I’m curious about other doper couples’ eating habits (hence the title), so:
Do you and your spouse have different eating habits?
If so, do you eat together or separately?
Where do you eat?
Do you eat different things if you eat together or separately?
Here are my answers:
My husband and I have drastically different eating habits; he eats lunch out every day and frequently wants takeout at home. I bring my lunch every day and prefer to eat food I’ve cooked. I’ve got a cholesterol problem and am trying to lose weight; he’s gained some weight over the years, but isn’t as concerned about it on himself as I am about my own weight, probably because he hasn’t yet had any compelling reasons other than a slightly larger belly to worry. In other words, I gain five pounds and my cholesterol and blood sugar immediately start rising; he gains five pounds and just…gains five pounds.
We eat together almost every night.
Unfortunately, we eat in front of the TV way too frequently when we eat without the kids. When we eat with the kids, we’re all at the table, no TV.
I manage to sway him in the direction of semi-healthy home-cooked food most nights, but some nights he really wants takeout or a frozen pizza. On days like that, I sometimes make a salad instead or at least put in some extra time on the treadmill. Truthfully, I get a little frustrated with his frequent desire for takeout – he knows I’m trying to watch what I eat, but he loves, loves, loves things like Outback, takeout Chinese and pizza. Still, it’s up to me to manage what I eat; up to him to manage what he eats.
*1. Do you and your spouse have different eating habits? *
I’m a vegetarian. I don’t like spicy foods. Mr.Q. is an omnivore who prefers a swimming pool of Tabasco with his meals and will eat very few vegetables. 2. If so, do you eat together or separately?
We usually eat separately. We probably have a family meal once a week or so. We probably eat out once or twice a week, too, so I guess we eat together then, too.
*3. Where do you eat? *
Most often, the kids and I eat at the dining room table. Mr.Q. usually watches TV while he eats.
*4. Do you eat different things if you eat together or separately? *
If we eat together, it’s almost certainly pasta or pancakes. I don’t usually eat those things otherwise.
We pretty much eat the same stuff. Except I won’t eat seafood.
Unless my Wife and I go to a movie or something, Dinner is the only meal we eat together. Even on weekends. But we eat together pretty much every night.
Dinner 99% at home. I have a refrigerator in my office, so I often stock it with sandwich stuff. Sometimes I go out for lunch. My Wife goes out for lunch about half the time I guess. Not really sure. Unless I make a fancy meal (made a prime rib the other weekend, that remides me, need to make some beef barley soup) we eat in front of the TV.
We generally eat the same stuff. I do most of the cooking. I’ll usually make a big batch of something on the weekends and we will eat it throughout the week. I’ll often make another dish mid-week. Delivery is non-existent, but I will sometimes pick up a pizza ion the way home.
I cook dinner for my family ever night, and tailor things to their tastes. We basically eat the same things at the same time, but I’ll tend to skip the green vegetables and amp up the spice in my own portions.
Do you and your spouse have different eating habits?
My husband is a starch fiend. He won’t eat brown rice at all and dislikes whole-wheat pasta. He and his sister both have really, really great blood sugar regulation, I guess. They can eat huge bowls of plain noodles or white rice or piles of pancakes, and feel great about it. They can also skip meals without suffering. Me, I really can’t eat a ton of carbs. When I’m tracking my food at SparkPeople, I usually hit the high end of my daily fat and protein ranges, and barely scrape the low end of my carb range.
If so, do you eat together or separately?
We eat separate breakfasts and lunches, partly because of work and partly because we both need and want food at different times. We eat dinner together.
Where do you eat?
In front of our computers at the dining table. Rarely while sitting in front of the TV. That goes for us both.
Do you eat different things if you eat together or separately?
Our breakfasts and lunches, eaten separately, are quite different. He’ll have six slices of toast for breakfast, while I’ll have some oatmeal and an egg. He has ramen soup with chickpeas and cabbage for lunch most days, I eat dinner leftovers. At dinner we eat the same thing, but if there’s a way to add crackers or bread or cheese to his, he’ll do it.
I am about 10 pounds over the weight I’d like to be (but still at a healthy weight overall), she is about 10 pounds under the weight she’d like to be (and no longer borderline underweight, since we moved in together and I started cooking for her). We both are pretty meat-centric in what we like, at least as far as our dinners are concerned. When we’re behaving, we should really be eating the same portion sizes, given our weight goals: this is more difficult than you’d think, since I am usually more hungry and since she eats so darn slow.
