Do you eat at the dinner table?

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  • Jenism1
    Jenism1 Posts: 149 Member
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    Myself, my husband and two kids always eat at the dinner table. My kids are 17 and 19 now and it is a good time to catch up and find out how everyone's day was. We have been doing this since they were born plus, for me, as a kid, we ate at the table. I also find that when we do eat in front of the TV, I do not pay attention to what I am eating and then, poof, it is gone and I don't remember eating it! I do not read the paper, look at my phone, or read a magazine, while I eat. I just like to savour my food!!
  • caracrawford1
    caracrawford1 Posts: 657 Member
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    For years my husband and I have ate dinner in front of the TV. Up until recently we had no kids (we have a 4 month old now) but she isn't on solids yet so it still didn't seem like a big deal to eat in front of the TV.

    But I couldn't figure out why I can eat a healthy breakfast and lunch (at work) and view it as fuel for my body, but at dinner I just want to pig out and eat comfort food, and I think it is because of eating in front of the TV. So last night I put my daughter in her highchair for the first time, she had a bottle and I ate my dinner at the table (my husband was still at work) and it seemed to help shift my view.

    So, do you eat at the table and do you think it helps, or do you think it would help?
    Nope. And I have lost enough weight to go back down to my size 9s(a full size) but don't really weigh myself so don't put it on my ticker. The reason why is because I live by myself. Sure I could invite my dogs to sit across from me at the tablr , and/or lay out the silverware properly and all, but really? I just eat where I feel most confy . the only time I eat at the table is when I happen to have guests. Otherwise its me by myself and it doesn't affect me one way or the other. There are people who are prone to mindless eating if they're not paying attention as they eat (watching TV) but I don't think it matters where you sit.if you are focusing on eating sitting on the couch, then so be it.
  • mewickla
    mewickla Posts: 71 Member
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    My family kinda can go any which way.

    We have a dining table, which honestly, isn't the most frequently used.
    We also will sit on the floor and eat around the coffee table.
    Or we will go outside and eat on the patio.

    Sometimes the tv is on. Sometimes it's off.
    Sometimes there's a lot of chit-chat, especially if dinner is ready right as my father gets home from work or there's some juicy drama/news to talk about.
    Or sometimes it's pretty quiet because we yack each other's ears off before dinner is even on the stove.

    I can see the value of sitting around a table, especially if it's family time you are after. But I also don't think the dining table is the only way in which to get that. In my family, we all sort of stagger in at relatively consistent times and will share our day with whoever's home and then, when someone else gets home, we'll hear about their day and then often repeat our own. We also eat pretty late, so to not have shared our day or some of our thoughts before dinner would be lackluster communication, imo.

    When it comes to food, I think I eat more at the table. I'm a fast eater - if everyone around me is still eating that yummy food after I'm done, you better believe I'm gonna get up and get some more. I think it used to get me in trouble, my mindset was sort of, "Oh, if THEY'RE still eating, then I can still eat!" I'm not going to just go put my plate in the dishwasher and sit around a table to watch everyone else eat. Around the coffee table with the tv on (our most common eating situation), it feels less weird to get and put my dishes away and come sit back down. Maybe because it feels a lot more casual when they're not encircling me, or maybe because I can go put my dishes away and sit down to watch the show with them, still as a family, and without the food as my focus point.

    Anyways, I think many of the situations can be good for different things. :tongue:
  • Matiara
    Matiara Posts: 377 Member
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    I eat in bed and not just dinner, but every meal that I eat at home. Pillows propped behind me and dish on a TV tray. Sometimes I'll watch TV and sometimes I'll read because I get bored eating without something else to distract me. And since I only make one serving of any meal (two if I cook for my mom as well), it doesn't affect my calorie intake.

