I Don't Know Who Needs To Hear This: Working Through Food Guilt At Dinner

I don't know who needs to hear this, but it is perfectly okay if you go out with a group of friends and you eat more than they do.

Here is what my body looks like right now. I'm five eleven. I weigh two hundred pounds. I show people what it looks like when I dress with my real body.

So I went out last night with some girlfriends, and I realized as I was looking at the table that while I was finishing my meal, they all had significantly less food than I did. Two of the women had shared two appetizers. The other woman ordered a meal for herself, but she didn't eat her whole meal. She ate about half of her sandwich and about half of her french fries. On the other hand, I ate both pieces of my avocado toast, and I went back for the brussels sprouts.

The Food Guilt Comes Back

At first, the old food guilt started creeping in. Am I eating too much. What are they thinking of me. Oh my gosh, they're so much smaller than me. Maybe I really am eating too much food.

And then I had to remind myself that it doesn't matter what I'm eating. It doesn't matter what they're eating. We are different people. We have different priorities. Maybe they ate more before they came. I know my body, and if I didn't eat that much food, I would be hangry. I was also going to be having some drinks later, and I didn't want to drink on an empty stomach.

I Stopped Comparing

I realized I needed to stop comparing myself. I understood that I was eating what felt right for my body, and I am in a much bigger body than my friends. Two of my girlfriends are like five two. Their bodies don't need as much food as mine does.

I ended up having a great night, and I'm sure no one went home concerned about how much food I ate. But it's the narrative I have been telling myself for years, that I need to eat the same amount as everyone else, and if I'm eating more than that, something must be wrong with me.

And I'm here to tell you that if you eat more than your friends, that's okay. There's nothing wrong with you. You just need a little bit more food than they do. Your friends are not concerned with how much food you're eating. I promise.

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