Tedious performative under eaters

[SlimPig]

The thread about the PIL's measly portions reminded me of this, and how iritating it is. I remember once at work they bought us all fish and chips on one friday afternoon. When it arrived the two other women started their bs as soon as they were handed their box - oohh the weight of that! I'll never eat all that! Hadn't even opened it and looked at it yet.

Then, once opened, both of them, oh my god, I'll never eat all that (measly takeaway cardboard box portion, not a massive, in paper, large portion) ooh dear, we won't need dinner, or breakfast tomorrow now will we! Don't think I can eat my peas too, I'm so stuffed. I'm going to need to go for two runs tomorrow now! On and on, through the whole meal.

I was starving and had to make a conscious effort to eat it slowly because they were fucking about and pushing it round the box and I didn't want to look a pig, I'm a fast eater anyway, but that meal was just so god awful! In the end I just ate it at my normal speed.

Why? Why do people do this? Why can't they just eat their food normally? Why does everything have to be justified and offset? Just strikes me as so sad that they couldn't just eat their food without a whole performance (infront of all the men in the office, only 3 women there, me and them) of how birdlike they normally eat 😥

Joanna Lumley follows One Meal a Day (OMAD as it's often referred to online), too. I pass no judgement.

That's exactly it!

And pushing food around your plate as in PP isn't necessary either. You can eat it slowly or not eat it without performatively pushing it round. It's drawing attention that's the annoying bit.

It's like performatively busy people too. They piss me off. You don't have to make a song and dance about why you can't make x, y and event. Yes or no is fine. Being busy doesn't make you speshul.

This is hilarious but probably not fir the reasons you think.

If you get enough calories and the right nutrients, it really doesn't matter how many meals you split it over, biologically speaking, as long as you go a few hours without eating, regularly. We can train our bodies when to get hungry quite quickly, so OMAD works, fasting works, 3 meals a day works, 5 meals a day works... it's nothing special, whichever way you do it.

I agree about the language, but to those who think their personal habits are superior to everyone else's, nobody can ever just eat or drink anything. They are always 'gobbling', 'guzzling', 'chomping', 'slurping' or whatever other stomach-turning verbosity they can come up with to make other people sound like they're barely distinguishable from farm animals.

See also threads where somebody admits to having bought some popcorn or chocolate and a drink to accompany their two hour cinema visit, the disgusting greedy bastard

DM is very much like this. If someone else is serving dinner she stands right behind them reminding them to give her "just a small amount" or "not too much".

DF once plated up dinner for her when we were visiting (roast chicken dinner) and when he put her plate down she told him that it was "way too much and she couldn't possibly eat it all" and then instead of just eating what she could and leaving the rest she sat there just looking at the plate and gagging/retching constantly while the rest of us were trying to eat. She ate about two mouthfuls at most then took the plate to the kitchen, leaving the rest of us struggling to eat after the display she had just made.

She always forces dessert onto everyone else and then sits saying, "I don't know how you can eat that after just having a meal". I just refuse dessert now as it often also comes with a side of "I thought you were on a diet" but that's only ever for me.

I so agree OP!!!

My ex-boss and his wife hosted an office Christmas party at Handrock Café and throughout the whole run-up to the meal and the meal itself (which I had the rotten luck to ensure next to them) they went ON AND ON AND ON about how many calories there were in everything and how they couldn't possibly eat it. DUH. They're hosting a party at a burger café!

to endure*

Frankly -I'd have scoffed mine and offered treat their leftovers.

What nellies!

*to eat, not treat

Behave yourself autocarrot

That would've been a generic 'you' then surely? Otherwise it'd make no sense.

Mind you, nor does you saying you don't know any women who eat at all anymore, and that you're the only one who eats.

Eat two. Fuck her. Don't give her what she wants. If she says she thought you were on a diet, just say "nope" and dare her to push her rudeness further.

Joanna looks a lot better on it than Cliff, I must say. Maybe it suits some people more than others.

.....and place themselves in the same situation as someone dying from cancer 😡

I have not read the thread but omg I can relate. I have a friend who if we go for lunch, goes round the table asking everyone if they will be eating again that day (who cares?). When most of us including me, say yes, she says in wide-eyes astonishment, ‘really??’ Like we have just admitted to the murder of JFK or something. It is really tedious.

