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Original poster

‘That’s me done for food today’ after a 3 course lunch

350 replies

Offred2 · 19/12/2019 16:23

I went to a restaurant with four friends for a Christmas lunch a few days ago. We all ate 3 courses and had a glass of wine each (none of us are big drinkers). The portions were decent-sized but not ridiculously big.

As we were finishing one of my friends said something along the lines of ‘that was lovely, I wont be needing anything else to eat today’. Following this all my other friends nodded/agreed.

While I didn’t say anything I was thinking that this is not the case for me at all! After that lunch at 1pm I ate beans on toast at around 7pm. I think of myself as someone with a pretty normal appetite, but if my friends were being truthful I ate a substantial amount more than them that day.

I remember a few years back my MiL making a similar comment after a restaurant lunch, that she wouldn’t need to eat anything else that day. However as we happened to be staying with her at the time I know she later ate sandwich and soup at dinner time.

So - my friend’s comment got me thinking. What do people actually mean when they use this phrase? Is it literal, as in ‘after this big lunch I will not eat any food until tomorrow’? Or do people simply mean that they won’t need to have a big evening meal, but might have eg a sandwich? Or is it something some people (women!) say without meaning it, to indicate they have a small/delicate appetite, though they may have every intention of eating something else that day.

For what it’s worth all of my friends in the restaurant are healthy weights, and as far as I know no one has any history of disordered eating.

OP posts:
MovinOnUp · 19/12/2019 17:19

Would depend entirely on what time I went to bed at.
8ish? wouldn't have anything else to eat.
up past 10ish? Would be making a cheese toastie.

katy1213 · 19/12/2019 17:21

If you have a dinner-sized lunch, I can't see why you wouldn't manage a lunch-sized dinner, say, soup and a sandwich?
Just tell them to try harder!

VanyaHargreeves · 19/12/2019 17:23

Add in to this undereating a culture of some smaller sized women then proclaiming to be "so fat now after all that" and clutching their Size 8 frame and saying "so fat" in a mixed peer group were someone is really struggling with their weight

Had one friend who was an arsehole for this and two of us told her how shit it made us feel as we were much heavier

Didn't stop her

QOD · 19/12/2019 17:23

My mum says this but also includes everyone else in it

LightsInOtherPeoplesHouses · 19/12/2019 17:24

I probably wouldn't say it (can't remember ever saying it), but would probably think it and then get annoyingly peckish at about 11pm and make some toast.

meredithgrey1 · 19/12/2019 17:25

I couldn't manage a three course meal but if I ate a lot at lunch and really filled myself up, I would definitely still need food in the evening anyway.

userabcname · 19/12/2019 17:25

Really depends! If it was a stodge-fest that left me feeling bloated / uncomfortable / heart-burny then I probably wouldn't eat again. If it was a reasonably sized meal then I'd probably have toast or something before bed. I have a lot of friends who say stuff like this too though. Or order something and then say "oh I can't POSSIBLY eat all this!" I never say that and I always eat everything!

Expressedways · 19/12/2019 17:25

Going out for a late Christmas lunch today at 2pm. There will be 3 courses. Have informed DH that I will be having a light dinner this evening. Not eating again is something I associate with old people- I remember my grandparents doing it and my parents have recently started to do it.

JacobReesClunge · 19/12/2019 17:26

Re the competitive undereating, I think those comments are being made in response to telling everyone you're not going to eat again, not the lack of appetite itself.

DarlingNikita · 19/12/2019 17:26

I find this idea of one big meal meaning you don't need any more food that day really odd. I mean, food gets digested and burned/used, no? I do obviously feel full for a bit after a big meal, but give it three hours or whatever and I'm definitely ready for the next meal.

AuntieMarys · 19/12/2019 17:28

I wouldn't eat again in the evening after 3 courses. I usually just have 2. However I could have another drink!

NomNomNomNom · 19/12/2019 17:28

I say that and mean it at the time. I usually don't actually need to eat again after a huge 3 course lunch but might well end up eating a small dinner anyway.

Barbie222 · 19/12/2019 17:28

No, I find that I do ok on one meal and a bowl of cereal or something, if I have more than that I soon put on weight.

VanyaHargreeves · 19/12/2019 17:28

For anyone who likes a bit of poetry on the psychology of this :

Scotmummy1216 · 19/12/2019 17:29

I would probably have a sandwich after that or scrambled egg.

SleepyReindeer · 19/12/2019 17:30

If they are slim then a 3 course meal in one go would probably represent lunch and dinner in terms of volume of food, so possibly they wouldn't want/need to eat again that day.

Some people I know would say this but get home and have whatever they fancied to eat, be it another solid dinner or various snacks. They would say it to give the impression of being too delicate/dainty eater to fit anything else in when they could eat twice the amount and have room for more. They are also most definitely overweight (veering on obese by the BMI charts) so nobody actually believes their claims they couldn't eat another thing that day but nobody really cares anyway.

Who knows?!

partyhatsoff · 19/12/2019 17:30

I'd maybe have a snack or lighter tea that night, like soup or crackers/cheese or similar. I'd be unlikely to eat another meal but it would depend how full I felt.
It's the one things I have to keep remembering about kids - they need regular meals and will still want tea after a big Sunday lunch. Still, I suppose with them they eat the same amount at each meal whatever it is so don't overeat whereas we adults ( or me anyway) might when eating out.

stargazer2030 · 19/12/2019 17:32

If I have eaten a decent lunch then I don’t have an evening meal as genuinely not that hungry later. I might have a biscuit or two with a cuppa or toast if I was hungry but as I have got older 1 decent meal is enough. I wouldn’t brag about it though.

MyFamilyAndOtherAnimals1 · 19/12/2019 17:32

Oo I HATE it when people make stupid remarks like this... My MIL does it all the time - and it isn't true.
... because I hate it so much, I am often very proud to acknowledge in this type of situation, that I will be eating quite a lot later on.

Figgygal · 19/12/2019 17:32

I'd be thinking the same at the time then probably have toast later in evening but certainly nothing substantive

DoesntLeftoverTurkeySoupDragOn · 19/12/2019 17:33

Even if they didn’t eat anything else though, I wouldn’t really consider beans on toast ‘a substantial amount more’.

Me neither. Unless you used an entire loaf of bread :o

HulksPurplePanties · 19/12/2019 17:34

Competitive undereating OP. Mumsnet is full of it.

Lllot5 · 19/12/2019 17:34

I wouldn’t eat anything else after three course lunch. And if I’d had a glass of wine at lunch I’d be asleep by now.

MyFamilyAndOtherAnimals1 · 19/12/2019 17:36

Wow @VanyaHargreeves - that's really powerful! Thank you x

easyandy101 · 19/12/2019 17:36

I find this idea of one big meal meaning you don't need any more food that day really odd. I mean, food gets digested and burned/used, no? I do obviously feel full for a bit after a big meal, but give it three hours or whatever and I'm definitely ready for the next meal.

5 days out of 7 at a guess i only eat one big meal a day, normally around lunch time or early afternoon, I'm small, light and have a fast metabolism and do a couple of hours climbing most nights of the week

I do quite often feel hungry though

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