Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think you can't be 'greedy' if you're not overweight

280 replies

LaurieFairyCake · 12/02/2021 15:00

Seems simple to me Confused

If you're not overweight then no matter what you consume you can't be 'greedy'

As you are a healthy weight and BMI and you're just eating to maintain that

OP posts:
MyLittleOrangutan · 12/02/2021 17:11

I see where you're coming from. If you're a healthy weight then you're not over-eating. But you can still be eating poorly, if you're not eating veg and just eating pizza and junk food, you can also cause diabetes without being overweight, people often dont realise that.

cracracatlady · 12/02/2021 17:14

Wrong haha! I am a pig. Several times a month. Restricted the rest.

Viviennemary · 12/02/2021 17:18

Of course you can be greedy if you are not overweight. Some people are overweight and aren't at all greedy.

passtheorange · 12/02/2021 17:19

YABU.

PattyPan · 12/02/2021 17:24

Skinny people can definitely be greedy. I think it’s about three things: speed, quantity and consideration for others. If someone is described as eating greedily, they are quickly putting away large amounts of food. What tends to cause the most tension is when someone eats multiple portions without consideration for others who are then left without, e.g. eating a whole sharing bag and not actually sharing it.

Also, builders are not burning off 5000 calories. No one needs 5000 calories a day.

firstimemamma · 12/02/2021 17:25

Yabu, sometimes people are just genetically thin even if they eat loads of junk food. It's still unhealthy and damage to the arteries is still being done, but the damage isn't visible as the person is slim. I have a friend like this, lots of fried food etc and is definitely thin.

RachelRosie · 12/02/2021 17:30

I have stick thin friend who regularly eats whole cakes/gateau's. He challenges himself to. He openly says its greedy. His diet is poor. Far unhealthier than overweight me!

Your talking nonsense, no one needs mass amounts of food. Yes, we may eat it on occasion, but it is want not need!

Eckhart · 12/02/2021 17:31

So, I'm a healthy weight. I just went to a team meeting with 5 other members of staff. There were 6 doughnuts. I ate them. What are my colleagues going to call me?

Goldieloxx · 12/02/2021 17:36

I've never been overweight and I'm greedy, also not all overweight people are greedy

notalwaysalondoner · 12/02/2021 17:37

My husband is very greedy but a healthy weight as he cycles (hard, like dripping with sweat) for at least 10 hours a week. But he’ll happily eat a whole pack of cookies, a whole chorizo, a block of cheese etc - behaviours I definitely count as greedy.

PattyPan · 12/02/2021 17:43

A whole block of cheese Shock that’s a heart attack waiting to happen!

ohnonotyetplease · 12/02/2021 17:44

@LaurieFairyCake

44pumplane

That analogy definitely doesn't work as alcoholics who don't drink are dry drunks - the desire to drink may be there but they don't actually drink Grin

If they are actively in sobriety (which is much deeper and further reaching than simply not drinking) this is called being 'in recovery' not a dry drunk. Dry drunk is a very different thing. Get your facts right if you're going to state them so very authoritatively.

Honestly this 'greedy' thing is SO subjective. And your post came across very simplistic and very much smelling of fat-shamery... Not nice.

thevassal · 12/02/2021 17:48

@LaurieFairyCake

I'm not talking about 'sharing' anything - I'm just saying that people who buy their own food can't be greedy if they only eat to a healthy weight no matter how much pasta/pizza/garlic bread they consume
but this is different to your first comment... If a skinny person buys a pack of ten doughnuts, gives their three family members one each and then eats the rest themselves then of course they're greedy...

a skinny person who isn't particularly hungry but goes to a wedding buffet or free work conference or whatever and goes back three times to fill their plate even though they don't need that much food, and other people might not have had their first plate yet, is being greedy....

because they are eating more than they need, and more than is their fair share. Why should their weight negate that, and how else would you describe that other than greedy?

Eckhart · 12/02/2021 17:51

@PattyPan

A whole block of cheese Shock that’s a heart attack waiting to happen!
bjsm.bmj.com/content/51/15/1111

No it isn't. Look again at research on fat. Your knowledge is old.