I don’t care how and when you eat but please don’t keel over in shock because I am eating three meals a day.

I can cope with barely no dinner if I have a BIG breakfast around mid morning/lunchtime, like a caff breakfast, then I can have something small like cheese and crackers or cheese on toast or a fried egg sandwich etc, but otherwise, no, I need at least 2 meals a day. I can skip breakfast quite easily.

Ha that has reminded me - I once went somewhere and they said a light lunch was provided, I assumed quiche and chips or something but it was about 2 lettuce leaves and an olive

Doh. I meant to say I am pleased your definition of "something small" is similar to mine: proper egg sandwich or cheese on toast not just some grass

@SlimPig Elnetthairnet · Today 15:10
I also worked with a woman that only ate half. She’d bring food then eat half, if we ate out she’d order a normal meal then leave half. If you’ve only got a small appetite just order something smaller or bring less food! Didn’t matter what it was - a pub lunch, a sandwich, a bit of cake - only ate half. After a while I realised it must be a deliberate thing to control her weight (she was v slim), but what a massive massive waste of food.

LOL. This is from the Marjorie Dawes school of weight loss. Eat half the cake and it is only half the calories, so then you can eat the other half.

I think if you aren't making a big hoo-hah of it, and just have a small appetite (some people do)then that's fine.

It' when people effectively shame others with their "Ooh! I couldn't possibly manage more than one prawn - I'd make myself ill I'd feel so bloated." crap that I would pbject to it.

I have what my mother always termed a "healthy" appetite (translation: I could eat two more taties than a pig and come back for more). Until I had children I never topped 6 and 1/2 stones. After baby my metabolism changed and I went up to a "massive"* 8 stones.

After menopause (damn you, low oestrogen levels!) I shot up to my present weight of nearly 12 stones.

I still have a healthy appetite.

*sarcasm

I have been both an over eater and under eater, never for performance mind you, I over ate (as I love food) I would probably have asked to finish other peoples, however now I am diabetic and have lost weight I may make a comment if someone gives me a large portion without meaning it as a brag, more like I cant eat all that or I will undo everything I have done to get my health back on track, I am not a birdlike eater by choice, but also am aware it may come across that way, so this has made me wary of commenting.

I had a friend who said it was very virtuous to only eat one roast potato, so she did it over and over again. Can't fault her logic, but it didn't help her weight loss goals.

Or maybe her one meal is a healthy and nourishing 2,500 calories.

There's lettuce . . .

And there's lobster steeped in butter with a creamy sauce . . .

I don't care about the actual amount of food on the plate or how much is eaten, it's the sheer performance aspect of it and making a song and dance around it. I am overweight. I've lost and gained and struggled mentally with my weight since I was 16. I just eat my meal, and leave something if I don't want it or if I'm full. The only comment I make about food is if I've enjoyed it or not.

My MIL once dipped a chip in Mayo, stood up and claimed that small dip gave her heartburn. Every single meal is a song and dance and performance. She is very naturally petite and has a small appetite naturally, so none of us really understand the big deal she makes over it.

My DM was a size 14 her entire adult life until she hit 60 and is now a size 8. Partly due to not cooking family meals anymore and partly due to walking her new dogs twice a day. She was never one to comment on food and would just eat like a normal person. Now we go for a bowl of soup or a sandwich at lunchtime and, the entire time, she will comment on how she's done for the day or doesn't think she can eat it all. She will comment this repeatedly like a mantra and I just ignore her. I don't know if its linked to her new size and she feels she has to justify her eating (not that anyone cares or comments on what she eats).

Eat two. Fuck her. Don't give her what she wants. If she says she thought you were on a diet, just say "nope" and dare her to push her rudeness further.

I would if I could but I'm actually quite a small eater myself. I'm better with more smaller meals through the day and I actually am on a diet right now, I'm counting calories though so I know if I'm fine to have a treat or not.

She was rather put out the last time we visited though. She took one look at me and said I looked like I had put weight on. My reply was "I've lost half a stone actually, thanks for noticing" and just sat down. She told me constantly when I was a child how fat I was so I should be used to it now I'm in my 40s but it does still get to me.