I have had to get rid of a lot of food since my surgery. I cleaned out my cabinets and filled three boxes with unopened cookies, crackers, candy, chips, popcorn, pasta, rice, soups containing pasta or rice, full-fat salad dressings, ice cream toppings, etc., and donated those to a food bank. I threw away opened food items that I couldn't donate.

I still have a bunch of perfectly good food in the freezer that I can't eat, like my favorite flavor of Ben & Jerry's, Magnum ice cream bars, french fries, eggrolls, and meals with rice or pasta. A lot of these are perfectly good and unopened, and I can't bring myself to throw them out, but I need to get rid of them, both to make room for my bariatric-friendly foods and so I don't have to look at them and feel sad (and tempted) every time I open the freezer. I live alone, so there's no one else here to eat this stuff, and I have chosen not to tell anyone about my surgery, so I can't really offer this stuff to other people with the explanation that I can't eat it because of my surgery. I'm thinking about bringing it to work and putting it in random freezers in hopes that food thieves will take it.

So, what did all of you do with the food you can no longer eat?

Like you I donated unopened packets etc to a food bank. I haven't dealt with the frozen stuff/opened packets yet - it just seems so wasteful to throw it away and yet I know I shouldn't eat it..... I don't have anybody local to give it to and can't leave our area as we're in covid lockdown. I think I'll just have to bring myself to throw it away.

My husband will likely chisel down our freezer, but we generally only tried to buy groceries for up to 2 weeks at a time. I’m still on clear liquids right now, so we don’t have a ton of stuff around... but we will likely just give stuff away/donate if we can’t use it.

Throw it out. It’s already paid for, so the money is already gone. Just get rid of it or it will torment you.

Throw it out, like Neller said, you already paid for it, so the money's already spent and you don't need it tempting you. I remember giving some away to family and friends just by saying, "I've started a diet and don't want this in the house anymore and thought you could use it."

I too live alone and have finally gotten used to the idea that I waste a lot of food! Throw it away if you aren't comfortable giving it to someone. I hate to cook because I know so much will get thrown out eventually.

I live alone & I ended up throwing a lot of food out too. I didn’t like the idea of throwing away so much food either. I think it’s why I left it so long to do it but by then I didn’t have a choice except to toss it as the expiry dates had been passed. I had multiple packets of rice, pasta, quinoa, etc. It was ridiculous. As for the frozen, I tossed a lot of that too but do you have neighbours or friends with children? You could always offer them the ice cream & other frozen foods. I understand you’re not telling them about your surgery but how have you been explaining your weight loss? If you’ve said a dietician or change of diet use that as to why you’re offering them some of the frozen foods.

Is it stuff that you can give out to homeless people? Also, my neighborhood has a Facebook group and people post opened food items all the time, bc their kids didn't like it or whatever. People still take it. Maybe yours does too?

~ AuntieMAME

13 hours ago, Arabesque said:

I live alone & I ended up throwing a lot of food out too. I didn’t like the idea of throwing away so much food either. I think it’s why I left it so long to do it but by then I didn’t have a choice except to toss it as the expiry dates had been passed. I had multiple packets of rice, Pasta, quinoa, etc. It was ridiculous. As for the frozen, I tossed a lot of that too but do you have neighbours or friends with children? You could always offer them the ice cream & other frozen foods. I understand you’re not telling them about your surgery but how have you been explaining your weight loss? If you’ve said a dietician or change of diet use that as to why you’re offering them some of the frozen foods.

I really try to avoid talking about my weight. When people bring it up, I generally acknowledge and quickly change the subject. Obviously, people realize that I am on some kind of diet, but I don't discuss specifics. Last week, a supplier bought lunch for the department, and one of my coworkers said, "Hey, Sue, I don't know if it's allowed on your diet, but Acme brought in burgers and fries." I was really startled and kind of embarrassed that he brought up my diet, but then I realized it's not like it's a secret now that I've lost 150 pounds. Still, I don't like talking about it.

I don't know my neighbors very well and I don't have any close friends nearby. I feel like it would be awkward to bring over some random frozen foods, you know? I'm thinking of how I would have felt a year ago if a neighbor brought over some random food, and I think I would have been suspicious... and maybe offended (like, do they assume I want their junk food because I'm fat?).

5 hours ago, AuntieMAME said:

Is it stuff that you can give out to homeless people? Also, my neighborhood has a Facebook group and people post opened food items all the time, bc their kids didn't like it or whatever. People still take it. Maybe yours does too?

I live in a rural area, so there aren't any homeless people around (that I know of). Also, this is frozen food that needs to be cooked, so not really good for homeless, anyway. And we don't have a neighborhood Facebook group (I think a lot of people around here aren't very tech-savvy).

16 hours ago, AuntieMAME said:

Is it stuff that you can give out to homeless people? Also, my neighborhood has a Facebook group and people post opened food items all the time, bc their kids didn't like it or whatever. People still take it. Maybe yours does too?

~ AuntieMAME

This is a great idea! Where I live we cannot donated opened food to homeless shelters (they have specific restrictions due to liability). However we also have several, large homeless camps - putting a box of items near the camp may be an option.

11 hours ago, BigSue said:

I really try to avoid talking about my weight. When people bring it up, I generally acknowledge and quickly change the subject. Obviously, people realize that I am on some kind of diet, but I don't discuss specifics. Last week, a supplier bought lunch for the department, and one of my coworkers said, "Hey, Sue, I don't know if it's allowed on your diet, but Acme brought in burgers and fries." I was really startled and kind of embarrassed that he brought up my diet, but then I realized it's not like it's a secret now that I've lost 150 pounds. Still, I don't like talking about it.

I don't know my neighbors very well and I don't have any close friends nearby. I feel like it would be awkward to bring over some random frozen foods, you know? I'm thinking of how I would have felt a year ago if a neighbor brought over some random food, and I think I would have been suspicious... and maybe offended (like, do they assume I want their junk food because I'm fat?).

I see your point. I have a hard time approaching people in the first place. I can't decide if I will be telling people or not myself (when I have surgery). In one way I want to be proud of it, and in another way I just now have told the family that live under my roof.

However - I have some other ideas that may help you feel less weird/embarrassed about giving food away and make it a win-win for you and someone else.

Be it - Facebook, Offer Up, Let Go or Craigslist - maybe you can list a posting that you have extra food and that you looking for families (elderly, or those with children) who needs it. No cost - but to meet at a general location. No questions, no judgement, no cost - just human helping human. Could also change the human helping human to neighbor helping neighbor - even if the person(s) meeting to get your food items drive a good distance.

These are hard times for many people. The families in need of food - are more embarrassed and worried about being judged for needing the food than you are about why you are getting rid of it.

I hope this helps! When I feel weird or am put in an uncomfortable situation - it helps me to see how what I am doing (or about to do) will help others.

Best of wishes to you!

If you have a church that you go to - or really any local religious center whether you participate or not - you can probably call them and see if they have any families in need. Especially right after the holidays, they'll have lists of their members who are in need. They might even handle giving it away for you so that you don't have to approach anyone.