    I do have a dining room table, but I can count on one hand the number of times I've eaten at it in the past year and it always feels extremely weird when I do. It's mostly a computer desk/homework area for my mom. :)
  • mojohowitz
    mojohowitz Posts: 900 Member
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    For some reason it has the misnomer "coffee table"
  • DaivaSimone
    DaivaSimone Posts: 657 Member
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    I eat at the dinner table everyday (except if there is a biiiiig hockey game and we didn't have the time to eat before, maybe once or twice a year). When my boyfriend is teaching night classes, I eat alone at the dinner table, without my phone. I usually talk with the cat that is compliant enough to sit in front of me when I'm alone, so I don't feel lonely. We don't have cable television, and I don't like to turn Netflix on if I still have chores to do (which I almost always after dinner, at least washing dishes).

    I do the same at work. i sit with friendly coworkers everyday at the table and we talk. No iPhones, no book, no videogames.

    Eating is social. It's about food and entertaining, so I try to concentrate on the food and the entertainment.
  • sheddingmyskin99
    sheddingmyskin99 Posts: 3
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    I don't eat at the dinner table.

    I work 7 days a week 8-12 hours a day, so typically I either at my computer as I work or in the living room as I watch my rare 2-3 hours of television a week.

    Sometimes I even eat standing up between working or just walking around because I am so busy.

    I know they say its better to eat at the table. I think for the social aspect its great, but as far as dietary...I haven't found at least for me that it ever really mattered (I have been fat and thin up and down many times)

    I think the things that really contributed to me gaining weight were

    -not logging what I ate
    -eating out
    -skipping meals (then overeating at the next one because I was ravenous)
    -inactivity
    -eating the wrong things

    When I am eating well,logging my food, avoiding eating out and eating 4-6 times a day (mini meals or 3 means and 1-3 snacks) With exercise and good sleep I find I loose weight and keep it up. I got into this mess again due to inactivity,to much eating out and skipping meals then gorging. Also due to having tiny breakfasts and huge dinners (Versus the other way around) Then going to bed stuffed.

    But eating at a table is a great way to bond with family and kids if you have them. I am unsure though it impacts weight loss, at least not in my experience.
  • marieamethyst
    marieamethyst Posts: 869 Member
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    I think for me eating at the table didn't help with control. Normally all of the food would be sitting on the table in bowls and platters, and it was quite easy to reach for second helpings without even really thinking about it. My husband and I eat at our desks that are back to back to each other, with our daughter in her high chair between us. He normally plays a game, I knock out some work, and we both chat and interact with our daughter. I measure everything out onto my plate, so to go get seconds I have to get up and walk to the kitchen (which prompts me to think about what I'm doing). We make our big social time our evening walk around the neighborhood and stop at the playground - no distractions and no food involved. :)

    We'll have to think of something else once she gets too big for her high chair though, since we sacrificed our small dining room to give her a dedicated play area. :laugh:
  • paulawatkins1974
    paulawatkins1974 Posts: 720 Member
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    I usually eat wherever, (hubs and I work different shifts) However, I wouldn't doubt that this would probably make a difference for some people. Most of this journey is mental. I find when my schedule changes (time off work etc.) I struggle. I know it's a lifestyle change, but I've only been on it for a few months so old habits still dye hard. If you think eating at the table helps, go for it. Plus it's a good habit for you child to see now.
  • salvationsdying
    salvationsdying Posts: 205 Member
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    We just moved in a new home in febuary. I have always wanted us to eat at the table but it never worked that way. Only special dinners did we eat at the table. When I was a kid we ate in the living room a lot as well. I knew that when I had kids I was going to inforce table eatting.

    So now I have a 2year old. And we only eat at the table. No food is permitted in my living room (even adults) except once in a while my fiance takes dinner in there (he works as a welder, 12 hour shifts, 5 days a week) because he works so much and is sometimes so tired when he gets home I let it fly. I feel bad making him sit at the table when he just needs to relax. Our daughter is asleep so she doesn't know the difference(he works till 5am, yes I get up and cook his dinner fresh lol).

    We have also made it where phones are not aloud around the table during meals.

