Where do you eat?
 

Growing up we never really ate at the table, and I've never gotten into the habit. Usually I eat at the computer, most times I'm on 3fc, haha. When my boyfriend and I are eating together, we watch TV. That's been one of the contributing factors to my weight gain over the years, because mindless eating is so easy when you're in front of the television.

Today I had lunch at our small kitchen table. It was much easier to focus on my food! I don't know that I could ever make it a habit by myself (I get bored very easily...ha), but I def. see my future family eating at the table together every night.

I was just wondering, do you feel like where you eat has any affect on your success? So far it hasn't hindered mine (i don't think so anyways), but I know everyone's different..?

Growing up as a kid, we always ate at the table, which is a habit that I still have now and have instilled in my own kids. As for the boredom factor while eating alone, that's when I get to read the paper!

Any effect on my success? No, I don't think so. But I do think it's a good habit for a family to eat together at the table when they can. Given everyone's schedules, it can be difficult, though!

Agreed!
And I might have to try reading or something.. good idea :)

I eat at the coffee table in the living room, usually watching TV or online. But I measure out portions before I ever bring the food out of the kitchen...so I know I'm going to eat only that much. No more bags of chips or cookies to mindlessly munch on in front of the TV, etc.

yeah, that was a problem too. Just taking whole bags of chips to snack on.. and before I knew it over half of the bag would be gone! :o But making sure to take only what you should eat does help.. I usually just find that its gone alot quicker when I'm into a good show :)

We eat family meals at the dinner table probably 6 nights out of the week as an average. Now and then we'll eat take-out in front of the TV. But I'm so fed up with the children leaving crumbs and ORANGE PEELS on the couch, they have been banished! :p They are only allowed to eat at the kitchen table, which frankly is not a bad rule.

I think I will try to consume all food at the kitchen table except for popcorn! Good post!

I eat every breakfast at my desk here at home while I'm on the computer. Lunch is often in the car (but THAT is one goal that I've just made for myself - no more eating in the car!) and Dinner is where I sit down and eat at an actual table because I'm at work (I work second shift) so I'm sitting in the cafeteria.

I think where you eat and what you do while you're eating can affect your weight loss efforts. I know that the car is a BIG one for me but that's because I don't bring my lunch with me while I'm driving to work, I stop somewhere on the way and buy it and that means I'm eating fast food, pizza, Hoagies, etc. Hopefully I can stay strong!

Even though I am a widow and live alone, I eat all meals and snacks at the table using proper dishes and silverware. If you don't concentrate on your food, your brain doesn't register that you have eaten and it becomes a habit to want to eat whenever you sit at the computer or watch tv.

I eat all meals at the table sitting down. I was raised that way, and have raised my children that way too.

I never eat a meal standing up, because I noticed long ago that in those "rules" I set up in my head that helped me stay fat, one of them was that anything eaten standing up wasn't a "meal"... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

But in general I eat meals sitting at a table and graze/binge/ while standing... (or carried over to my computer...)

Interesting to think about this because I've realized that one of the big behaviors I've changed in the last seven months is that I've pretty much cut out all of my car/standing in the kitchen/sitting at my desk eating and now only eat at the table. Now that I think about it, I almost had two sets of behavior-- a healthy meal-eating behavior and an unhealthy snack/graze/binge behavior-- I cut out the unhealthy one and kept the healthy one. Interesting.

Just FYI, there's all this research that says that eating family meals is good for kids-- helps them do better in school and stuff (don't ask me why...) so it's probably a good habit to adopt.

I don't have a family to sit down with, so I don't feel too bad about eating with a book or even the internet. But I am more and more inclined to sit at the table and only eat - but I have roommates and I often retreat to my bedroom just for peace. In the summer, I like to eat on the patio.

No, this is not the case for me. My brain registers just fine when I watch tv or sit at the computer. It's when I'm focused entirely on the eating that I run into trouble.

Contrary to what the *they* say, for me, focusing SOLELY on the food is a very, very bad thing. I actually find it helpful to eat while doing something else. If I'm alone, it's most likelyat the computer. My last snack of the evening is almost always in front of the tv as I wind down my day. When I'm at the table with my family, I tend to eat more. If I'm away from the table, I portion out my food, place it on the plate and that's that.

But then again there's LOADS of weight loss rules that I break. ;)

YOU CAN! I had to stop eating in the car, too. I remember when I used to say that I was going to get an ice cream at mcdonalds, but I'd also get a large fry and eat the whole thing before I got home so no one would know I'd gotten it. So yeah, I cut out the whole car eating thing completely.. what's worked for me is always having a pack of gum with me, so when I'm driving and I FEEL hungry, I can chew one. It usually takes the craving away just fine :).

My mom used to get so upset because my sisters and I would have our after school snacks on the couch and she'd always find crumbs everywhere.. :p.. we were supposed to sit at the table, but never did.. hmmm!!

Yeah, that's how it seems to work for some people.. I think that when I watch TV I feel more prone to snacking just because I'm usually eating when I watch TV.

Ohhh eating outside sounds so nice right now! I miss the summer, ha!.. I'm usually alone, so I pretty much have free reign on eating spots ;).


Good to hear another perspective.. and I think most weight loss "rules" don't work for everyone anyway.. so you're not TOO much of a rebel ;)!

I eat on the couch. I had gotten into the habit of eating at the table when my dogs were puppies (they would try to steal my lunch), but now that they behave, I've gone back to my couch perch. I must say, I felt a lot more civilized when I ate at the table! On occasion I'll just eat standing in the kitchen - ah, the joys of being single!

heh :) your posts always make me giggle CLCSC145!!!

I dont have a dining/kitchen table :( so all of my meals are eaten on the couch. I think it has its pros and cons. I do eat while watching tv which sometimes means my brain doesn't focus on eating leaving me still hungry. But I also am not sitting in front of lots of bowls of food where its very easy to slop an extra spoonful of *insert food here*. I think both situations require some awareness and as long as I am accurately calorie counting I can stay out of trouble.