Few would argue that time is perhaps the most important resource that each of us has, so it's an incredible waste to spend it on those who don't deserve our attention or, even more so, who try to impose an alien way of thinking and behavior patterns on us.
So the author of our story today, the user u/Direct-Caterpillar77, spent almost a year of her life on a guy who tried to control her (completely healthy, by the way) eating habits in a rather harsh manner, following the strange advice of his relatives - and it didn't end well for him. However, let's take everything in order.
More info: Reddit
The author of the post is a 24-year-old woman in good physical shape - but her now-ex-boyfriend actually didn't think so
Image credits: lookstudio / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The man considered her nearly starving for some reason and tried to feed her by hook or by crook
Image credits: ccboyf
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
This controlling behavior made the author uneasy, so she really considered parting ways with the guy
Image credits: ccboyf
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The last straw was his demand to send him the picture of her food after one of their quarrels
Image credits: ccboyf
Image credits: dotshock / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The woman told the guy they needed a break in their relationship over his behavior
Image credits: ccboyf
Image credits: cottonbro studio / Pexels (not the actual photo)
By the way, he told her one day that his family (obese by the way) convinced him she's nearly starving
Image credits: ccboyf
Image credits: cookie_studio / Freepik (not the actual photo)
But it was too late, and the woman simply went no contact with him
Image credits: ccboyf
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The man tried to mend fences with the author, but she was adamant in her decision
Image credits: ccboyf
The woman was however, in two minds whether she did the right thing and took this online, seeking people's advice
The Original poster (OP) told us that she is 24 years old, and for the last 8 months, she has been dating a guy a year older than her, who at one point began to literally police her eating habits. No, our heroine is around 128-135 lbs with a height of 5'4'', but for some reason, the boyfriend decided that she was trying to almost starve herself to death.
During any lunch or dinner together, he literally forced her to order more (despite the fact that they usually split the bill), didn't respond to her attempts to explain that she felt fine with such portions of food, and got really offended when his nagging wasn't responded to. The result was constant quarrels, and the author clearly didn't feel comfortable.
After another quarrel, they had a big fight, and the OP went home. The guy ended up texting and calling her twelve times about her eating, and when she asked him to simply give her some peace and say that she was just eating, he literally demanded a picture of her food from her! This was the last straw, and our heroine decided to take a break from their relationship.
By the way, after some time, they did meet again, and the man told where the roots of his behavior actually were. So, according to him, his mother and sister (both are obese as the author notes) convinced him that the girlfriend suffered from an eating disorder, and that he absolutely had to control her diet, "so as not to let her harm herself." Well, this was pretty much enough for our heroine to finally part ways with him...
Image credits: Timur Weber / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Perhaps it is superfluous to remind that each person's eating habits are a completely unique feature. If a person is healthy and happy with their appearance and physical shape, then this is quite enough to simply be happy for them, nothing more. So, most likely, a peculiar eating disorder was inherent in the author's ex-boyfriend.
"Eating can release pleasure hormones in your brain (serotonin and dopamine), which might encourage addictive tendencies. Eating can also be a way of escaping or numbing uncomfortable feelings or compensating for unmet needs," this dedicated article on the Cleveland Clinic website claims. It's quite possible that stress in his own family caused this man to develop such behavioral patterns.
In any case, trying to control another person's behavior is completely unacceptable, and people wrote about it in the comments. According to netizens, the author's entire family, including himself, actually had an eating disorder. He just apparently had a healthier metabolism, which let him (for a while) stay in good shape. But this is absolutely no reason to find fault with others.
So the responders are absolutely sure that the author did the right thing by breaking up with this guy. "Why on earth would you ever listen to obese family members on dieting habits?" someone wrote quite wittily. "That's like a chicken asking Colonel Sanders for life advice." "Sometimes, the happy ending is that the relationship is over," another one added. So do you, our dear readers, agree with this as well?
Most commenters said that the author did everything right and that she probably dodged a bullet with this guy
