Can you eat three course meals anymore?

[Arlanymor]

I used to be able to, but these days no way would I manage both a starter and a pudding and sometimes I can’t even finish my main. I don’t have any dietary issues and I’m not watching my weight (although probably should be!) but I just can’t manage it anymore.

I tend to eat tapas more and more because then I don’t run the risk of wasting anything. But even if I am really hungry, I just can’t manage much more than one course, unless the starter is a salad or something similarly light. I’m 45.

South Italian wedding! About 15 courses, each one very small and the whole thing went on for hours and hours. You get to taste so many different things, have lots of time between and really, really enjoy the whole thing.

Some places these days - the dessert alone can be a meals worth of calories. I used to love the mini dessert in Prezzo where you got just enough to satisfy the desire for something sweet after dinner. I'm not sure why they haven't reinstated that after the pandemic.

For me, it depends on the size of the portions and the quality of the food. Generally speaking, I find that portion sizes tend to go up as food quality goes down.

In somewhere like a Hungry Horse [shudder], there are only a very few things on the menu that I could eat in their entirety - most of it is carby fillers, like pasta, chips, rice, bread etc. and some of the starters are huge, such as a massive plate of nachos (cheap carb) and a fatty sauce.

But in a gastro pub (the sort where you need to apply for a mortgage to pay the bill!) I could probably eat 3 courses quite happily and not feel stuffed.

Depends where it is. Most pubs/chain restaurants etc I couldn't eat 3 courses and rarely 2 as the portions tend to be huge.
Somewhere fancier with dainty portions, I'm definitely having 3 courses and toast when I get home.

This is exactly me! Post menopause, I prefer grazing now to sitting down to a stonking meal. I love the sociability of eating and sharing but no longer enjoy that bloated, sluggish feeling after a huge meal.

Unfortunately and another issue, is my (very) overweight DH is constantly on my case about my appetite, which can make me feel awkward and guilty in company. He draws attention by telling others I’m not ‘eating enough’ and sighs audibly when I order a large starter and follow with a pudding, rather than a main meal. I’m exactly the right weight for my height/build and it’s not me that’s always tired, falls asleep every time I sit down and snore loudly at night. 😏

@Arlanymor

Depends where. Expensive restaurants tend to have smaller portions designed for multiple courses as opposed to pub restaurants which tend to have larger portions but few people order starters

To quote my youngest (many years ago) "my main course tummy is full, but there is always space in my pudding tummy"

More high end restaurants that serve smaller portions - Yes
Casual dining - no way. I rarely eat more than main.

You suspect ovarian cancer because some can’t eat three course? Don’t become a GP!!

@JohnPrescottsPyjamas tell your flubby hubby to shut his cake hole about your diet! He's probably jealous and trying to make out like your starving yourself to justify his presumed gluttony? It's really rude to moan about the size of other people's portions.

Just back from a cruise where there was too much food. And I mean like really too much. So you could have 5 courses at ever meal and likely 3 courses for the in between meal snacks of which there were a lot.

I didn't eat it all because I don't think waddling is a good look. But I had no trouble doing fruit/yoghurt/birchermuesli then eggs and bacon then tiddle pain au chocolat for breakfast. Skipped elevenes. Lunch was salad then roll with freshly roasted meat then bit of cake. Missed afternoon snacks, ice cream, hot chocolate with baileys. Said no to the crisps and nuts with cocktails but happily, for dinner, had the bread and butter, then starter, then sorbet, then main, then dessert, then cheese and fruit, then coffee with little cakes/biscuits. No to the late evening buffets.

2 weeks on board and I gained 5 pounds which I lost in the week after getting back. Mostly due to the cocktails on board I think as I never normally drink anything sweet.

Dunno what’s happened to Prezzo since the pandemic. Food is shit, menu choice not as good, can’t find decent offers anywhere. Used to go twice a month, no wonder they closing round me like mad- never go anymore

I probably can eat a 3 course meal if I tried, but I've found I can eat less and my appetite is ever so slightly decreasing, I'm 43 this year. I haven't been anywhere for a 3 course meal for fucking ages though 😂

I can easily eat three courses but I rarely do. Last time I did, I had a charcuterie board to start, then a chicken dish and pudding which was creme brulee. I left the restaurant and honestly still felt peckish.

I can only eat a child portion of sunday lunch in a pub now - which works out fine as my teeny, tiny daughters can eat a huge adult portion! And finish off my yorkies...

No, but I've never been able to. If out with dh and dc we usually share starters and desert.

I can, but I often feel uncomfortably full afterwards.

I prefer starters to desserts though so I'm happy to just have a coffee or something while everyone else has cake/pudding.

This thread is hilarious. All the teeny tinies desperately trying to outdo each other. I can barely even manage a cube of cheese I'm so tiny 😂

This thread is close to competitive under eating.

X post with @Comedycook

It's batshit - nobody in real life has a solitary roast potato

I'm just so teeny tiny...I'm only 3mm tall and I'm absolutely stuffed after eating a crumb of bread and licking an ice cube. My dd is the same. Obviously my strapping husband and giant sons eat enough to feed a small nation.

I’ve had a gastric sleeve so no. I generally get a starter and a dessert, which works great for me. DH eats all 3 courses and generally finishes anything I haven’t eaten though so it works well!

Restaurant:
Starter Pud and a decent wine please.

I am really not a teeny tiny. I wish. BMI 25 right now, so slightly over weight.

I am getting on a bit and my ability to enthusiastically eat three courses genuinely is no more, unless the portions are small. A lot of older women on here have said the same thing.

I can still drink plenty of wine though. God is good.

I couldn’t even manage the breadcrumb tbh.