SINGLES’ Health: Eating Alone
Despite dieting books’ diverse remedies and recipes, how many really consider the perils and challenges of having to eat alone, day in, day out?
A quick Google search will take you to sites that list and or give reviews of some of the more popular dieting books:
• http://www.abebooks.com/docs/Community/Featured/dietBooks.shtml?nsa=1
• http://www.amazon.com/Most-Popular-Diet-Books-Year/lm/R1SDKZBDZTICCW
• http://www.bestdietforme.com/DietBooks.htm
• http://www.dietwords.com/diet_books.shtml
• http://www.pcrm.org/news/health010109.html
• http://www.thedietchannel.com/Fad-Diets.htm
Dieting fads and fixes come and go while solo diners’ habits and attitudes generally remain the same. Their food struggles merit greater consideration.
Here’s Jenny’s story:
One evening Jenny is enjoying a home-cooked supper with friends. The next, she’s home alone finishing off leftovers. The meal eaten with friends was spread out over a leisurely two hours. The same meal, inhaled alone, was done in less than 15 minutes.
The meal eaten with friends felt satisfying and was well digested, no empty feeling inside. The meal eaten alone did not have quite the same flavor, or give the same satisfaction. And this was not because it was leftovers.
A meal is not just a meal. It can be an occasion too, a time for sharing with others. Whether the food itself is the focus, or not, the experience of eating together gives it greater significance. While some eat to live and others live to eat, still others gain a sense of belonging, routine, and reason from joining each other around the dinner table. That’s why it’s little wonder that eating disorders are rampant among solos (whether officially diagnosed, or not).
People who really enjoy eating alone, or preparing themselves a proper meal on the spur of the moment are in a minority. Food preparation can require labor, discipline, and creativity. Many think, "Why bother just for me?" They either give up eating altogether or eat to excess, normal portions and balanced meals becoming easily forgotten. There’s not much cheerfulness attached to solo eating. Instead, anxiety-building preoccupations with weight and body image take over. These dictate what, when, and how to eat. Nutritional savvy gives way to fad diets and binges.
When Jenny is poorly fed, or becomes obsessed with gaining or losing weight, nothing else seems to flow as it should. Balance, self-control, consistency, and reliability are all challenged. Then, she doesn’t have just one problem with which to deal—what to eat and having no one to eat with—but many more.
As an occupational therapist in an old people’s home, Jenny knows all about the risks attached to poor food habit management, whatever the cause. She realize that proper mealtimes (and portions) are essential, whether she’s obliged to have them alone, or are able to share them with others. And even though she’s quite used to being able to eat alone, it’s hard for her not to miss the benefits of congenial mealtime company—someone to cook for, or someone to cook for her.
For further information on Eating Disorders, a quick Google search will take you to a variety of sites. These include:
• http://www.eating-disorders.org.uk/
• http://www.edreferral.com/
• http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/ken98-0047/default.asp
• http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/p.asp?WebPage_ID=337
• http://www.nedic.ca/
• http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/eatingdisorders.cfm
There is also a book I can personally recommend: More Than Just a Meal: The Art of Eating Disorders (author, Susan R. Makin). Also, please check out my positive food art imagery in my web galleries or at the Florence Biennale (December, 2007).
