A lot of research and discussion has been devoted to how people eat in groups. We already know that people
eat about 30% more when dining with friends and that
teen girls have a reduced incidence of eating disorders when they participate in family dinners and that
we eat more in "healthy" restaurants, among other interesting food-as-a-social-construct tidbits. But a new book (which I haven't read but really want to, thanks NPR!),
What We Eat When We Eat Alone, finds authors Deborah Madison and Patrick McFarlan on a quest to discover how people choose to eat if left entirely to their own devices.
The question du jour - what do I eat when I eat alone? - is one I have not given much thought to. This is probably because I honestly cannot remember the last time I ate alone. Having wee ones at home 24/7 precludes any semblance of normal dining, much less solitary dining. In fact, these days I'd settle for a meal where nobody regurgitates their food, throws silverware or insults my cooking while invoking their favorite potty word.
The last time I was alone at all, when I accompanied my husband sans children on a business trip, I was too busy relishing the fact I got to lounge around on a pillow-top mattress and watch all the MTV I could guiltily enjoy (what?) to worry about eating. I had a bag of trail mix, a packet of turkey jerky, instant oatmeal that I could make with the coffee maker, and a mint chocolate Luna bar to tide me over during the days until dinnertime when we'd go out with his coworkers to some crazy expensive restaurant and eat a lot of yummy food. Which brings me back, again, to the fact that I haven't eaten alone years.
Still trying to answer the question, I went way back in time to my pre-marriage college years. And you know what? Between living with 3-5 other girls (don't ask), dating and coworkers I don't think I ever ate alone even then! How weird is it to be a grown woman of 31 and to have never had a memorable meal alone? Thinking back on it, I came to an epiphany of sorts - I don't like to eat alone. If I am alone, I don't eat. I don't "forget" per se, like some people claim to do, but I'll put off eating until I can share a meal with others. I guess I've always been a social eater.
So my long-winded answer to what I eat when I'm alone is that I don't eat meals alone. I'll snack - or not - until the rest of the pack shows up dragging the wooly mammoth behind them. But someday all my kids will be in school (I know, I can't imagine it either) and ostensibly I will have at least one meal a day all by my lonesome. Will I make lunch dates with friends? Call my sister and eat on the phone with her? (Yes, we do that.) Or will I finally learn to enjoy the pleasure of solitary dining?
All of which makes me wonder what
you eat when you eat alone. Do you cook yourself a beautifully crafted, nutritionally balanced meal eaten off real china at the table? Lean Cuisine in front of the TV? Or do you just kinda snack like me?
Comments (57)
The same things. :P
But in a more sloppy manner. ._.i eat the same regardless
I eat pretty much the same way and the same things alone as I do when I'm around others, although I won't put as much effort into presentation when I'm preparing a meal.
I have noticed that I very consistently eat more healthily when I eat alone. I'm less concerned about stuff being appealingly prepared or super tasty and more concerned with it being filling and something I feel good about eating. I eat more raw fruits and vegetables and less processed or super tasty baked goods when I'm not fixing a meal for or with someone. My young husband is technically almost underweight for his height and wants to gain weight so I'm all about fixing him really hearty (though still hopefully healthy) meals whenever I can. I'm more likely to use oil (such as olive oil) when cooking for him, just to make it a little tastier, and I put the margarine on thicker on his toast. However, by myself I eat very lightly on the fatty stuff.
I eat alone pretty often, but the only time I eat more than usual is if its a food I don't get often at all, like Chinese take out or I'm at a restaurant. I eat the same amount if I eat with other people at home or if I'm alone.
its possible i eat more alone. i eat alone a lot though...always have, seems like. family dinners died out when i was about 16...probably helped the onset of my ed. damn. but im getting better. today i ate a giant bowl of cereal alone. my problem with eating alone is that i want to keep going back, even if im full. so thats what im working on.
I almost always eat alone. In fact, I actually had to sign a contract with my parents that I would eat three meals a week with them or I can't go to college.
But, hey, I have an eating disorder, so I guess that factors me into that statistic pretty well.If its dinnertime, I actually make something... but this is only if my parents went out or something.
