The Dilemma we Immediately ran into

So we watched the show that inspired us on Friday. We decided to start our experiment on Monday (since we were going out of town this past weekend and would have little control over our food). It's Monday. According to our decision, we should eschew all packaged food from this moment forward. But...well...what about all the stuff we have?

Just now, my husband returned from the gym. Dinner will not be ready for another 45 minutes. He is hungry and wants something to tide him over. He grabbed one of the Weight Watchers ice cream cups we have in the freezer. I asked if he was allowed to eat that, pointing out it's a packaged food and in a previous conversation, we had decided that "ice cream" falls into the prepacked food category rather than the ingredient category (and so we could not eat ice cream unless we made it ourselves). Shouldn't he instead have an orange?

Last Friday we had declared that we'd just toss everything that does not fit into the ingredients category out. However, now that the moment has come, well, it just seems like a big waste of money. For example, are we really supposed to throw out perfectly good ice cream? Or whole wheat bread? We have a whole loaf. Not half. Not just the ends. The WHOLE thing. What a waste of money (& food)! My husband just said, "I thought we would finish what we have and then move from that point forward." I am undecided. His way is more practical. My idea that we would simply throw everything away would stick true to the experiment and bring home the pain/difficulty of living without some of these packaged products. But...but...and I keep coming back to this: WHAT A WASTE.

We've agreed to proceed slowly and cautiously. At the moment, we're not throwing anything away (except for this nasty jar of chili sauce that we're not even sure how it made it into the house and we've been looking for an excuse to chuck it), but we're not using any of the banished foods either.

I gotta say, though, having those ice creams there, and not being able to eat them...torture. Sheer torture.