If we’re both home at a meal time, we pretty much always eat together. How often that happens depends largely on our work schedules.
99% of the time, in front of the TV. The other 1%, at our computers. We have a dining room table that is pretty much only used for hosting or playing cards.
If we’re both home and eating together, I’m cooking, and we’re eating the same thing. If we’re eating separately, I have a significantly wider range of things that I can cook than she does, and our meals tend to end up reflecting that.
**1. Do you and your spouse have different eating habits? ** Yep, Electric Spouse doesn’t eat any fish and very little meat–it’s a texture thing–and I avoid raw milk and cruciferous veg.
2. If so, do you eat together or separately? Together as much as possible, though mismatched work schedules make that difficult some nights. I’m the cook of the household, though, and if we’re having a meal together it means I’m cooking.
3. Where do you eat? Living room, on the sofa. The coffee table serves as makeshift dinner table. We do *have *a dinner table, but it’s been long co-opted into an art table/computer desk.
**4. Do you eat different things if you eat together or separately? ** If I’m eating alone, I might make myself fish or organ meat, which I wouldn’t do if cooking for the both of us. Also, I actually enjoy cooking, but when left alone, Electric Spouse makes easy convenience food (baked potatoes, soup-from-a-can, pasta).
1. Do you and your spouse have different eating habits?
She’s a vegetarian, I’m not.
2. If so, do you eat together or separately?
Together when possible but I get home later than she does and she often has already eaten by the time I get home.
3. Where do you eat?
Living room, sofa, coffee table.
4. Do you eat different things if you eat together or separately?
When one of us cooks something that night we eat the same thing together, but on leftover nights anything goes.
I’m a vegetarian (along with my son) and he is not. However, he eats vegetarian at home because he doesn’t mind and I do the cooking. We generally eat dinner together at the dining room table, occasionally in front of the TV. Breakfasts and lunches we eat separately.
We eat the same thing in the same place (generally living room while watching TV, but dining room for special dinners) but there is an endless, ongoing, frustrating difference. He likes to eat at about 9:00 at night, even though he is home from work at 5:30 (he then sleeps until 7:30 or 8). I like to eat around 7 or 7:30. He will not (possibly can not–there’s an issue with inability to change going on here) eat earlier. Not as much of a problem at this time of year. I go off and camp a lot by myself and can live on my own schedule while I’m away, which is basically offset by his by about 2 hours; I eat earlier, I go to bed earlier when I am living on my preferred schedule. I tried eating separately 2 hours earlier here at home but it was just too disruptive to my evening once he was up and busy with his dinner stuff; we have a very small house.
1. Do you and your spouse have different eating habits?
She is a meat and potatoes gal. I will eat anything, but prefer meals that are not your standard meat, potato, vegetable. But, again, I will eat whatever.
2. If so, do you eat together or separately?
Together, with the kids.
3. Where do you eat?
At the breakfast table, and with the TV on most nights. Sunday night we try to make a habit of eating at the dining room table with no TV.
4. Do you eat different things if you eat together or separately?
Not usually. We eat the same thing because that’s what’s prepared.
My spouses breadth of things she will eat is very limited. She is a picky eater. Unfortunately this means that 90% of the time I’m eating something that is just OK for my palate. I would prefer to eat spicy, seafood, stir fries, rice, Indian, Mexican, casseroles, anything that isn’t … meat … potatoes … vegetable. Blech. But I capitulate 'cause it ain’t worth the hassle, and I do most of the cooking too.
This is an issue for us, too. I’m the cook in the house and, because my husband frequently works from home at night (he owns his own business and they have more work than they can handle now), I also do the vast majority of the post-dinner cleanup. Additionally, we have small children who need to eat at 6 or 6:30 so they can go to bed before turning into pumpkins.
I try really, really hard to have us all eat dinner together - that way I don’t have to make two meals, then clean up twice. But, because I work full time, the only way I can do that is if I get time to cook on the weekend. And I often don’t get time to cook on the weekend because my husband is working from home while I’m running herd on our kids. Were our youngest older, it wouldn’t be as much of an issue, but it’s not easy to dedicate much time to cooking when you have a one-year old clinging to your leg.
