Buy in bulk. Don’t cook in bulk. Cook what you need.

Leftovers have a tendency to find their way into my post-dinner menu.

Now, for me, these leftovers can sometimes trigger an unwelcome cycle of snacking. You see, I occasionally struggle with the concept of moderation. Depending on the moment and without even realizing it, eating can morph into a leisure activity.

In those instances where I'm too engrossed to recognize that I'm munching for mere entertainment, the result can be an excessive intake of food. To counteract this tendency, I've started to adopt a practice of buying certain foods in bulk to save on costs while also creating individual portions. For instance, when I purchase a batch of ground turkey with hamburgers in mind, I take it a step further. I add seasoning to the ground turkey, shape it into burger patties, encase each patty within its own sandwich baggie, and finally, stash them in the freezer. I've extended this approach to chicken too—buying it as a whole fryer, cutting it up, seasoning and portioning it into individual baggies, and then freezing the lot.

When I'm in the cooking mode, I only prepare the amount I've tucked away in each baggie. This practice of meal prepping has proven to be a handy tool in regulating the quantity of food I consume during each meal.

Now, I'm curious—how do you navigate your food intake?