Probably most of you will agree that getting your food eaten after you spent the whole day waiting to eat it is annoying. Even if the person asks to share and you agree, still, sharing means not eating everything, but let’s be honest - people tend to 'forget' that.
One Reddit member found herself in a similar situation where she consented to share her dinner with her spouse, but he ended up eating everything. After that, she cooked dinner for the kids and refused to allow the husband to eat any, leading to the couple fighting.
More info: Reddit
Taking kids’ food after complaining about overeating most probably will cause an argument with your partner
Image credits: Towfiqu barbhuiya (not the actual photo)
This man has food insecurity so everything gets eaten instantly, but doesn’t try to work on himself about this issue
Image credits: Elina Fairytale (not the actual photo)
The wife shares that one evening she bought herself a big salad for dinner, but her husband said he was starving and asked to share it
Image credits: Rachel Claire (not the actual photo)
Well, he ate almost everything and after it followed complaints about being so full, stomachache and overeating
Image credits: Unique_Youth1201
20 minutes later, the wife made dinner, the husband came in only to find out that it was for the kids and he couldn't have it
A few days ago, a Reddit user took her story to one of the most judgmental communities asking its members if she was being a jerk for not letting her husband eat the food that she cooked. The post caught a lot of attention and in just 3 days it collected 7K upvotes and more than 1.3K comments.
The original poster (OP) starts her story by sharing that her husband has food insecurity, meaning that he overeats even when he is not hungry out of fear of it all being eaten before he gets to taste it. She adds that there have also been cases when he told their kids that there was no more dinner just so he could eat it later.
Now, one evening, OP bought herself a salad and ingredients for the lasagna that she was going to make for dinner. After she came back home, she was met with her husband’s complaints that he was starving and requests to share her salad. Well, he ate basically everything and complained for a while that he was full, he overate and his belly hurt.
20 minutes later, the kids' lasagna was prepared. Her husband also showed up, planning to eat it, but OP explained that he couldn't have it, because he had just eaten her dinner and constantly said he was full, thus this was the kids’ food. The husband obviously wasn’t happy about it, said he ‘needed’ the lasagna and OP was ‘withholding food from him.’
Community members were not on the side of the husband and voted for the woman for not being a jerk in this situation. “He's literally causing food insecurity in others! He eats other people's food!” one user wrote. “His binge eating disorder is off the charts out of control. When you’re taking food from your own family and don’t care that they’re hungry, you’ve reached epic levels of narcissistic behavior,” another added.
Image credits: Artem Podrez (not the actual photo)
“Eating disorders don’t happen in a vacuum. There is always a reason and the reason always stems from some kind of trauma,” shares Jo Travers, author of The Low-Fad Diet and professional, evidenced-based London nutritionist with Bored Panda. She adds that dealing with the underlying trauma therapy is a good start, but we can also improve our relationship with food by using techniques to help us to question our beliefs around food (which are often not true).
It’s probably impossible to understand people who struggle with eating disorders if we haven’t been in their place. Jo shares that patience and compassion are the most important things you can provide a loved one with. “It can be extremely difficult to understand behaviors that don’t seem to make sense, but we can support them without having to understand it.”
“Food insecurity rarely happens in isolation, there are often many traumatic things happening alongside like housing, financial and personal safety issues, and a lot will relate to feeling unsafe,” emphasizes the nutritionist. It’s important to talk to the person and come up with a plan at a time when everyone is feeling calm, of how to deal with it at the moment.
Finally, speaking about the potential consequences of compulsive overeating, Jo notes that the biggest problem is often psychological. “People often carry a lot of shame around it, especially if it is affecting their close relationships,” she adds.
“However, overeating, particularly of unhealthy foods, can cause weight gain and this can lead to an increased risk of developing diabetes, heart disease and some cancers,” Jo elaborates. ‘This is especially important where there is a history of food insecurity because it is likely that during that period there may have been a degree of malnutrition which can also have long-term consequences for health.”
And what do you guys think about this story? Was the woman being a jerk for not letting the man eat the meal she cooked? Or was he in the wrong for eating her dinner and expecting a new meal 30 minutes later? Share your thoughts below!
Redditors backed up the woman and discussed that it's not normal that a grown man is stealing food from his kids and wife
