Do people really eat like this?

[Kuind]

Dh’s family were visiting last week. We took them to a restaurant which had insane portions. I mean no one finished their plate.

But the next day NONE of his family ate. They all said they weren’t hungry and full from the day before. They just had coffee and a biscuit or two.

I mean I certainly didn’t need breakfast and could have got away with not having lunch but I was famished by dinner. So dh and I had toasties.

Do these people genuinely just not feel hunger or is it just a habit?

Yes, people are different.

Yes, I eat like this, I only want to eat when I'm hungry and if I overeat one day, I'm likely not hungry for the next day at all.

Metabolisms are different, habits are different, tolerance for blood sugar variance is different...

And yes, people feel hunger differently - if you're someone who snacks when you feel the slightest urge to eat, you'll experience it very differently to someone who habitually only eats one meal a day or does intermittent fasting and is much less sensitised to hunger signals, or much more used to ignoring them.

I prefer smaller, more regular meals so I never feel 'stuffed' but am also never wildly hungry. It is unusual to not be hungry at all the next day unless there are digestive issues or lack of fibre, suggest maybe its more habit or an unhealthy attitude towards food ie this will balance it out.

If I had a huge meal one day, I'd absolutely feel hungry the next day. I do intermittent fasting but I feel hungry during it.

Are they very slim op? Do you think they actually don't feel hungry or are they consciously avoiding food?

I mean, I'm only 36 and I've been like this for as long as I can remember. I've honestly never been able to manage three large meals a day - I prefer lots of small meals. If I've been out and had a large lunch, dinner will just be toast or a bowl of cereal.

I tend to skip breakfast (never hungry) and eat when I finish work around 2.30pm but it's never a huge portion. Normally a sandwich and some crisps, then dinner around 6ish and a large-ish snack around 8ish and that's me done. I've never liked eating big meals as I just feel sick, lol.

DH is like this. One big meal and then he doesn’t need to eat again. He won’t eat again until the end of the next day.

No I think that your appetite relative to your energy needs is hugely variable.
In that situation I would have a small meal in the evening. (I never miss a meal altogether unless I am ill, and my BMI has always been around the 19-20 mark)

I think it depends on their age, OP.

i don’t think it’s a sign of a healthy metabolism in a young(ish) person for appetite not to have reset by next day. But, I know, for older people with slower metabolisms they often genuinely don’t feel hunger the next day. Their body just slows down so they have lower calorific needs.

My mum was like that. If she ate out for lunch, she’d announce that she wouldn’t need anything later or til at least dinner time the next day. She had very disordered eating, judged what others ate, always commented on the size of meals etc. She’d act like other people eating was the problem, I don’t think she realised the issues were all hers.

Agree. I’ve just been on holiday. Yesterday had bacon, roll, orange juice and champagne for breakfast. Lunch on plane of salad, roll and generous cheese/biscuits plate with a bowl of warm salted nuts (i declined the beef main). Before landing (long haul) they served a good-sized cheeseburger, surprisingly juicy and tasty for plane fare.

Upon arrival home had a Coke and fell into bed. Today am still stuffed. Likely will not eat more than a yoghurt today.

I’m 62 and have never eaten more than two meals a day. Just don’t like the full feeling. To each their own.

Same here.

I don’t have disordered eating; just not much of a foodie and don’t really think about it until I get hungry again. But I certainly eat what I like when I feel like it.

I think too many people equate appetite with morality...as if having a smaller appetite makes you a fundamentally better human being.

I find that odd. Even if I have a huge dinner I’m still hungry for breakfast. I’d probably only feel like having light and healthy meals that day to counteract the huge meal the night before, but I’d still want breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Eat when you're hungry. If you're still full up from the night before why would you force yourself to eat if you're not feeling hungry? If you are feeling hungry, then eat. Feels pretty simple!

If I've had a big lunch, I may not eat until the next day because I don't feel I need it - and I do have a big appetite.

The three meals a day thing is a cultural construct, not a biological need.

Reminds me of being taken to a steak house in Austin, Texas. Insane steaks followed by key lime pie. My hosts were insistent.

I didn't need to eat for days. I was thirsty but not hungry.

My MIL would say she was full after being out for dinner and wasn’t eating but would, she would just eat in the kitchen.
She also told me once I shouldn’t be hungry because SHE had a takeaway the night before, I’d actually had no dinner that night because we were travelling.

Not me, I stuff myself every day😁

I had a colleague like this. We used to call him "the snake". He'd have one massive pig out day a week, then barely eat anything all week.

We found out because people would notice him not eating for a full 12 hour shift and he said he only really eats on Saturday or Sunday, but when he does, he goes for it.

Weird.

😂

I feel the same. I'm often hungrier the morning after a big meal, like my stomach is 'activated'. I'm at an all inclusive at the moment with three big meals a day and wake up starving in the morning

@Kuind did they drink more coffee through the day ? I have a friend who drinks tea all day as not to eat. They don’t enjoy eating/food though .
Do dh family normaly eat healthy ?
If not the big meal was probably making themselves eat and then back to their normal eating habits the next day.

I hate feeling full, like really full.
So yeah I could easily not eat for 18-24h after a huge meal.
I may feel hungry but without any desire to eat.
This said, I generally avoid feeling painfully full in the first place.

No, you’re on an appetite suppressant medication. Naturally people’s appetites vary and OP was wondering if other people don’t eat much in the time/day after a big meal.

You’re talking about not eating as much after medication which doesn’t work like a big meal, it releases suppressing effects over the course of time - it’s not the same thing. It’s like saying I never feel sick on rollercoasters, whilst taking antiemetics. It’s not a natural response so irrelevant.

They might not be comfortable or find it difficult to poop away from home - quite common really so genuinely are still full

Are they older? I’ve found this has definitely become more the case the older I get. If I had a big restaurant meal then I’d not be hungry for breakfast or lunch and may probably just go a piece of toast for dinner, then back to usual the next day. I’m fat as well, so it’s not a ‘thin person thing’. I just wouldn’t feel hungry and without the pressure of feeding kids, a family, there is no pressure to clock watch for meals but instead eat when hungry. I find at this point I’m only really naturally hungry for two meals a day anyway, fitting in a third feels like eating for the sake of it. I’m sure it’s getting moreso the older I get.

I can understand if people genuinely feel like this and their bodies just work that way...but if it's a whole group of people, it sounds a bit like a form of social contagion and rather performative

My dd1 (21) is always saying 'I'm starving' but usually at normal times, ie lunchtime & dinner time. She also claims to have 2 stomachs. One for dinner & 1 for pudding 🤣