Why do people comment on my eating habits?

[flower76]

Yesterday I went for dinner with some people from work. I was not able to finish the plate, it was way too much and I would have felt bloated and tired if I had. Two people commented 'oh come on, really? You can finish that!' Etc. I didn't want a dessert for the same reason and there were comments about his too.
A couple of the people were overweight and I would have been slated for saying anything about how much they ate. Why is this acceptable?

I find the obsession / monitoring with what others put in their bellies to be bordering abusive.

No ones eating less being specifc about their food affects you.

Eh? Why don't you not order a starter and pudding, then? Or your dh can eat them.

My DH never clears a plate of food. Even if it's something he's really enjoyed. He's a grazer and eats little but often and tends to eat snacks rather than actual meals. Drives me bloody mad.

I'm the opposite, I hate leaving food I've paid for!! And will come home feeling bloated and uncomfortable, and wishing I'd left it

Is it because you not finishing makes them feel subconsciously guilty for finishing theirs? I think I've been guilty of thinking this (not saying it, just to be clear)

I don't think I've ever finished a plate of food in my life. Nobody has ever commented.

It sounds like throw away chitchat in a social occasion. I don't understand thinking about what they said for more than 5 seconds

Yep, this.

I can’t stand people commenting on my food. The worst is when I make something for work like a big, mixed salad or something and someone will peer in the box and go “Ugggh what’s that?”

I always want to reply “Well it WAS my fucking lunch.”

I hear you OP. This is why whenever going out to eat comes up my heart sinks a bit. I just end up ordering a couple of starters or a starter and desert and people STILL comment and take the piss. leave me alone I can't physically eat as much as you do.

It baffles me that people take such an interest in what others eat. You’re not their toddler child so they really are weird to be paying any attention to what you’ve eaten. Why on earth would you clear a plate when you’re already full? Who benefits from that?

jjemimapuddleduck
My Mum never finishes a plate of food and always comments on the portion size/how she can't manage a dessert or starter etc. She is doing it pointedly though so we all marvel in how beautifully slim she is and make a mental note about how she keeps that figure.

One of my friends does this and she also makes a point of piling food onto others' plates. I think she's got food issues that she projects onto others.

A few thoughtless and I’ll informed comments are better than the discomfort caused by overeating OP.
I have to watch the volume and kind of food I eat because of a hiatus hernia which can cause terrible and temporarily disabling pain. Means I just can’t contemplate a dessert . The temptation is there and it’s made worse by fellow diners’ comments such as “come on, a little dessert won’t harm you” , etc.
Eating is a communal activity so there is a desire for all to engage and feel less guilty about overeating. Most people don’t ordinarily eat as much at ho e as they do when out.

Why do people comment on my eating habits?

Because they're rude.

Maybe they were worried about how much you were drinking and wanted you to line your stomach?

A few thoughtless and I’ll informed comments are better than the discomfort caused by overeating OP.

Well maybe they would rather over eat than brag about drinking people under the table, as OP has.

Maybe once again they were concerned that OP not eating much and getting pissed and they would have to deal with it.

I think it depends a lot on how you were brought up. My DHs upbringing was very poor so he was taught to eat everything on his plate as he didn't know where his next meal was coming from. Fast forwarded to now he is a fairly well off businessman so can eat well but the ingrained trait of finishing whatever is on his plate has never left him. He struggles with his weight and he has learnt over the years to control this by stopping when full.
I get comments on my food all the time because I can't finish my meal, I agree with PP that although i hate waste, I think it's more of a waste to put food in your body that it doesn't need than throwing it away. Just stop eating when you are full.
I completely understand your point of view, and others, but I don't know why it bothers you so much. We are all different

I just think it should be more socially acceptable to stop when you're full if this is what we are teaching our children

I was able to drink them all under the table afterwards though

Erm. Well done?

Most people do finish their plates. And if you don't, no one should comment.

People are rude.

Unless I'm in a really fancy place with small portions I can never finish a restaurant main. I usually order a starter and then will top up with a pudding or cheese platter if I can.

If I eat past full I get really bad indigestion and will be up half the night.

Irritating. I agree with JemimaPuddleduck's post too. I would pointedly ignore somebody so crass - and I would avoid eating out with them.

I often leave stuff, even eating out. I take medication that changes my tastebuds sometimes and I take a quiet dislike to something that I liked before. I wouldn't dream of commenting on it or on other people's plates.

I often eat my vegetables first, so that if I leave stuff, I've at least eaten them. Then the meat/fish as that's expensive. I don't mind leaving potato/rice/bread. I wonder if anyone else was brought up like that as a child, ie. don't waste food but if you have to, at least eat the expensive stuff?!

Thinking about it, the only time I do talk about my food is if I'm offering for other people to have a taste of it because it's delicious or unusual, or I'm trying to work out a recipe.

If a restaurant would serve Wotsits on a plate or in a large washing up bowl filled to the brim they would be all mine!

I would pointedly ignore somebody so crass - and I would avoid eating out with them.

Fair point until OP talks about frinking people under the table....

*drinking

But does OP say that she comments on other people's drinking, SillySally, because that would be comparable?

I'm teetotal. I have been for many years because I don't like alcohol but fortunately, I can't drink now anyway because of tablets but I have never commented on what other people drink. I don't mind what people are drinking as long as they don't mind or mock me if I guzzle my sparkling water with ice and slice.

In fact, if only bars would have a little tea-shop bit attached, I'd be toasting with a teapot!

... and I'd still dance like a crazy woman, just as if I was pickled!

I get the same comments and it annoys me too. It's none of their business.

I can rarely finish my plate when eating out (at home / work I'll usually eat smaller portions more often ).

@BitchQueen90 because generally eating with colleagues is a fairly social occasion where people talk about things...someone not eating their food is just another subject of conversation, it's generally safer than bringing up political topics or talking about work stuff.

There's no hidden meaning behind conversations like this which so dissecting them is a little unnecessary.