Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Are there people who aren't fussed by food?

146 replies

Martacus · 18/09/2023 22:56

I'm someone who loves food. I'm often thinking about my next meal and I get excited when my local deli does a new sandwich filling.

I wondered if there are many people who are not like me, and don't get that much pleasure out of food? (Just like I don't get pleasure out of e.g. watching sport, which loads of people love).

Are there people who eat mainly to not be hungry anymore and don't think food is very exciting? Or does everyone love food?

OP posts:
ValkyrieAssassin · 19/09/2023 07:02

I'm like you OP. DH does not care about food at all. He eats because he has to. It means that he can stick to a diet forever if need be. Currently he eats watermelon for breakfast and feta salad for dinner and nothing else and has stuck to that for about 5 years now. He will occasionally eat bread. He is very thin. It's quite depressing really cooking for someone who does not care what he eats.

stayathomer · 19/09/2023 07:03

I may be that person- I was a fussy eater as a child and while I eat a range now I mostly eat because it’s time too and have to inwardly hold on all the sighs at my WhatsApp groups being so full of food talk (how people cooked it, what it looks like now, how other people cooked the same dish before etc). When I went to clean out my pictures the amount of pictures of curries taken from different angles was crazy (in my mind, everyone else seems to ooh and ahh over them!!)

stayathomer · 19/09/2023 07:03

To not too by the way😉

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

ValkyrieAssassin · 19/09/2023 07:04

And I am not wholly sure DH is NT. (Our older son has ASD). DH has just spent the last 30 minutes talking at me about the varying spin cycles on the washing machine and I have had to ask him to cease and desist.

stayathomer · 19/09/2023 07:04

Ps I do get excited for certain foods, desserts and I love sitting down with snacks at the weekend though! I just hate the food talk!

RadioFoot · 19/09/2023 07:05

I can't concretrate if I have lunch or a snack in my bag at work. I overeat until I'm full. My attention is always on food. It's not fun.

And just to add, it's not an addiction or a problem - its just how mu brain is wired or became wired. I did have an eating disorder when I was younger though.

AvengedQuince · 19/09/2023 07:09

I love food but UPFs don't appeal to me anymore, and I don't like very sweet things either.

ValkyrieAssassin · 19/09/2023 07:11

RadioFoot · 19/09/2023 07:05

I can't concretrate if I have lunch or a snack in my bag at work. I overeat until I'm full. My attention is always on food. It's not fun.

And just to add, it's not an addiction or a problem - its just how mu brain is wired or became wired. I did have an eating disorder when I was younger though.

I'm the same. And if i go on a picnic I have usually eaten everything before leaving the car park.

AvengedQuince · 19/09/2023 07:11

If I've had something nice and I am satiated then I don't want to eat more and ruin it by then being full and feeling crap for hours. I am happy to wait and eat dessert later or save it for tomorrow.

HelpMeGetThrough · 19/09/2023 07:14

Me, I have no real interest in food, I only eat because I have to.

I generally live on just something for tea and don't bother with breakfast or dinner, as I'm not bothered about it.

I just can't get excited by it. I've seen Fred whats his chops (the French bloke) on TV getting all emotional over something on a plate, I don't get it at all.

muchalover · 19/09/2023 07:19

I don't enjoy food. I've never experienced that umani mmmm from anything. I want to but don't seem to be able to. I'm NT.

I have preferences and occasionally something I will look forward to but that is very rare, not even annually. A cup of tea is the closest I get.

Doesn't mean I'm thin though dammit.

Highlighta · 19/09/2023 07:20

stayathomer · 19/09/2023 07:03

I may be that person- I was a fussy eater as a child and while I eat a range now I mostly eat because it’s time too and have to inwardly hold on all the sighs at my WhatsApp groups being so full of food talk (how people cooked it, what it looks like now, how other people cooked the same dish before etc). When I went to clean out my pictures the amount of pictures of curries taken from different angles was crazy (in my mind, everyone else seems to ooh and ahh over them!!)

We sound very similar 😊

I do not understand why people take photos of their food. I have on occasion, but for silly reasons, like if the DC ask what's for dinner or the likes. But to share photos of plates of food, I am not on that wavelength. But if it makes someone else happy to do it, that is fine, but I don't get it.

Re the snacks. With you there too. I really would rather nibble on a packet of salted crisps in front of the TV than cakes, biscuits etc.

I have two DC. One is just like me, and the other is very food motivated. We sometimes have light-hearted discussions about just how differently our brains are wired. As she gets properly hangry at times. Again, this is a bit weird to me.

notanotherclairebear · 19/09/2023 07:22

ValkyrieAssassin · 19/09/2023 07:04

And I am not wholly sure DH is NT. (Our older son has ASD). DH has just spent the last 30 minutes talking at me about the varying spin cycles on the washing machine and I have had to ask him to cease and desist.

