Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4

Original poster

Do people really eat like this?

92 replies

Kuind · 17/04/2025 09:57

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?

OP posts:

Therewasacat · 17/04/2025 12:41

I wouldn't have had dinner after a huge lunch but would need breakfast the next day.

GreyCarpet · 17/04/2025 12:43

Comedycook · 17/04/2025 12:26

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

Or that's just the habit that has formed in their household and their appetites/thoughts around food have adjusted accordingly.

HollyBerryz · 17/04/2025 12:53

If I've had a big lunch I might not eat again for the rest of the day but that would never last into the next day.

Waitingfordoggo · 17/04/2025 13:00

I often feel more hungry than usual the morning after a huge meal, because I’ve stretched my stomach!

Waitingfordoggo · 17/04/2025 13:01

Also agree with those saying they wouldn’t need much for the rest of the day after a big lunch.

But if the big meal was in the evening, I’ll be hungry the next morning whereas on an average day, I’m not hungry until lunchtime.

Vroomfondleswaistcoat · 17/04/2025 13:02

For me, I will probably still feel full until late the next day, but by then I will be more than capable of eating another meal as long as it's not too heavy. But then I can fair put the food away, so I would have eaten a LOT the day before.

winterwarmer8274 · 17/04/2025 13:08

I can easily not eat for extended periods of time - I am trying to build muscle at the moment so am consciously a higher calorie, hight protein diet.

after a few days of eating more than I normally would I could easily go an entire day without feeling any hunger or desire eat.

Cucy · 17/04/2025 13:18

I’m the opposite.

The more I eat the day before, the hungrier I am the next day.

Funnywonder · 17/04/2025 13:23

I do get the not feeling hungry after a big meal the day before. I have acid reflux and it makes me feel full up for ages when I eat more than usual or even at a different time than I usually do. But I can’t imagine the one thing I am prepared to eat being biscuits. And believe me, I love a biscuit or five. I’d be having a banana or maybe a bit of cereal. Then back to biscuits later! But I guess everyone is different and I’m probably being a bit weird.

Zippityjumpingbean · 17/04/2025 13:25

Anonym00se · 17/04/2025 10:07

DH is like this. He’ll eat an enormous breakfast and then decide that “we” won’t need to eat for the rest of the day. Even when I’ve only eaten a solitary boiled egg. When I insist on something later in the day he says “I can’t believe you’re eating again!” It drives me mad.

Oh I grew up in a family like this, it frustrates me massively.
I don’t eat massive portions, ever…just feel over-faced and ill.
i like to eat regularly though and will only eat as much as i need in one sitting.

The constant “you can’t POSSIBLY be hungry again!!” Through my childhood has now resulted in a very disordered relationship with food.

dottydodah · 17/04/2025 13:45

Broccolienthusiast Same here! I love my food .Maybe after a steak supper may skip breakfast, but will be hungry by lunchtime .

Shcab · 17/04/2025 13:53

My partner is like this - if she’s eaten a lot one day she’s genuinely not hungry the next day, certainly not until the evening anyway. Nothing to do with watching her weight, it’s just how she is.

I am always always hungry for breakfast no matter how much I’ve eaten the day before. However in the past few years (am mid 40s) I’ve found that if I have a big lunch I can’t eat in the evening, so often skip that meal. Again, nothing to do with calorie counting, I just don’t feel like I want to eat because there is no hunger. Until a few years ago I’ve have been hungry for 3 meals a day plus snacks, no matter the size of the meals.

Mh67 · 14/01/2026 16:14

You say an apple or banana is the same price as crisps. When my kids were young 4 apples were 50p. Which was 1 snack per person for one day.(family of 4). For 1 pound i could get custard creams. bourbon creams.digestive and rich tea biscuits. That gave all 4 of us a snack for 7 days or longer. So no healthy is not always cheaper.

Goldenbear · 14/01/2026 16:20

I know loads of people like that, they probably label it intuitive eating. That said, as a PP stated, maybe they had more than one or two biscuits.

Jk987 · 15/01/2026 19:06

I sometimes don’t eat out guilt about the calories the day before and the worry of putting on weight.

LemaxObsessive · 16/01/2026 10:04

ItTook9Years · 17/04/2025 10:13

I eat when I’m hungry. I have no issues not eating for a 16-18 hour stretch most days and can do an 84 hour fast pretty easily. I don’t eat things which cause blood sugar highs and crashes which lead to need to eat again, nor do I eat to the clock. Lots of people eat through boredom rather than true hunger, and the high proportion of processed rubbish isn’t going anyone any favours.

This is a really disordered attitude towards food and eating, wow. Very disordered & unhealthy

Lilyhatesjaz · 16/01/2026 10:43

I would not have eaten enough of the big meal to feel over full, I would have left some, so I would have eaten my normal 3 meals the following day.

Flip

1 2 3 4