Haffiana · 12/02/2021 17:51

Greedy is just something that someone thinks about someone else's eating, as demonstrated by this thread.

No-one NORMAL gives a flying fuck about how much OTHER people eat. Normal people have better things to think about than watching food eating and judging food eating and counting each food item.

The ONLY people obsessed with what 'others' eat are those with food issues. Food issues are where you think about food and eating a disproportionate amount of the time. It is a mental health problem.

You watch other people eating. You judge every little thing that goes in your own mouth as well. Your whole identity revolves around eating. You think about food almost ALL the time. It swallows your waking life. You know the calories of everything - and the value of nothing because you live in your own world, and it isn't the same world as people who have a normal relationship with food.

You join in these threads because it allows you to talk openly about food, to show yourself that you can talk about it and yet deny yourself at the same time. You feel vindicated by others who are also in the grip of eating problems and you hope that that makes you more normal. Deep down you know that isn't the case.

People with food issues can be thin, fat or average. It is a mental health issue.

I have close relatives who sadly have had their lives blighted by this. I can recognise it in some of the comments on these threads, again and again, every time anything to do with eating comes up. It is so, so sad. I would plead with people to seek help - you don't have to live in the grip of this.

BillyIsMyBunny · 12/02/2021 17:52

I have an eating disorder. I am greedy at times and binge and eat too much but I’ll then make myself sick or starve myself for a few days afterwards which means I’m at a healthy weight. I’m not sure that means I’m not greedy to eat the amounts I do on some days though.

MonsterMunchPaws · 12/02/2021 17:52

I’m a size 6 but very greedy indeed when the urge takes me. Grin

rawalpindithelabrador · 12/02/2021 17:52

@Nancydrawn

What a weird, shame-filled thread.

Enjoy life, OP. And don't worry about policing others'.

👏👏👏
PyongyangKipperbang · 12/02/2021 17:52

The greediest person I know is a size 8. She will hoover up anything not nailed down, take the biggest portion of food even if that means others going without and will make a huge fuss if there are any leftovers and she doesnt get them.

She justifies it by being naturally skinny and exercising a lot so is "allowed" to over eat and genuinely seems to think she is doing other people a favour! Needless to say she doesnt get many invitations. She is greedy in other ways too, if there is anything going begging she wants it.

PattyPan · 12/02/2021 17:53

@Eckhart I’m just going from the advice the NHS cardiologists gave my dad!

PattyPan · 12/02/2021 17:53

Cheese is also usually high in salt regardless of the fat issue

WishIWasAsGoodAsBlueysMum · 12/02/2021 17:54

I’m pretty fucking greedy. Have only been overweight since I had my daughter a few months ago but have always had a healthy (or sometimes quite unhealthy!) appetite.

DH is even worse. He must have the best metabolism ever because even with being very active, his ability to eat is quite extreme. Tonight he’s having a fish pie ‘for two’, veg, and garlic bread, and a whole cake for dinner. And yet he still has a 26 inch waist Hmm

So no, I don’t think being greedy has anything to do with weight.

randomer · 12/02/2021 17:55

I'm not greedy, I will never be.I eat little,often'the wrong' things hence am overweight.

PattyPan · 12/02/2021 17:56

@Haffiana when I see people calling others greedy on MN it’s usually because their DH or DS has eaten all the food meant for everybody to share, it’s not abnormal or indicative of any issue to care about that Hmm

Eckhart · 12/02/2021 17:57

[quote PattyPan]@Eckhart I’m just going from the advice the NHS cardiologists gave my dad![/quote]
The NHS are behind too. It's very worrying. They've been trotting out the same stuff for years, and there's no proof behind it. Check out Zoe Harcombe if knowing more might help your Dad. She's got a lot of videos on Youtube, she studies the meta studies, and she's current.

I got told 'eat more fibre' by the NHS for years. I was in a lot of pain, a lot of the time. One day, I stopped eating fibre. 40 odd years of problems solved in 48 hours. I stopped trusting the NHS at that point.

Sorry for derailing the thread, folks.

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

This thread is closed and is no longer accepting replies. Click here to start a new thread.

Swipe left for the next trending thread