Oh gosh, I don't know why that made me belly laugh but my friend's husband spent what felt like HOURS talking to me about the new tyres he'd got for his bike and I wish I'd just asked him to cease and desist 😅

Equimum · 19/09/2023 07:29

I had a friend like this. She ate pretty much the same food everyday, because she knew that worked and had no interest in anything else. If we went out to eat, she never seemed overly fussed, and certainly never suggested it. She never really snacked and was pretty condemning of people who enjoyed food/ ate what she saw as too much. Food just wasn't something she linked to enjoyment.

ValkyrieAssassin · 19/09/2023 07:29

Grin The topic was the first thing he started up this morning. 'I was thinking in the night that.... '

(tbf though he was talking about it yesterday as well).

Runnersandtoms · 19/09/2023 07:31

My dh is a bit like that. He does enjoy certain meals but a lot of the time the need to eat is a nuisance to him and he'll frequently wait until he really has to eat rather than thinking "it's lunchtime I'll get some food"

midgemadgemodge · 19/09/2023 07:33

Runnersandtoms · 19/09/2023 07:31

My dh is a bit like that. He does enjoy certain meals but a lot of the time the need to eat is a nuisance to him and he'll frequently wait until he really has to eat rather than thinking "it's lunchtime I'll get some food"

I wait till I need to eat
Which means lunchtime can be very early !

LilyLemonade · 19/09/2023 07:36

I enjoy food and I’m quite a good cook but as long as I have 3 meals a day at regular times i don’t really think about it in between.

If I don’t get food at those times though I get a bit fixated on it. So meals need to be fairly predictable so that they occupy a minimum of mental space.

i enjoy going out for dinner but really only to see friends or to not have to cook myself. It’s not really about the food.

AutisticHouseMove · 19/09/2023 07:36

I'm autistic.

I don't have any food issues like some do but I don't often feel hungry. I don't know if it's related. I like food and I appreciate a good meal but I don't look forward to food and eat because I'm hungry that's all.

Sometimes the smell of food makes me hungry and sometimes I could go all day without eating anything and not even think about it.

I eat 'proper' food and avoid upfs because I don't like the taste. There's an underlying 'chemical' taste that I don't like. I haven't eaten them for years since I realised and long before people called them upfs!

WildFlowerBees · 19/09/2023 07:42

I'd be happy to take a pill every day with all the nutrients I need. I'm not a big foodie, I can't get excited about going out for lunch or dinner. I don't enjoy cooking but do try and cook interesting things from around the globe.

gogomoto · 19/09/2023 07:44

My dd doesn't feel hunger, she has to remind herself to eat and happily goes about her life without food. There's things she likes to eat but she doesn't crave things. It's a real problem because she's underweight and I literally nag her to eat.

RampantIvy · 19/09/2023 07:48

I am more at the foodie end of the spectrum, but I'm not obsessed with food. I'm definitely a live to eat rather than eat to live person and enjoy a very varied diet.

I don't understand people who don't enjoy eating at all. Surely there must be some things they enjoy the taste of?

I know about ARFID, that some ND people prefer a limited diet, super tasters dislike a lot of foods and some people are just fussy, but never even feeling hungry is so alien to me.

alwaysmovingforwards · 19/09/2023 07:49

I'm into health and fitness, so I think a lot about the nutritional value of foods. My view is we are what we eat and food is the fuel I put into my body for it to use to develop itself.

Variation is important from a nutritional standpoint, but I'll happily duplicate meal plans week after week in order to ingest the right stuff. Some days I'll repeat a meal from the day before if I have leftovers. It's good if it tastes good, but it's not the key driver.

Sounds boring to many, but over time nutritious food does taste good - things like cake or biscuits then taste a bit rank - it's the body saying 'wtf is this low grade stuff we're working with today??'
You feel it when working out and looking in the mirror.

So yes I think about food, but not the new deli sandwich or what new snacks are on the supermarket shelves. Going to a restaurant is nice for the occasion, but the food is often too salty / covered in rich sauces unless I ask otherwise.

AvengedQuince · 19/09/2023 07:51

I eat 'proper' food and avoid upfs because I don't like the taste. There's an underlying 'chemical' taste that I don't like. I haven't eaten them for years since I realised and long before people called them upfs!

Same. I have my brain telling me 'this isn't food'. If I start eating, say, supermarket cake I don't have any desire to keep eating it like I would homemade cake.

Pokske · 19/09/2023 07:54

I do not use my car frequently so I only need to go for fuel every two months or so. If I could eat every two months as well, that would make me happy. Or just take a pill every day with all that is necessary in it.
The time "wasted" buying the food, preparing it, eating it, ... boring.
I eat because we as humans need fuel.
As for the things I eat, I prefer them to be as simple and bland as possible.
Going out for a meal is to meet up with other people - the food as such is only a reason to get together. I would be as happy going for a coffee, a walk or a visit to an exhibition or museum.