Why is it the bigger a girl is, the less she eats at a restaurant?

Question

I can't seem to figure this out and I date a lot. The women who are anorexic clean their plate, and the ones who are 300 lbs. eat three bites. What is going on?

Answer 1

You have stumbled on a law of nature. Excellent observation.

Answer 2

I just looked at the broad range of answers. Most of them - bawdy though they are, tactless and more than just frank - have grains of truth. How sad is that?

It's nature and nurture. Women are socialized to have different attitudes - about their bodies, about the way we live, about others' perceptions. So that may influence a woman's attitude going to dinner; a very slender woman accused of an eating disorder may intentionally eat a lot, whether or not she has a disorder, to escape the perception she has no 'zest'/'desire'/'passion' for finer things. Or it may be that she metabolizes tons - either because she works it off or simply metabolizes it otherwise. (Ever notice women who smoke? Many use a 'smoke screen' to keep from eating.) By the same token, a self-conscious larger woman may be literally burnt out on food or may not metabolize...
And yes, that can be the case -- likeliest for two reasons (cortisol from stress preserving and promoting a gut, and/or a thyroid malfunction with or without accompanying adrenal burnout).

Do these 'full mirror portraits' help? Hope so. It's both a reflection that people are unique (something we forget but which is respectable) and that stereotypes can be deceiving (sometimes the 'fat chick' ain't scarfing it at home, either, and sometimes the thin one is eating to make up for empty feelings)...

Best wishes finding someone you can appreciate.

Answer 3

Ok... I am a big girl, and I think I may have your answer...

When I go out with new people, I don't want to seem like a pig, and am very self-conscience about eating in front of others. I think that it is all psychological, really. And I am talking about myself, mostly!

I think that if you can read her body language and she seems nervous, or stares at the plate, she may be having feelings of shyness. Try making her feel more comfortable about her size and I bet she'll be less "food shy" as I call it.

Answer 4

hm, a good question. Sme overweight people have slow metabolisms and actually don't feel hungry like thin, hyper types. Some are probably self conciuos to eat a lot in public. This explians why on a cruise, where it's excpected you will eat a lot, the overweight people are gorging. There is nowhere to hide, and it's socially accepted.

Answer 5

have u notized if those girls that are so skinny and ate everything didnt go to the bathroom right after? well, prbably if they do it, they go provoke the vomit... that is not anorexia.. its bulimia (and it's worse). i guess that women with overweight have the complex already, and eat like a little bird so at least they dont give the impression of a fat woman when eating... men tend to be very critic with that, so like that, at least nobody can say she east like a pig. and again with the skinny girls...many might be extremely thin because their metabolism is just like that... hereditary. and also, maybe they just eat healthy stuff, and they know that they can eat as much as they want, cuz that food (like vegetables, or fruits) has almost no calories... i guess it's a matter of social concern.. each woman is a different girl, and it is complicated to establish a pattern... but usually you can see who actually has alimentation problems... my sister is really skinny, but she eats normally... not too much, not too few. anyway, have fun and dont think too much about it..... lol... girls are complicated.. too much:P

Answer 6

In my opinion I think sometimes it is hard for a big person to feel comfortable eating a lot in front of people because today's society makes them feel like crap. At least most of today's society. There are people who can look beyond a persons size and let me say they are genuine friends, but whether we like it or not today's society in general frowns on bigger people. So I think that those bigger people try to do what ever they can to make themselves feel better in public . As for the people with eating disorders just because they eat a plateful of food in front of you doesn't mean that it will stay in them because a lot of people do vomit it back up that is how they stay the weight they feel comfortable at. All in all big or little a lot of times it is hard for anyone to feel comfortable with themselves depending what is going on in their lives.

Answer 7

In the case of best friend she may be on a special diet that would obviously require her to consume less than she has in the past. Could it be that she is only in the beginning stages of her regimen and you just so happen to be there to see her before any major results have taken place?

Answer 8

Well the super skinny ones puke it up in the bathroom (sad but true. Nothing more disgusting than having to listen to that in the ladies room, trust me) and the chubby girls don't want you or anyone else to think they are pigs. They eat when they get home.

It truly is all about appearances.

Answer 9

it's because fat people (men do this too) eat beforehand at home so they don't appear to be eating a lot.

thin people don't worry about that and they are hungry when they get to the restaurant.

i have had husbands who insist on eating before we go to dinner so people won't think they eat a lot or are pigs. as if.

Answer 10

Perhaps they just polished off half a chicken while standing over the kitchen sink, just before they went on their date.

Answer 11

WELL THE "BIGGER" WOMAN ALREADY EXPECTS YOU TO THINK THAT SHE IS GOING TO EAT A LOT,SOSHE DOES NOT WANT TO FALL INTO STEREOTYPE OF A "BIG GIRL",OR SHE ATE BEFOREYOU WENT TO EAT.NOW THE "SKINNY"GIRL PROBABLY DID NOT EAT ANYTHING THE WHOLE DAY BECAUSE SHE STARVES HERSELF.HAVE YOU HEARD THE TERM "SCARF THEN BARF".