To ask for a half slice of cake?

[GretaGip]

Ive got disordered eating, sometimes eating something with no low nutritional value (but plenty of pleasure) will start me off on a binge.

I'd done slimming world and lost a lot of weight but am now in the sad position of having put half of it back on.

So im trying a different approach. Using my fitness pal im slowly losing 1 pound a week. Currently 14 down since November.

I bloody love cake. The conception, construction, the aesthetic, and to a lesser degree, the consumption.

Quite often im happy just looking at cakes and have no yearning to eat them, intellectually I know there's better calories out there. I don't feel deprived.

Occasionally I just really really want cake. It's hormonal im sure. So I have some, but want it to be controlled.

I tend to share with very accommodating friends. This will be considered in my calories for the day.

I'm in a lovely cafe on my own and really fancied cake, so I asked for half, and said I was happy to pay full price.

The staff member gave the impression that they thought I was very odd.

Wibu to ask?

You don't have disordered eating do you?

I did, though. I did about a year of very unhealthy dieting where I would try to keep my calories under 1000 a day. Even during that time, it would never occur to me to make my weight loss someone else's problem.

Come to my coffee shop. I serve smaller, lower priced slices of cake than other cafes I’ve been to/worked in (who serve enormous pieces!) I swear that I sell more cake because of the fact that they’re not so over whelming

I'd love to Honeyroar, I hate this serving of enormous pieces of cake I immediately lose my appetite for it as it is, as you say, overwhelming.

Smaller portions of everything would be mandatory if I had my way.

@ClariceQuiff

See if you can find a cafe that does 'pensioner portions' - smaller, cheaper versions of the main dishes to cater for the typically smaller appetite of the older person - but you don't have to be in that demographic to order.

I'm fortytwelve, so I'm not far off

@Toanewstart23

*It makes not one shiny bit of difference whether it's consumed, binned or left to rot, it's done for.*

So odd.

No, we have a different opinions.

IMO It doesn't stop the food being 'wasted' whether it's eaten, binned or not purchased at all.

You opinion, unless I'm wrong, is that requesting half portions (which is the same as leaving it on the plate) causes waste. So eat it all or have none.

Food threads on MN always get testy.

I admire you for this as I always want a double slice cake!

Seriously, I have no willpower.

Carrot and walnut, that has to be two of your five a day already!

@Honeyroar

All caked out today, I'll be over next week

@Hont1986

You don't have disordered eating do you?

I did, though. I did about a year of very unhealthy dieting where I would try to keep my calories under 1000 a day. Even during that time, it would never occur to me to make my weight loss someone else's problem.

If you understand then how easily you could be tipped into a binge by not having the control you need (ie limiting the food on your plate, not having it in the bag where you can eat it and then have had too much and end up binging) surely you can elicit a little more empathy for someone still struggling. If getting a knife (often served with the cake anyhow), cutting the slice in half and putting half in the bin is "making it their problem" I think they need a new job. She hasn't asked them to whip up a sugar free cake, she hasn't given them a half hour presentation on gluttony, she's asked them to slice it in half

@PickledOnionSandwich

YABU. Who were they going to give the other half to? Just eat half and leave the rest

If they are cutting a slice from a big cake there won't be a half left. They will just give her a smaller portion!

@Cheeseonpost

Of course it’s weird to ask

Not unreasonable mind, but posters saying this isn’t weird need to have a look at themselves

Also the staff are most likely not able to eat the half you left, so the cake would go to waste regardless.

YANBU to ask, but it is weird so the staff aren’t being unreasonable either

It's not cake I left though, it's cake I offered before it came to me.

I think the food waste bit is really out of my control. What they do with the half isn't up to me. It just suits me to have a small portion on my plate, paying what is required, anything further than that is out of my hands.

