Gonzalez
I don’t know many people who truly love eating their leftovers but, ever since I became a diet success and started cooking (and dining out) healthier, it’s been one of my favorite ways to enjoy a meal. Mostly I bring leftovers for lunch at work, because it’s quick, easy and a sure-fire way to both save money and eat a well-portioned meal. But I’m not a huge fan of eating the same thing every week, so I’ve come up with a set of rules that helps me to make sure that I am not only saving a bit of money but also not wasting any food–all while staying healthy. It’s a lot easier than it sounds to actually start enjoying this kind of eating, so take a look at my top tips, below.
1. Portion it all out: The first thing I do, whether I’m cooking at home or going out to a restaurant, is I divide up my food into several portions. I find that, for lifelong diet success, I really need to not eat too much so smaller meals makes all the difference. When I go to a restaurant, I divide my plate in half and make sure to ask for a doggie bag for one half and eat the other. When I’m cooking at home, I have my tupperware ready to go and divide the meals up into several different portions for me to eat later on.
2. Freeze it if you can: My absolute FAVORITE part of eating leftovers is being able to freeze them to have at a later date. I think one of the most boring things, for most people, is that you don’t want to eat the same meal two days in a row. Trust me, I can’t really do that either. In fact, I pretty much hate it. So, instead, what I do is freeze my meals in those perfectly portioned tupperware containers (yes, that’s really the inside of my freezer) and then am able to have them whenever I want, however I want.
3. Dress it up good: Sometimes all it takes to eat your leftovers is actually changing them around a little bit. You’d be surprised how much life you can give a meal by just adding a little something or other. For instance, if I have fish or chicken leftover from a restaurant, I’ll dress that up with a side dish–like sauteeing frozen broccoli with some garlic and onions. You can also try combining dishes here and there, like leftover fish with some leftover pasta and–voila!–you have a brand new, easy dish for lunch.
4. Keep a food diary: To be honest, my biggest saving grace when it comes to healthy eating and, in particular, making sure that I eat all of my leftovers, is making sure that I am writing everything down. Whether it’s keeping a traditional food diary (what I did in the past) or doing a digital version these days, I like to make notes of what my leftovers are. I also tend to plan ahead, so I’ll note days that I am eating out and days that I’m not so that I know if I need to pre-pack something or grocery shop for extras.
Do you eat your leftovers? How do you portion out your meals? Share with us in the comments below!
Irina Gonzalez blogs about healthy slow cooking, nutrition, and weight loss maintenance on her blog The Fit Flexitarian, and here on Momster.com.
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