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.

Is it? I’ve said I’m overweight and this change in appetite isn’t leading to any weight loss? And I’m not the only one. It’s interesting to see how things have changed for people as they’ve got older. Lots of people seem to be in the same boat as me and none of them have talked about lettuce leaves…

I’m 60. I’ve noticed no desire to eat less or scarf less cakes.

This thread is the salad thread by another name.

One roast potato😂

No. But I'm a 54 year old fairly sedentary woman who is 5' 4" and 9 stone. So a meal suitable for my appetite and requirements would leave all the tall, active young people served the same amount starving, so I'd not expect to be able to. Its nothing to do with performance under eating, and everything to do with different people having different capacity and need for food based on size, sex, age and lifestyle. Nothing to be proud of or shamed by. Its a nuisance though, as I do want the different foods in the 3 courses, but hate food waste. It would be good if you could routinely get half portions on request.

Mostly I think this thread has shown that 1) portion sizes have grown, which we all know and 2) as we get older we need fewer calories.

I think women are mostly saying 'yeah, same for me' and pondering why it might be.

My mum also asks for one roast potato and she’s 75. Sorry if it’s outside of your realm of experience!

I wasn’t here for the salad thread so no clue what you’re talking about. I just wondered if it was just something I was experiencing with age because I used to eat like a horse (hence I mentioned my age in my OP), much in the same way that I would ask about other perimenopausal symptoms.

That’s the conclusion I have drawn too. I think others are jumping on this for no apparent reason.

I'm the same age as you and my appetite has definitely decreased, honestly. I am not and never have been an under eater. I absolutely love food and eating out. The same has happened to my older sister. Maybe it is genetic in some people?

I know elderly people's appetites often get smaller. I remember my grandma eating smaller amounts in her eighties. But I'm a bit skeptical that this happens routinely to younger women.

@SmudgeButt

Well done on the restraint . I admit I managed afternoon tea most days and but the late night buffet though in my defence I wasn't be sedentary, we were up dancing for hours each evening. Also I'm lighter on the breakfast front as I never make the sit down breakfast

I still have a good appetite, I just can't eat three courses any longer. One problem is that once you have finished your starter, the main is often brought 5 or ten minutes later. I think I need more time between courses now.

It's probably too much fun for a lot of the terribly modern posters to stereotype peri+ women into annoying categories. You know, that Mil, that DM, that person with an eating disorder, that attention seeker ...

I can't eat lettuce any more

I'm 38 and have started to struggle with 3 course meals now.

I can still eat 3 courses but I'd have had to have had nothing for lunch to manage it.

Less physical activity and a reduction in lean muscle mass.
I'd say after 50 a decrease in appetite is not unusual, but it doesn't fall off a cliff.

That sounds fab. I think at home you can plate up the amount you can eat. I just think when you go out the portion sizes are too big (for me now. Not when I was younger!)

3 courses is pretty easy to eat I find. No issues.

Ive done a few seven course tasting menus too and never too stuffed from them either.

My mum also asks for one roast potato and she’s 75. Sorry if it’s outside of your realm of experience!

75 and 45 is very different in terms of life stages, though. It's well documented that elderly people need less food and have smaller appetites, but I genuinely don't know anyone in their forties who would go for Sunday lunch and ask for one slice of pork and one roast potato.

That honestly sounds like incredibly disordered eating to me.

Agree! Entertaining to read though

I used to have a mini desert with coffee in Pizza Express. Not been in there for ages so can't confirm if they still have it.

Was going to say the same 😂 Lol at the poster who said she’ll happily not eat at all for a day and a half 🙄

Your whole family shares a starter and a dessert? How do you share it out? Do you pass the plate and spoon round so you can each take a bite?

I think because feeling stuffed is so uncomfortable I don't go there. I remember being younger and being able to eat til stuffed but I didn't really feel uncomfortable with it.

I have noticed most friends my age eat less than we used to. And also my parents in their 70s eat even less than I do.

You don’t have to be underweight to have an eating disorder

I don't bother with a dessert if I am going for something like Indian, Thai etc.

What I don't get with some people when I go to restaurants is ordering a mains and not eating it all. If they aren't hungry, why go out for a meal?

Some restaurants are happy to give you an extra plate and relevant cutlery for diners to share a desert. When I have been out with colleagues and they are undecided between x and y - we order both and divide the starters or desserts so we get half each.

I can eat three courses if I’m in the mood for a good blowout. Last week I went out and had a Korean sticky chicken starter, a vegan Buddha bowl followed by chocolate brownie and ice cream. The pudding was described as mini and came with a hot drink but it seemed a good size to me.