@Wanderingowl

Not what you asked but have you ever considered doing your own healthy baking? I make a chocolate cherry cake with eggs, bananas, oat bran, cocoa powder, bicarb and cherries. It takes about 3 minutes to whizz up, is nutritionally excellent and really tasty. I eat it it for breakfast with my coffee and it feels indulgent but it's actually a very healthy meal. (you can do any flavour combo, I also do chocolate-pear, cinnamon and blueberry, or whatever I have on hand).

Could I be cheeky and ask for the recipe?

OP, you did nothing wrong. You weren’t trying to get something for nothing, quite the opposite in fact, which is why it perplexed the staff.

Ooh yes please, public recipe Wandering 😁😁

When I worked in hospitality I would have done this without comment, but made sure I was understanding you correctly and definitely offered you a box to have the other half in to take with you.

I wouldn't have thought it 'odd' but rather unusual because the majority of the time people want more for their money, not less. I'd have been more worried I misunderstood what you were asking and would seek to clarify the situation because I'd be concerned that if I had misunderstood I'd be accused of ripping you off by serving half a slice of cake instead of the full one you were paying for.

Though when I was sure that I wasn't misunderstanding you I'd have gratefully accepted the other slice! (If I'd been allowed, which in some places I wouldn't have been 😒)

@PickledOnionSandwich

YABU. Who were they going to give the other half to? Just eat half and leave the rest

They could always eat it themselves. OP’s approach is far better than wasting it as you suggest.

Portions are getting larger because you can get away with higher prices for only a slight increase in costs. If you double the portion size of something with mainly cheap ingredients, like cake, it will probably only cost you 20% more, even allowing for the additional labour of making more cake, but youcan charge 50-80% more.

There is nothing wrong with asking for a smaller bit. I used to live in the US, where portion sizes are ridiculously large, and it's quite common to get a half portion, e.g. half a sandwich (which will still be twice the size of a UK one!).

I often wish I could buy half a slice of cake - the servings they sell in cafes these days are enormous, way too big for me!

I wish I'd thought about asking for half a slice before. Maybe if more people ask for it, they'll start offering smaller portions?

I would have wrapped it in a serviette and taken it home.

YANBU, however it's not a common request, so I'm not that surprised at the reaction.

Best way to deal with this situation? Don't care so much what people think and do what you need to do :)

I think that was a sensible decision OP.

There’s a lovely little coffee shop next to my work that sells ridiculously huge portions of cake for £5. Some days, I say to myself that £5 is ridiculous for a piece of cake and it’s too big and I don’t need it anyway. Some days, I buy the cake and shovel it down sideways (even though I’ve usually stopped enjoying it by 2/3s of the way through).

I also often walk past that cafe to a bakery where things are sold in more reasonably sized portions.

If the cafe sold smaller portions for cheaper prices, I’d buy cake from them more regularly.

Good for you. Slices of cake in cafés have got bigger and bigger over the years and some are now ridiculous.

If I go out for coffee and cake with a friend we will often order one slice and two forks. It's never been a problem. We take it in turns to choose the flavour!

Just wanted to ask all those saying your preference is smaller portions.

Have you ever NOT bought a slice because it was too big?

If cafes realised they were losing out on revenue because their portions were overwhelming, maybe they'd start to offer half sizes and increase sales?

How is this creating more food waste? Not snippy, just curious

Probably because the other half is most likely to get thrown away.

Doesn't mean you shouldn't make the request. But the staff probably won't eat it.

@Goatinthegarden

I think that was a sensible decision OP.

There’s a lovely little coffee shop next to my work that sells ridiculously huge portions of cake for £5. Some days, I say to myself that £5 is ridiculous for a piece of cake and it’s too big and I don’t need it anyway. Some days, I buy the cake and shovel it down sideways (even though I’ve usually stopped enjoying it by 2/3s of the way through).

I also often walk past that cafe to a bakery where things are sold in more reasonably sized portions.

If the cafe sold smaller portions for cheaper prices, I’d buy cake from them more regularly.

Ahha

Perfection of cross post there

I think that some slices of cake are just about big enough to be a light meal!

I cook at lunch & have been known to have just a slice of cake for tea!