To ask if anyone else prefer eating their evening meal on a tray?

[FredSoftly]

I have friends who insist that every meal is eaten en famille at the table so everyone can "talk about their day." Then they complain that it's often tense or their teens are moody and uncommunicative.

When I suggest tea on a tray, they gasp in horror!

We often do this in front of the TV and it can make for a nice relaxed evening. We also manage to chat a lot without facing each other across the kitchen table on a nightly basis.

Am I common?

Yes, take-aways are also food.

But nowadays 90% of meals are not at the table.

Yes all meals are eaten at the table. I don't like people wondering around snacking in random places, so I certainly don't want to have curry on the sofa.

We all (five of us) eat together at the table every night. I have a 15yo and if we didn't do this I'd hardly see him!

We eat at the dinner table, 5 of us. two kids with ASD, one extremely fussy with a tiny range of "acceptable" foods, the other will eat a huge range and loves spicy food. The youngest DD is between her siblings a bit fussy but not as rigid. I think mostly eating together at the table has been good for the kids. They have a chat about their day and autistic kids like routine so it is helpful for them. I do have regular living room picnics, usually pizza nights. And we will maybe have popcorn and a movie after. But eating every meal in front of the TV wouldn't work. DS hates the TV noise, and rarely watches.

We do talk about politics, and history like m class wankers but we are left wing and woke etc. Each to their own, we are harming no one 😁

@SpringisSpinning

Batten down the hatches, salad plate fiasco brewing, its all kicking off.

Will this make the mail!!

Ex bf mum had salad plate, I'd never seen one before.. I found it bizzare although for some dishes like a chowder I can see why it would be useful

My husband has a roast potato plate. He doesn't like to have them on the same plate and everything else for some reason.

We manage to eat a roast dinner at the table or on the sofa. or in bed same as every other meal 🤷‍♀️

We manage to eat a roast dinner at the table or on the sofa. or in bed

😂 now I don't feel so bad for my meals from my bed when I'm feeling crap with this pregnancy

You’re not common but food is to be enjoyed. Staring at the tv is not focussing on your food and if you have children isn’t educating them to listen to their body when they’re eating for signs of fullness etc. It’s a contributing factor to why as a nation we are getting fatter.

@LouJ85

We manage to eat a roast dinner at the table or on the sofa. or in bed

😂 now I don't feel so bad for my meals from my bed when I'm feeling crap with this pregnancy

@LouJ85 only doing it when pregnant is amateur in the sloven stakes.

For my bday last year, we got indian and I put a towel out on the bed and laid out all the dishes and we ate it aying in bed watching shite on the telly.

Much, much better than the 'fancy' meal outthat ended in disappointment the day before.

@FredSoftly

I have friends who insist that every meal is eaten en famille at the table so everyone can "talk about their day." Then they complain that it's often tense or their teens are moody and uncommunicative.

When I suggest tea on a tray, they gasp in horror!

We often do this in front of the TV and it can make for a nice relaxed evening. We also manage to chat a lot without facing each other across the kitchen table on a nightly basis.

Am I common?

We have every meal at the dining table including snacks as a family. It’s not a strange concept. His nursery do the same as do schools.

@User1511

You’re not common but food is to be enjoyed. Staring at the tv is not focussing on your food and if you have children isn’t educating them to listen to their body when they’re eating for signs of fullness etc. It’s a contributing factor to why as a nation we are getting fatter.

Yea

I always eat at the table, because I am hopeless at balancing things on a tray, because of the dog nicking my food, and now obviously because I am privileged and white.
I do listen to the radio, usually radio 4 while eating, because it seems lonely otherwise

You’re not common but food is to be enjoyed. Staring at the tv is not focussing on your food and if you have children isn’t educating them to listen to their body when they’re eating for signs of fullness etc. It’s a contributing factor to why as a nation we are getting fatter.

I must be an exception to this rule then, with a (non pregnancy) BMI of 20, having eaten most meals on my lap in my front room for the past however many years. Sometimes, I would even come home for the gym where I went 3 x a week, and eat my healthy evening meal in front of Corrie. Oh, and I even enjoyed the taste of the food, too.

The reason I'm talking in the past tense is because I'm heavily pregnant at the moment and haven't seen the inside of a gym since summer last year. 😳 I WILL get it back!! 😂

@LouJ85 there are always exceptions but there is a reason why people who are overweight are told not to stare at the tv / their phone / read a book whilst eating.

I have seen people who are anorexic who need to be distracted by tv / other in order to force themselves to eat.

What I said was a generalisation but it’s a fair one.

I usually eat on the sofa listening to the radio. It’s more comfortable than sitting at a table.

[quote User1511]@LouJ85 there are always exceptions but there is a reason why people who are overweight are told not to stare at the tv / their phone / read a book whilst eating.

I have seen people who are anorexic who need to be distracted by tv / other in order to force themselves to eat.

What I said was a generalisation but it’s a fair one.[/quote]

Is there any research that backs it up? I mean I can sort of see the logic... would just be interested in the science side of it.

For my bday last year, we got indian and I put a towel out on the bed and laid out all the dishes and we ate it aying in bed watching shite on the telly.

Much, much better than the 'fancy' meal outthat ended in disappointment the day before.

Rather than slovenly or relaxing, this just sounds more awkward and cumbersome than eating at a table to me, and not at all comfortable.

It was very comfortable.

@LouJ85 found this on a quick google www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.mirror.co.uk/science/you-shouldnt-eat-your-dinner-22520926.amp

There were loads of other links. You’re welcome tk research it

[quote User1511]@LouJ85 found this on a quick google www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.mirror.co.uk/science/you-shouldnt-eat-your-dinner-22520926.amp

There were loads of other links. You’re welcome tk research it [/quote]

Interesting how they say feeling full or not is affected by how much sensory information your brain is processing at the time. My geeky scientist thoughts ... 1) when you're sitting at the table holding a conversation with others, that's still sensory processing, and 2) granted this is a personal anecdote but I notice absolutely no difference in my body's "full' signals no matter where I'm eating or what I'm doing at the time - I recognise "full" instantly and I stop. So like you say, there must be so many other relevant factors at play here!

@ElizaLaLa

It was very comfortable.

Oh god it is, I bloody love eating in bed - it's a pregnancy habit I'll find hard to break 🙈😂

@ElizaLaLa I've done that with take away on the bed 😂
I just eat wherever I'm comfortable and most of the time, that's not the table.

Well, were getting a water bed delivered soon, so I assume laying out an Indian takeaway will be a very bad idea.

We are a family of 4 and eat most meals at the table. Our teens are not tense, moody or uncommunicative. We chat and eat and enjoy the meal time. If we have takeaway pizza or something similar at weekends then we will eat on the sofa watching a film/Netflix series.