Sick of comments about how I eat :( does anyone else do this?

[upstairsdownstairscardboardbox]

I will start by saying I am a size 8, 5 foot 2 woman with no ED and no issues with over or under eating at all. I am very healthy at 50, and happy but am looking for others similar so I can better understand my eating.

I grew up in a very large family by usual UK standards. I was the only girl with 14 brothers. Food was basic, nutritious. A lot of boiled floury potatoes and bread and butter etc. Treats were few and far between but arrived all at once in abundance. So no fruit for months then 30 unripe peaches my dad snagged from a farmer type of thing, or the raspberries we grew came to fruit all on one day. Never any sweets or chocolate bought in but I'd make a cake and we'd eat it before it cooled etc. We were ravenous and constantly looking for opportunities to blag food, we'd even take our cute youngest brothers all clean and smart with picked wild flowers to the neighbours to blag kitkats and jaffa cakes -god what must they have thought 😂

Does anyone else struggle to eat slowly and put the cutlery down between bites, chatting and well, being civilised. I do this, of course, but feel like I am being restrained and I do not really enjoy meals as a consequence.

If I eat alone or have a sandwich in front of the TV with DH or DC I eat really quickly and then I thoroughly enjoy it. My fav is to put whole things in my mouth and this has started to attract bemused comments from adult DC who have apparently never need another living sole (other than my bros) put a whole chocolate in their mouth at once or eat a whole profiterole in one. A bag of crisps eaten politely I always refuse, but alone, when I can stuff them all in my mouth in 3 goes I enjoy little more.

I know I am odd, it's ok, I am happy as I am and make myself behave well enough to get invited to fancy restaurants and parties, but I think this eating came from my competitive childhood and wondered if anyone else had the same?

Thanks for reading my waffling on!

I've got a sensitive tum and would be in pain if I ate too fast. Also if I ate walking along or surrounded by too many people.

I take great pleasure in eating slowly for maximum enjoyment. When alone and unobserved I can make a chocolate bar last 10 minutes with disassembling, licking etc :)

I don't mind fast eaters at all, don't really notice it. But talking with your mouth full is awful

@soupyspoon you have said this a few times. I had severe HG and have no functioning cardiac sphincter so understand this well. For the last 15 years I have worked on my biome and have literally no gut issues at all and zero reflux. It is not caused by one thing, the human gut is very complex.

She's dead

I liked her very much, just found her eating habits difficult to be around
Yes she did cram,gobble, and rip food with her teeth
Obviously its making you defensive but its the truth that's what other people see.

Have your family only just noticed that you do it?

@MylipstickiscalledHugMe but slow eaters also talk with their mouths full - manners are not all speed. My SIL eats with her head in her hands and an elbow on the table, chats as she shovels, in faxct chats so much she is the last to finish every time. And she does the 'chocolate thing' licking and gnawing away layer by layer which makes me leave the room 😂
I am very polite! just speedy! Why is this causing so much confusion....

Thats great for you but it is a factor in a lot of gastric issues, how we eat our food.

I have to stop eating and drinking at 6pm to go to bed at 10, I take reflux meds first thing and still wake up to vomit 2-3 times per week, what kind of things help with that?

@cheeseonsofa no, it isn't because I don't do any of that.
You're projecting and have issues with your mums eating. I have no issues with my eating and do not eat rudely.

A whole chocolate, as in a choc in a box of chocs, or a whole mars bar? A small choc, well of course all in one go if you want! Same as crisps. I much prefer 2 or 3 crisps in one go as I really like the burst of flav and the texture and totally savour it.

I've been told I eat fast too, 3 big brothers, but when my other half met my family for Sunday dinner, he thought that I ate the slowest, lol. Much like you though, food was starchy and cheap fillers, spuds, bread. It costs a lot to feed 6 let alone your large family! Mums allotment was great in the autumn though, when we'd have a glut of interesting food and fruit.

OP, eat how you want to eat. Enjoy the food, take no notice of others comments!

@TomatoSandwiches I really feel for you, it is hell and I had it for years. I worked to improve my gut health and it worked wonders. Limited high quality pro biotics and a LOT of pre biotics every day have fixed me entirely.

My OH is a very fast eater. And I have to be careful about chocolates as once they are opened he will inhale the lot. He gets quite annoyed if I close the box and put it out of his reach - all the while he knows it's for the best. He'll have at least 50% more on his plate than is on mine and I'll still finish eating after him as I'm a slow eater. Funny thing is he's the one that was a single child.

What I'd compare you to is 2 TV cooks - Delia Smith, eats tiny amounts, very delicately. And Sophie Grigson would shovel handfuls of anything, including stew, into her mouth. And it was Sophie that always looked like she was enjoying her food. Delia always seemed such a right priss!!

I eat the opposite of you op. If I tried to eat like you I'd feel extremely sick. I hate the feeling of being really full.
It also annoys me when I've spent hours cooking a meal for people to then cram it all in their mouths as fast as possible and the meal is gone within a few minutes. I like to take my time and appreciate the flavours and textures of a meal.

I tend to eat meals quickly if they're hot, I hate it getting cold. I also like my coffee hot too, maybe it is just me with the heat thing I don't know!

Its such an awful thing, poor table manners and will hold you back in life
Instead of being defensive , do something about it

I'm the same. It's either missing or it doesn't work. I like to shovel chocolates and pastries down, but I don't do it very often.

I get hypoglycaemia quite a lot, and if I eat something to correct it I have an instinct to shovel it in quickly. I feel like a wild animal. 🤣 I normally don't eat fast or have a desire to do so. When I do feel the need, there's nothing nicer.

Oh god, I'd just be grateful they enjoyed it and ate it, than moving it around the plate letting it get cold - while distracted, or lost in chitter chatter (eyeballing one of my dcs!) I hate talking when eating as it fills me with air and means I can't appreciate the food properly. I prefer to talk over drinks/nibbles/or dessert or something.

Yes- this is me exactly. Youngest child and I had to eat quickly if I wanted leftovers. I hate eating in public, not because I can’t eat politely but because I don’t want to and it spoils my fun!

I am similar to you OP and also came from a large family.

I love that satisfied feeling after eating and have yet to meet anyone who eats faster than me.

Eating out with friends is a bit annoying as I have to try and hold myself back a little. It’s always commented on how quiet I am during meal times but that’s because I like to concentrate on my food. Once I’m done with that then I can talk!

For reference I am 5.5 and size 10, no eating disorders.

DH eats really quickly, his mother was a terrible cook and sensitive about it so he ate fast to get meals over with asap!
Very annoying when youve spent time cooking something nice and the meal is over in the blink of an eye.

People don’t put a whole profiterole in? 😳

I was one of 7; left to my own devices I do eat very quickly but nobody ever took food from my plate so I don't think sibling snatchers can have had anything to do with this. Once at a barbeque someone said to me, 'You know I love you, but my god, you don't half trough.' I'd never heard the word used as an adjective before and I hope never to hear it again. I try not to eat around other people now, and if I have to I nonchalantly (ha!) put the knife and fork down at intervals - I'm really self-conscious about it.

I am very polite! just speedy! Why is this causing so much confusion....

Because in many cultures, eating so quickly is considered to be rude. So most definitely not “very polite”.

14 brothers?! 😳

I like everything piping hot too; I’ve been known to reheat a bowl of soup half way through as it’s got too cold for me 😳

I’m slim and have always been a fast eater. Anyone making crude comments are probably jealous you are trim.

Some of the slowest eaters I know are overweight/obese.