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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To not eat food I don't enjoy?

54 replies

Frequency · 27/06/2025 07:59

I genuinely do not know if AIBU. I accept that I am being ridiculous. I also understand that my attitude towards food is probably not healthy.

My mother has taken it upon herself to start buying me groceries. I don't ask for it and I don't know why she is doing it. She says it is to help me because I am busy and stressed with my new (I am busy I am not stressed, I am enjoying my new role)

The problem is she is buying food I don't especially like or enjoy, and then she gets upset when I don't eat it.

I have tried telling her I don't like the food she is buying. She got annoyed that she was wasting money. I have tried thanking her and pretending I like the food she buys, but then she will root through the freezer and find it uneaten, or she will see the kids eating it and get upset.

I have tried saying yes when she asks me what I want and being very specific and explaining that whilst other things are very similar I do not like the similar things I only like the ones I ask for (think frozen ready meals vs fresh ready meals or porridge you cook in a pan vs those instant pots) She will find something else on offer and get that instead. I have tried offering her money for the food so she can buy what I actually like without feeling like she has to find things on offers, but she refuses to accept it.

She is now not speaking to me after offering to call into a shop she was passing that she knows sells protein bars I like. I insisted on giving her the money for them because, as far as chocolate goes, these are expensive.

When she dropped them off, I thanked her and said I didn't have any left because DD had melted my last one by accident after putting a hot kettle right next to the box I usually keep them in, and I don't like them after they have melted and reset because the texture changes. She then told me she had carried them on top of hot pizza Hmm
I didn't get annoyed (or I didn't show I was annoyed), I laughed and told her it was fine. DD likes them when they are melted; she will eat them. She left without speaking to me, and then I was inundated with text messages about how I don't appreciate her and she is only trying to help, and why am I making it so difficult for her?

Bear in mind, I am not asking for any of this food. I keep telling her to stop buying me food because of how fussy I am. I honestly don't know what I am supposed to do. How do I get her to stop?

OP posts:
SilverLining77 · 27/06/2025 10:16

This may be irrelevant, but a large proportion of women with similar eating patterns can also be autistic. Has this been ruled out? Both you and your mum sound very set in your ways.

Frequency · 27/06/2025 10:17

And yes, the kids fend for themselves because they're 18 and 22, a lot more financially solvent than me and work/study a lot fewer hours than me. I don't think that is a reason for anyone to be concerned.

OP posts:
ShinyAppleDreamingOfTheSea · 27/06/2025 10:18

Frequency · 27/06/2025 10:13

I appreciate she might be worried, but I don't understand why now, as other than starting a new job, nothing has changed. My weight is staying stable, and I am eating. I am not anywhere near underweight and haven't been since I was in my early twenties.

The rigidity around what I eat isn't about comfort, as such, it is about control, knowing that I am going to eat X at Y time takes all the stress out of food and eating. I decide I will eat X, I eat X. Simple. I don't need to worry about how many calories are in it or if it will trigger a binge or if it fits with the rest of my day, I just eat it. I don't have to think about it or stress about it.

If X is not available, that can sometimes cause me stress. Sometimes I can find something else to eat, sometimes I skip that meal, but I can usually make up for that by eating more later in the day. When I have that control, I can manage my eating without losing too much weight and without food impacting on the rest of my life.

Bringing me Y to eat when I have decided to eat X is never going to help me, even if I was struggling.

I don’t want to say too much as this seems quite complicated around an issue I don’t have experience of , but, I do totally understand what you are saying here.

eqpi4t2hbsnktd · 27/06/2025 10:20

"Mum, no need to bring groceries this week, I have a online shop ordered with everything I need - and I don't want anything to go to waste"

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