Anyway, the end result is me frequently whipping up something relatively healthy and quick for the kids, then having to make something for us, too, usually around 9 p.m. when everyone has finally been washed, read to and put to bed. It’s frustrating because I tend to snack while the kids eat dinner, whereas if we have dinner at 6:30, in my head the kitchen is closed. I guess I know the answer if we have to eat late (no snacking), but it’s easier said than done.
sigh We’ll work it out some day. My weight has crept up about four pounds this last month, so my cholesterol has probably increased, too; now I’m getting up earlier to work out each morning, but it isn’t easy when I’m being awakened still by our baby and staying up late due to the later dinners. But that’s a whole different thread.
*1. Do you and your spouse have different eating habits? *Not really. We’ve both adventurous, spice-happy omnivores. 2. If so, do you eat together or separately? Together when possible. 3. Where do you eat? In front of the TV, or in front of our computers. Sometimes at the dining room table. 4. Do you eat different things if you eat together or separately? There’s a few things I like (beets, for example) that he prefers not to eat, so I’ll eat those at lunch.
Do you and your spouse have different eating habits?
Yes. Thankfully, he’s a fairly adventurous eater as well and will happily eat most anything I cook. He’s can’t handle spicy food very well though, so I sometimes eat with a bottle of hot sauce in front of me.
If so, do you eat together or separately?
We eat together every weeknight and for all meals on the weekend. We like to eat together and talk about our day on weeknights and on weekends, we might both have a laptop in front of us during lunch, but we’ll share interesting bits of info that we’re reading with each other.
Where do you eat?
Usually at the dinner table. Very occasionally on the couch in front of the tv.
Do you eat different things if you eat together or separately?
We’ll always eat the same things when we’re eating together. A few times a week, he’ll eat out at lunch instead of taking leftovers so he can get out of the office and be more social.
Eating habits: we are very much in harmony in this regard - both very adventurous eaters who will try anything and like pretty much everything. We also seem to coincide in what we feel like eating. If I get home and decide to cook a curry, it’ll turn out that spouse was only craving curry earlier, or whatever.
Together or separately: breakfast we eat together, even though it means my SO gets up a good couple of hours earlier than necessary for work. Lunch we eat together at weekends. We almost always eat together in the evening, mostly cooked by me because I get home earlier. I have the same issue as others with the offset schedules though; I’d much rather eat earlier, but that’s how it goes.
Where: Probably 80% in front of the TV. If it’s “nice”, potentially messier than average, we feel like actually having a conversation (:rolleyes:) or we have company, then at the dining table.
Different things if we’re eating separately: There really isn’t anything that either of us doesn’t like, so no.
We used to eat together at night as a family, but now that the kids are grown, nobody’s schedules match so we don’t do that.
Do you and your spouse have different eating habits?
Yes. I’m working from home, so I eat 99% of my meals at home. I’m on a low carb/low calorie/high protein diet, so we don’t eat the same food either. He eats lunch out and has his own supper at home. On weekends he eats his own breakfast & lunch as well.
If so, do you eat together or separately?
Usually separately.
Where do you eat?
He eats in his recliner in the living room when at home; I eat at my desk.
Do you eat different things if you eat together or separately?
See above. We don’t eat the same things at all.
My son who lives with us eats separately, and my niece who lives with us eats separately too. We all have our favorite things to eat and each person is responsible for feeding themselves.
We eat breakfasts and lunches separately, but dinner is always together unless he’s out of town or entertaining clients. We eat the same dinner, and generally have the same tastes. I do the cooking the vast majority of the time, but occasionally we’ll get some sort of take-out.
I’m a vegetarian (ovo-lacto), while my husband is a definite omnivore. However, he isn’t opposed to eating vegetarian or vegan dishes, as long as they’re yummy. He does have a very active job, so I try to feed him some kind of meat at least 3-4 nights a week for extra protein.
We eat dinner together. Breakfast and lunch are eaten separately, at our respective workplaces, except for Sunday when we’re together.
In front of the TV, in our own usual seats.
Usually I make something we can both eat, and then a helping of meat for him.
We don’t have terribly different eating habits. He’s more health conscious than I am - I do try to be healthy most of the time, but I am of the philosophy that most things are improved by adding butter, which horrifies him.
We usually eat dinner together. The one who’s home early will cook for both of us.
We eat in our living room, in front of the TV (but not necessarily watching it). There’s really nowhere else to eat - we live in a small apartment.
Very rarely we’ll eat separate things. Sometimes for a weekend lunch, one of us will have a sandwich while the other has leftovers from last night.