How I Eliminate Food Waste as a Neurodivergent
To begin, I’ve struggled with the idea of food my entire life. Whether I didn’t have enough or I had too much and wasn’t able to regulate, I’ve experienced both ends of the spectrum. Eating disorders took over my life for a bit when I was developing. The combination of surviving an unsafe environment with developing an unhealthy self image made food very confusing to me. I was never taught how to properly cook, buy groceries, budget, etc. I kind of just learned everything on my own by doing research or watching someone’s process. I’m very thankful I took culinary arts in high school as one of my electives, as it enhanced my ability to make more and gave me food safety knowledge.
BACKSTORY
I’ve had e.d.’s mostly my whole life, and for some reason, I was really ashamed and embarrassed to cook in the apartment. It was a collection of feeling scared to take up space, and I didn’t want people to see what I made, I guess. I was really hard on myself, and I would drive an hour and 30 minutes home to cook something for the week and drive it back to Mankato. Another issue was, I was in active recovery, but I was coming from a place of straight hunger, buying and making food to feed a family, because that’s what I was mostly referencing when I would cook, and then feeling shame for not finishing what I made or accumulating food waste. This became my biggest issue when I moved into my first studio apartment. I was able to observe myself and my habits living alone. I knew there needed to be a change so in Miami, I started focusing more on making balanced meals, eating enough, and trying to be on a schedule. But I wasn’t really disciplined, and that uneasy tone bled into moving to NYC. Sometimes, quick and sudden changes can really affect your whole system. I lost a ton of weight again (mostly because I had to walk everywhere and was tired asf not wanting to go on the journey to get/make food). It was probably one of the hardest transitions I’ve had moving, because I had to completely adjust my life and things I never thought about! I was so reliant on my car and didn’t realize there would be aftershocks after moving. Safe to say I finally found some balance after almost a year of figuring things out.
FOOD WASTE
The first step is accepting that you don’t have to make a whole meal to feed a 5 person family. You don’t have to follow unspoken rules in the comfort of your own home. It’s a silly thing to say because it’s common sense for most, but personally, my brain thinks in B&W. I used to go by these unspoken rules I thought I was supposed to follow, and it complicated being an adult. For example, when I would meal prep, I would feel the need to stretch it out for 5 days and 2 days for the weekend, and I would get so stressed trying to figure out how to split up my meal preps. Now I shorten the days/meals so I cook more often, OR I freeze whatever I’m making. Looking through my pantry and fridge before grocery shopping helps with food waste and accumulation.
FREEZING IS YOUR NEW FRIEND
I bought these silicone freezer molds from Amazon that allow me to freeze meals and save on food waste. I don’t eat on schedule every day, so when I used to meal prep, I would have portions I prepped that would go bad. I would get frustrated because it felt like I was doing something wrong when, in reality, there are so many ways to store food. Freezing is the best option because it allows you to be flexible while maintaining safety.
WASH & CUT PRODUCE RIGHT AWAY
This is my favorite thing to do now. I do this right away after the grocery store or when I meal prep. This ensures my produce stays fresh the full week, and nothing really goes bad. I also use everything up now, which was my biggest goal. Also, this prevents molding. A huge trigger I have is mold, and I notice I’m saving so much food waste by taking extra steps to keep it fresh. I take them out of whatever package they are in, wash and dry them, and then store them in glass containers.
FREE FOR ALL DAYS
So I hate complicating things that don’t need to be complicated, which is funny because I did it OFTEN. Like needing to have 3 meals every single day with different meals for each and this and that and the third. When you have a busy life, it sometimes makes cooking feel like a chore. Don’t get me wrong, I love to cook and always have, but when life is acting crazy, the last thing I want to do is stress out over a meal plan. That’s why I meal prep for a few days at a time, and then towards the weekend, I will try a free for all day (and new restaurants/bakeries). This is when I take whatever I have in my kitchen left over from the meal preps and I get creative with what I make! I actually really like this because it takes off the pressure of having to be strict on myself.
Reframing this in girly terms:
Think of your fridge like your closet. If you have a bunch of random things that are good, but don’t really match, then it’s hard to come up with everyday outfits. The same goes for the fridge. If you have a ton of random foods, it can be overwhelming to get the basics down when you want to also stay on top of health goals. It’s also way more expensive! When you have a capsule wardrobe (or in this instance, the weekly staples) you can mix and match foods and get creative. That’s why I like having the free for all days because I reduce my food waste and boost my creativity! This also helps me figure out what I actually like to eat. I’m not forcing myself to have something new every day if I don’t want to. I’m fully tuning into my body and deciding that way. Not by what I “think” I should be doing.
INGREDIENT PREP
That brings me to my next point. Having weekly staples. This is stuff like ingredients that you know you will use weekly. I’m not going to specify what you need because I feel like everyone has unique taste buds and different health needs, but I would get clear on what ingredients you like and meal prep the ingredients. This is popular on TikTok, but basically, you take a few different recipes with the same ingredients and then meal prep the ingredients only. So if I meal prepped shredded chicken and veggies, I could have tacos, a protein bowl, quesadillas, breakfast burrito, etc. It’s essentially having the ingredients on hand so you can have variety throughout the week. This is great for people who like the feeling of cooking something new every day with less effort!
Letting go of the pressure to conform to unspoken rules has helped me so much with figuring out what works for ME in every aspect of my life. I have learned so much over the past few years, and never resonated with certain routines. Finding what works best for your needs and bending the rules to assist you on that journey is so nourishing physically and emotionally. I hope this gave you some inspiration on how you can update your eating habits to better fit your lifestyle <3
With Love,
Marley Isley