I live in an area where I have many supermarket and restaurant options. I actually enjoy cooking for my family and do it often. Almost every weekend I take us all into the cities to try a new ethnic restaurant for a culinary adventure. But on the whole I don’t enjoy the activity of eating. Outside of special occasions and experiencing an entirely new food if there was a pill that would fill me and provide all the necessary nutrients I would rather just take that.
Me. I don’t enjoy cooking or eating out either, though. There really isn’t a food I enjoy enough to expend much effort to get it. At this point I pretty much live on fruits, vegetables and snacks, and have to force myself to occasionally eat protein (medicinal protein, as I refer to it )
I too would opt to take a pill to fulfill my nutritional needs instead of eating, if it was possible. It would need to satisfy the sense of hunger - I feel hungry but nothing really appeals to me very much - but other than that, eating, to say nothing of preparing food, is a real chore.
I hate eating and feel it’s a chore to do so. A lot like the OP, there just aren’t any foods that really get my engine going. Don’t get me wrong, a good medium-rare steak and a loaded baked potato can make my mouth water, but on the whole, I just don’t care about food. I am perfectly happy eating the same 6 meals over and over and over again* without a care in the world. It also doesn’t help that I loathe cooking with a passion.
Glad to see I’m not the only one!
*I’ve eaten the same turkey sandwich meal virtually every day for lunch for the past two and a half years!
Some of my older ( late ) relatives were like that: eating was just another bodily function and chore. Not so surprisingly, eating a meal at their homes was one of bland, indifferently prepared food in meager quantities.
Yes! Eating is basically an inconvenience, if not a chore. I frequently forget to eat, and the feeling of hunger just doesn’t really register strongly with me. When I’m out with my wife she’ll always ask, “Are you hungry?” even though she knows by now the answer is always “no” (and I know by now that she asks because she’s hungry) And while there are definitely foods I like and foods I dislike, I don’t really care enough to ever actually seek out a specific food, I just eat whatever’s easiest, and as a result I tend to eat a lot of really unhealthy things.
I wouldn’t say that I “don’t enjoy” eating, but I’m definitely amazed at the emphasis other people put on it. I mean, you’re going to be doing it several times a day for your entire life. Each meal doesn’t have to be a big production in terms of planning, preparation, shopping, analyzing nutritional needs, and comparing the various types of ingredients. It’s a chore, and sometimes it’s better than other times.
When asked by my wife (who is nutritionally-conscious and a good cook) what I would like for dinner, my usual response is, “Whatever leaves the fewest dishes and pans for me to clean.”
I understand that this way of thinking exists, but it’s about as alien to me as anything I’ve ever read about. Food plays such a massive role in my enjoyment of life that it sounds terrifying to think of folks not enjoying it. Every day I get to look forward to multiple meals, and usually I have many options to choose from! I get joy from food every single day.
Here in China, admitting you are indifferent about food is about as socially acceptable as standing up and announcing to the room that you just shat your pants.
But, while occasionally I really enjoy a meal, generally it’s something of a chore.
I did a massive stint of dieting some years ago and had to shop for, prepare and clean up after every meal I ate. I did lose a lot of weight but I was miserable. I decided I’d rather be fat than live like that.
Not too long after that I began suffering from GERD and also gastroparesis where your food takes forever to digest. I got the GERD fixed enough with pills but still can have a reaction to some foods. Then I got diagnosed with Type II diabetes and started on a drug that, among other things, slows your digestion. So my digestion is even much slower than before.
With all of my stupid medical problems (TMJD on top of that so nothing chewy, nothing crunchy) food has absolutely no appeal for me. I do have to eat because I’m diabetic but I pretty much stick to 2 snacks a day, one being a protein shake, and whatever I can fill my tummy with at dinner. I go to the grocery store and pick out like 5 items I can see myself eating in the next few weeks and try to get myself to finish everything before I go back again.
I actually like it, though. I’m losing weight of course, and I never have any dishes to clean and my grocery budget is small. It does make me very angry with myself sometimes, when I go to a function with a huge spread and I don’t want anything but a few nibbles. It can be embarrassing, even. But I don’t feel like I’m denying myself, as if I were on a diet. I just have completely lost all love for food.
Funny enough, I still watch a lot of cooking shows
I like eating okay, but I don’t get that excited about food. Like Sir T-Cups said earlier, I’m perfectly happy eating the same small number of meals on rotation, with occasional trips out to restaurants for variety (though I usually have a particular thing I order at specific restaurants). We started cooking at home a couple years ago, and we eat pretty much the same menu every week (specific dishes for most nights). I keep asking the spouse if he minds and wants me to try for more variety (I cook, he washes the dishes) but he says no, he’s fine with it and enjoys it.
I lived there two years and never realized that. Having said that, I love eating and loved eating even more when I lived in China.
Seemed like that massive drinking was the main focus of going out to eat when I was in China, but that may just be my experience. I used think I could drink OK, but Chinese guys were typically way heavier into it than me.
Since I had diverticulitis about 6 years ago, nothing has been the same. It isn’t that I don’t enjoy eating it is just that I know that there are going to be issues if I eat too much.
I love food and I love to eat, I am just much happier when I eat very little… One the plus side my weight is getting to a really good place.
Me, except for the part about enjoying cooking for my family and doing it often. I enjoy doing it occasionally. If I couldn’t do it, I’m not sure I’d miss it. I’ve pretty much been this way since childhood.
This is more or less what Soylent was invented for - people who really just want body fuel and not much else. There are a bunch of competitors on the market, too. You can buy it pre-mixed or powdered.
It’s not a nutrition pill, but it’s probably about as close as we’ll ever get.
T1 diabetic. I’ve been on a diet my whole life. I have to watch carbs and sugars. I’m borderline anemic. Never have enough iron. Proteins are weird to me. So food is such a chore. I like to cook for others though. Since my nest is empty and Mr.Wrekker is gone a lot I find it hard to get the urge to go all out at meals. No restaurants close. I have been testing out the things like ‘lean cuisine’ and other frozen meals. They’ve not impressed me so far.
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