If its like in the afternoon around 3 or something.. I just snack. Or if I'm REALLY craving something, I just make it xD
I occasionally forget to eat when I'm alone because I get so wrapped up in doing things that I won't realize that "dinner time" passed by almost four hours ago and the pain in my abdomen is hunger. This is kind of surprising, because when I'm around other people, I'm constantly hungry, but also not, because I don't get as intensely concentrated on anything in company.
I generally eat pasta, cheese, or chips and salsa. I rarely actually prepare a meal for myself because eating has always been a social thing for me, so I just snack.
i used to eat anything i could find when i ate alone. i'd start with a sandwich, then get some cereal, then maybe make some nachos, then finish with an ice cream sandwich. now if i'm alone i'll eat a normal healthy meal, and when i want more i'll go get a big spoon full of natural peanut butter cuz its a healthy snack and its filling so i wont keep going back for more.
I eat the same when I am alone, or with someone.
I'll just whip up something easy or eat that stuff from Costco ;)
I have the exact same plate as that dog. Should I be concerned?
I *hate* eating with people... it makes me uncomfortable. In college I would actually "sneak" food out of the caf, because I hated eating in front of people... it truly bugged me that much. I relish eating alone - and so I eat *everything* I would normally, if at all possible, by myself. I can't imagine being as you are, and never really having eaten alone - that would drive me insane. Must be my introverted tendencies coming out... then again, I forget to eat, a lot. (Maybe if I ate with others, I wouldn't?) Hm.
i already have a set routine plan out for if and when i'm living on my own... whether or not that plan is followed if and when i'm ready to be in a relationship, all depends on what she wants... i'm not afraid to spice it up with a variety... and i'm definitely sure i'm not afraid to spice it up big time... i've had a whole chili pepper one time and let me tell you, i was a boiling red tomato... lol...
I was surprised to read that people eat 30% more when they eat with friends. I eat less when I eat with people, probably because I'm self conscious eating in front of people.
Which is bad in a way, because when I'm alone, I'll eat more than I should, just because I can finally eat comfortably without feeling weird because someone is watching me!
When I'm alone though, I tend to eat more junk food, like pig out foods. Like raw cookie dough or peanut butter out of the jar - things I would be embarrassed to eat with other people around! And I eat cereal when I'm alone too. Because I can eat 2 bowls without feeling like a fat ass, lol.
When I'm alone since my husband works second shift I eat frozen dinners or cereal, because when he gets home at 11:30pm I will eat a normal sized meal
@fourinthemorningg@xanga - lol same here! when i eat alone i wanna eat crap and lots of it :)
I hate eating alone. It's depressing and makes me want to eat more. Whenever I make myself lunch, I always ask my mom to sit on the front porch to talk to me. I always wait to eat my dinner until my mom comes home from work and we eat as a family. last year I always waited until my friends were finished with classes to go to the dining hall. The only time I regularly eat alone is probably breakfast... but that's maybe three times a week at most.
hmm... im not sure... i tend just to eat alot more junk food when im alone.
I eat less around people because I'm convinced that I eat too much and people do not deserve to see me in that nature.
I eat Sunbelt granola, it's really yummy!
But in all seriousness, I tend to eat more when I eat alone, and it's a problem for me. I tend to judge when I've had enough by looking at when others are finishing up, so when I'm alone it's more difficult to figure that out. My body doesn't seem to have the normal signals of "hungry" and "full"...it has "hungry" and "sick". If I don't eat enough to make myself feel slightly sick, I generally don't feel satisfied and I keep eating.
It's quite frustrating as I'm trying to lose weight. I wish I was one of those people who forget to eat when they're alone, but I'm not.
I try to eat the foods my girlfriend doesn't eat a lot of, such as noodles and burgers
i eat whatever i can get my hungry hands on. i have noticed, i tend to eat fancier with others around. damn people! always wanting to go to the fancy restaurants. *shakes fist*
The vast majority of my meals for around six years now have been alone. I find that when I am alone, I do not snack; I simply prepare an appropriately sized meal for one and eat that. If I am out, I order a meal and eat that, and if I do not finish (which I usually do not), I pack up the rest for later.
The interesting thing is that when I eat alone, I tend to only eat one meal a day, usually late afternoon. It's large enough to suffice for the entire day.