"Food is Sacred"

The idea that food is sacred is ingrained in some of us, this writer included. Many, many times I have eaten food that was off-diet because I did not want it to go to waste. 

My wife is really bad about nibbling on this or that and then leaving the bulk of it for me. Last night, I ate a portion of crumb cake and 12 oz. of sweet Italian sausage because it was either the garbage disposal or me. I won.

I don't know if I will ever get past the guilt trip of not wasting food. Maybe that's a good thing. I keep a compost heap so that I can feel a little better about throwing out withered vegetables. One should not feed wild animals but I sometimes scatter old bread on the lawn in hopes that the birds will find it. I think the ants like me.

Of course, yours truly contributes more to the anti-waste movement than neighboring fauna, the garbage disposal, or Mrs. Diet Daredevil. The "food is sacred" mindset has contributed more to my weight-loss delays than any other factor, including lack of willpower.