To think most people *haven't* eaten dinner by 6pm??

[JumboShiitake]

According to DP "most people" have eaten dinner by 6pm.

Referring to adults, not children.

He's obsessed with eating at a time I consider pretty early.

I'm giving him the side eye

Nope, many people work till 6pm and get home and have dinner much later.

People eat dinner at different times depending on jobs, ages of family etc

Over the years we have gone from feeding the kids early and us eating late due to work to all eating late with adult D.C. to us eating at 5:30 as adult D.C. have moved out and were WFH.

It may change again when DH returns to the office.

We eat at 6pm so we can eat with our DC. We're in bed by 9:30pm.

@Iknowwhatudidlastsummer

I just couldn’t go 7 hours without food!

I genuinely don't understand that.

If you have breakfast at 7am, that means you really can't wait until 2pm for lunch? Which is a bit late for lunch but not unreasonable.

Sometimes "lunch" has to wait until 3 or 4pm, either you are busy, or shopping - back in the pre-covid days.

Are people really that bothered about what time they eat?

I have breakfast at 7.30 and normally can't make it till 12 without a snack at 10, if I had lunch at 2pm I'd be eating my own arm 😩

Pre covid when in the office, I had breakfast at 7, lunch 11.45-12.15 but still have a snack at 10. And then still eat at about 6..

I can't sleep if I've eaten late (late to me is 6.30+) I'm a lark so struggle in evenings past 9pm, and am awake early. Always been the same. My parents eat later 8-9 ish (though we did eat earlier when I was growing up) and really struggle when I go to stay with them now as its too late to eat for me

We eat about 5:30-6 ish. I couldn’t eat later as I have problems sleeping, I need time for food to settle and digest it it’s another thing to keep me awake. I don’t snack after tea.
No kids and partner likes to eat early too. When I’m at work I eat at work at a similar time if possible. Obviously this can change if we are out or have drinks and snacks on a weekend night if I’m not working.

I eat dinner at 5pm and in bed by 8pm. I work up at 5am and ate breakfast. My parents were obsessed at eating at a certain time, I was a fat kid and grew into a fat adult (15 stone). When I moved out I ate at the times of the day I felt hungry. I have been 9 stone for the last 20 years. I definitely think listening to our bodies rather than eating at a time deemed appropriate by our society has helped stabilise my weight.

Husband leaves for work at 5am (international office so works best for meetings) and is home to pick up the kids by 2.45pm so we eat dinner at 4pm as he’s starving! I’m fine on that until bedtime (9pm in our house on weeknights!) but if husband or the kids want to snack before bed, they can. Works for us - but we seem to be on a different time zone to everyone else .

Also it’s not an age thing I’m only 41 and have always preferred to eat earlier. Growing up tea was always around 6pm.
We have no commute as if I’m home at tea time it’s cos I’m on a day off. Partner WFH. If we did we would eat later obviously.

Some of you that eat at 8/8:30 even 9:30 I’m in bed at around 10! ( 5:30 early get ups as hospital long days). Those that eat later, do you go to bed later and sleep later in a morning? As I couldn’t go to bed an hour after eating a meal.

We tend to eat 5:30 or 6: 00

I've often wondered at the European way of eating late. What about children? They need to have baths, and stories and bedtime... do you keep them up until 10:00 if you eat at 08:00? Also if you eat lunch at noon then you are going 8 or 9 hours without eating, and going to bed with a full stomach.

I eat around 6pm but then I like to IF which means I don't have to wait too long to have a latte when I wake up. If I'm working a late shift I bring something into work rather than wait until I get home after 9. I hate eating late.

Don't really get the 'if I ate at 6pm then I'd have to have a second dinner'

If I finish work at 4pm we eat about 5-6pm. Later if I finish later or eat out. Prefer it earlier as can get tidied up for the evening.

I’m still reading the full thread; people think I you can’t possibly not eat after your tea if you have it early. Course you can! if I finish eating at 6, that’s four hours before my average work bedtime. If I’ve eaten a meal with protein and good portions. More veggies/ less potatoes/pasta etc then I’ll be full and not hungry. Then I’m asleep. I don’t even eat breakfast till after 9 either. It’s amazing that your body can adapt and doesn’t need constant food. (I’m not a under eater I eat very well I love food).

I eat at 6pm, go to bed at 10 in the week and never eat after dinner- I’m full. I’ll have a hot drink around 8.

In my house dinner is at 5pm

Before kids, depending on work shifts etc, me and DH would have started eating before 6pm.

However, now DC here we wait until after bedtime for our dinner, usually between 6-7pm

6pm we eat with DD3 & DS1. It's when DH gets home from work so we eat as a family and he gets to see them. Kids could probably eat earlier but then I'd be making 2 dinners and by the time they are in bed I just want to relax and not clean again.

I don't want DH to miss out on the kids or to have to heat up his dinner in the micro as he's been out of the house 12 hours

When I was commuting we ate around 7.00 but nowadays we tend to eat at 6.00

Pre lockdown DH and I ate once the DCs were in bed, so 7:30-8pm ish. We work locally and finished work at 5 so with childcare pickup wouldn't be home until 5.30-5.45.

Since we've been working from home and childcare is closing earlier due to covid, it's sometimes 5.30ish (if we all eat together) sometimes 6pm or thereabouts (as we are often hungry and don't want to be hangry while doing the DCs' bedtimes) and sometimes we still wait until they're in bed.

Pre WFH I got home from work at about 6.30, would normally faff about and then make something to eat and be eating by 7/7.30 pm. Il

Since working from home I don't eat dinner at all 😂 I like not eating as I sleep much better. I eat breakfast at 7.30 (when I was commuting I'd be eating it at 6.30 am), lunch at 1, yoghurt and fruit at about 4 pm. Works for me!

@mdinbc

We tend to eat 5:30 or 6: 00

I've often wondered at the European way of eating late. What about children? They need to have baths, and stories and bedtime... do you keep them up until 10:00 if you eat at 08:00? Also if you eat lunch at noon then you are going 8 or 9 hours without eating, and going to bed with a full stomach.

Yes, children here do tend to go to bed later. But very young children take naps and don't wake up at 6 am.

We always have a mid afternoon snack, which can be quite substantial sometimes. If so, then we have a lighter dinner.

It will be very rare that anyone has dinner before 7pm. Even with young children.

When the children were younger we did because I liked us all to eat dinner together at the table because it was time for us to get together as a family daily and chat, now that they are young adults we don't do this and I miss it.

"Surely they would be hungry again before bed?"
Well yes, this is why there is supper wink

Exactly who on earth wants to be doing dishes in their kitchen late into the evening if you don't need to? You can be flexible and adjust meal times if you are fortunate enough to be around the home all day.

We’ve usually eaten by 6-6.30pm, and I never have an evening snack. Breakfast will be my next meal.

We have dinner around 6pm with our 4 year old. Before her we'd eat at 7

I eat about 7 - 7:30pm