    I started all that because of my daughter simply, I wanted family time at the table. I wanted what you see on tv, the family sharing there day and having convos around the dinner table. But I started weight loss about a week after we moved in and I believe that has helped a lot.
  • salvationsdying
    salvationsdying Posts: 205 Member
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    Its helps me to not mindlessly eat. And I have to look at what I'm eating. Makes a difference to me. :). Besides means there's not food all over my house
  • Slashnl
    Slashnl Posts: 338 Member
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    Always! The dinner table is and has been more than just a place to share a meal. We may only sit there for twenty minutes, but there are and were no phones and no TV.

    I wondered about this at one point, you know, is it still important now that my kids are grown and out of the house? (Most of the time). Recently, at Sunday Dinner, a tradition we still keep, my daughter commented that she missed dinner every night. She said it gave structure to her life and was a comfort...no matter if we were all laughing, crying or yelling, we did it together. My son agreed. My husband then said, " Yes I still rely on dinner, I look forward to it at the end of my day".

    ....plus no one drops lasagna on your white sofa. :noway:

    I agree with this!!! My kids are 20 and 18 now and we still eat at the table. Do it! And make sure that even when they are teenagers that there are no cellphones or other devices with them. I think it is a good thing to pay attention to the meal!
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    When I was younger, before I began working evenings a lot, yeah. Then when I moved out for five years I never had a kitchen table (first place was too small, second place I was the only person living there). Now I don't because we have it covered in junk (my mom had the house to herself for a number of years so it wasn't an issue for her). I don't think the meals eaten on the couch were the problem so much as having bags of candy/pretzels/etc. within reach rather than out of my sight. So instead of eating them mindlessly, I now go to the kitchen and get whatever portion I'm going to eat and that's it.
  • roxywho42
    roxywho42 Posts: 165 Member
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    I eat breakfast at the bar with the boy, or boys depending on if my boyfriend's son is here. My boyfriend leaves for work ridiculously early, so he can't join us. Lunch depends on if it's summer or not, during the school year we of course eat at school/work, in summer I eat at the bar, but usually let the boys eat in the living room. For dinner we plate it in the kitchen, but almost always eat all together at the table. My boyfriend andi will sometimes have ice cream or yogurt in bed later. I measure my food carefully though, and I eat the same amount no matter where I eat it.
  • KM0692
    KM0692 Posts: 178 Member
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    Dinner, yes. Breakfast and lunch...usually outside when the weather is nice (like now). :)
  • mtruitt01
    mtruitt01 Posts: 370 Member
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    Growing up in a tense family we all had to sit down at 6 pm for meals. Very tense, controlling. So for years I avoided it.
    I live alone now, and recently got everything off the table and moved into the den, and brought out some nice dishes my mother gave me. I now try to sit down and eat and pay attention instead of reading, watching TV, or being on the computer. My habit has been to eat without paying attention. Now I try to eat and pay attention. I might even light those candles for dinner one night. I'm enjoying my food more. I would eat without paying attention and wonder where it all went and want more.
    My good buddy said he has tons of old linen tablecloths, very pretty, and he'll let me pick out what I want. Maybe I'll get some linen napkins. maybe I'll even invite someone over for dinner, even if I don't cook, but just kind of buy some stuff and arrange it on a plate.
  • fittyinthemaking
    fittyinthemaking Posts: 126 Member
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    not unless i eat out, which is rare
  • ShibaEars
    ShibaEars Posts: 3,928 Member
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    I never eat at my table. I have one, but it's a place that collects paperwork and other odd items.

    I eat in the living room all the time at home, in front of the TV. But I don't have any kids, if I did, I would use a table. Growing up we always ate at the table.
  • FindingAmy77
    FindingAmy77 Posts: 1,266 Member
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    we don't have a kitchen table. We live in a open concept condo and there is no room for a kitchen table. What we have is a coffee table my husband made me that has these hydraulic lifts so you can raise it up when eating. This way we can watch tv while eating dinner. I put my time into the shopping, planning and preperations of our foods and meals so I don't have to think about where or what i am eating at the time.
  • Teresa_3266
    Teresa_3266 Posts: 298 Member
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    Yes, If I'm not working then we always have dinner at the table. It's the best time for me and hubby to relax and enjoy each other and my tasty cooking. :)

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