To pick at my dinner over a long period of time

[andymoan]

Anyone else the same? I'm never able to sit and have a big meal in one sitting but I could finish it over the course of the night by just picking at it even if it's cold. I've even seen myself not being able to finish it that night and having the rest for breakfast/lunch the next day. Anyone else?

[FineWordsForAPorcupine]

This is how my partner eats - he likes cooking, so we'd have a lovely time cooking together, but when it came to eating, he'd faff about and get distracted and then take ages serving himself, then get up and faff some more, then start eating, then stop, then get distracted again, etc.

It used to drive me CRAZY. I'd sit there thinking ffs, can't you just EAT like a normal person? So I had to do some serious introspection about why this got to me so much. It wasn't affecting me, I still had my dinner and could eat as much or as little as I wanted, but it bugged me. When I really thought about it, it was about me and my relationship with food - I had all these parental voices telling me to eat up, clear my plate, stop messing around, etc. But I'm an adult now. I can eat or not eat whatever I want, and I don't have to impose all these illogical moral values to eating.

The bottom line is that I am an adult. What and how I eat is my business and no one gets to tell me its wrong. For no real reason, our society has decided that three meals a day, one of them hot, eaten in a given time frame is "right" but that's convention, not some unalterable law.

[4PawsGood]

@Stichintime

OP whats going on? You also started a thread today about drinking too much wine and laying on the sofa the next day over eating, then feeling really bloated.

That’s only every fortnight though. Sounded like the eating thing was every evening.

[Stichintime]

Ihavebrillohair, a name change fail?

[earthyfire]

No. I need my food piping hot there is no way I could pick at food that was going cold.

[NoLeafClover]

This is exactly how I eat. However I have a history of anorexia and am in the midst of a pretty significant relapse. Now I'm not at all saying that you have an eating disorder. However, I'd urge you to think about what and how you eat, and if there might be a pattern of disordered eating emerging. It can be slippery and insidious, and you'd be amazed how quickly it can spiral. And I'd beg you to do everything that you can not to go down that road.

[IHaveBrilloHair]

Can we be clear that wasn't me!

[Stichintime]

OP whats going on? You also started a thread today about drinking too much wine and laying on the sofa the next day over eating, then feeling really bloated.

[IHaveBrilloHair]

Yes, I am also 5ft, with size 3 feet and v small hands too, so being this size is clearly natural for me.
I can't understand why people have such an issue with it.
As for eating alone as I'm depressed, should I invite my neighbours around every meal time, do my cats watching me eat count?
I live alone!

[IHaveBrilloHair]

Oh, no, not name change fail, I'm not the OP, but I'd posted and then questions were asked so I answered.
I've no idea how the OP would answer them.

[DrEllie]

Are you quite petite? I find this. I'm only 5ft and struggle to eat a lot in one go. And i eat really slow. I tend to have 5 or so small meals throughout the day.

[LagunaBubbles]

LagunaBubblesyes that's exactly what it is

Not sure what the stupid wee role eyes were for your the one posting about disordered eating.

[thinkIamdone]

I hate big meals, especially late. Stop eating them. Make a smaller portion, and snack if you feel hungry. Some people a grazers

[Bluntness100]

@IHaveBrilloHair

I have a normal BMI, I don't have an eating disorder, or, as mentioned uptrend, am I an alcoholic ffs.
My portion sizes clearly suit me since my clothes tell me I don't gain or lose any significant amount of weight, I don't own scales.
(I only know BMI as I'm weighed at medical appointments. I have a disability)

MN is completely weird about food and what other people eat.

Have you had a name change fail are you the op?

[gulliblestravels]

Are you perhaps a bit depressed by eating alone, so just don’t have the appetite??

[IHaveBrilloHair]

I have a normal BMI, I don't have an eating disorder, or, as mentioned uptrend, am I an alcoholic ffs.
My portion sizes clearly suit me since my clothes tell me I don't gain or lose any significant amount of weight, I don't own scales.
(I only know BMI as I'm weighed at medical appointments. I have a disability)

MN is completely weird about food and what other people eat.

[Foodisascience]

What is your portion size? you are in control over what you dish up. In a restaurant it’s more difficult. Those sort of eating shacks that do giant portions are not for me but what is a genuine standard portion? We have lost sight of it.

Modern dinner plates are huge, I have some of DH Granny’s dinner plates from the 1970’s. They are much smaller.

So a roast dinner will have me eat a drumstick, four roast potatoes , a dessert spoon of four types of veg, a stuffing ball and gravy. But even then how big are those spuds.

MN often has a what are you having for dinner thread. It’s interesting, what would be more interesting is a photo of the portion size and an honest one. Not tweaking it for the camera.

[BlueSussex]

Sounds really weird to me.

Are you underweight?

[IHaveBrilloHair]

I live alone and cook for myself, I can't see why it would bother other people what I do with my food.
It makes no sense to me to cook a small portion, eat it all, then make a separate snack later, when I'm happy to cook a bigger portion and eat it in two goes.

I obviously don't do it around other people because that would be bad manners and if eating out I order just about what I can eat all at once and leave whatever I can't finish.

[4PawsGood]

*more

[4PawsGood]

@SofiaMichelle

Why would you do it, though?

If you know you can't eat a full portion do a much smaller one and then have a snack later if you need something else.

I can't imagine sitting there picking at a cold meal. It's pointless and unnecessary.

Because a snack is probably less nutritious and also a bit mor effort.
If she doesn’t mind it then what’s the problem?

[longtompot]

I find it difficult to eat dinner and it takes me ages. I had an anxiety issue a few years ago which, while mostly under control, still pops up it's annoying head every now and again. I find it difficult to swallow sometimes, so things like meat will take me a long time. I don't eat beef, or will just have a few cubes of it if I do a stew.
I think if I were you op I would serve up my dinner and then divide it into four portions, or whatever you can mange in one sitting and eat that. Then later if you want more, you have more portions to eat. I wouldn't make an issue of it, because it then becomes a bigger issue.

[Haggisfish]

I’m exactly the same op. I would love to live somewhere where lunch takes all afternoon!

[ChochoCrazyCat]

I do this too. It's a bad habit from my student days...we frequently ate in our rooms, so I'd sit in front of my laptop watching a film and picking at my food for a couple of hours. DH likes to eat in front of the TV too, so I've just kept up the habit into my "grown up" life. But now we have a child so I want to start having family meals at the table. It's hard to change an ingrained habit though. We also eat very late, about 9pm usually. I'm just not in the mood for dinner at 5 or 6, which is when DD needs to eat.

[SofiaMichelle]

Why would you do it, though?

If you know you can't eat a full portion do a much smaller one and then have a snack later if you need something else.

I can't imagine sitting there picking at a cold meal. It's pointless and unnecessary.

[andymoan]

@MichelleScarn oh no I would never mention what anyone else is eating, I wouldn't even notice to be honest let alone mention it, that would be beyond rude. If someone mentions when we're out or eating together oh you've not ate much I would just say oh I shouldn't have had a big lunch or my stomachs not feeling well today something like that so as not to make it seem attention seeking.