Has the pandemic altered your appetite for eating/ordering out?

Bella_Figura
Bella_Figura Posts: 3,731 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm curious about if the pandemic has altered people's attitudes to eating/ordering out.

Since the pandemic started, I haven't had a single bite to eat that wasn't prepared at home; it's been a weird 14 months! Prior to the pandemic, my customary routine was to eat out once or twice a week, most often for lunch, but occasionally for dinner. I might also go out for coffee and a small snack on a separate day. All the rest of my meals were home prepared and cooked. We'd maybe have a takeaway once every two months or so (usually indian or chinese). None of that home cooking made me skinny - I've spent most of my adult life overweight. I've always assumed, though, that if I'd eaten out more frequently it would have made me gain even more weight. Mentally, I equate eating/ordering out with indulgence, and always think of it as a 'treat'.

For those that ate out a lot pre-pandemic, has being forced to eat at home changed your attitude to food at all? Are you likely to continue to eat more at home once all social-distancing restrictions are lifted? Or can't you wait to put down your cooking utensils and get back to eating/ordering out?
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Replies

  • vanmep
    vanmep Posts: 406 Member
    I miss going out for breakfast! We used to do that every Saturday. Restaurants here are still closed except for takeout, so that’s not on the agenda for awhile. The one permanent change Will be my coffee. I used to get my Timmies every day. At the beginning of covid they stopped taking my refillable cup and I didn’t want to touch theirs either 😳. So I started bringing a thermos to work.I have grown to love my own coffee along with the reduction in calories and the $ saved 😆
  • Bella_Figura
    Bella_Figura Posts: 3,731 Member
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    For many they gained weight during pandemic. I actually lost 40lbs.
    Wow, that's amazing! Well done!
  • Bella_Figura
    Bella_Figura Posts: 3,731 Member
    vanmep wrote: »
    I started bringing a thermos to work.I have grown to love my own coffee along with the reduction in calories and the $ saved 😆
    I think that's one of the reasons even pre-pandemic I didn't eat out much - I'm too stingy! I think how much more cheaply I can prepare the same thing at home, and I'm too tight to spend the money! :D;)

  • Luke_rabbit
    Luke_rabbit Posts: 1,031 Member
    We used to eat out once a week, usually Saturday lunch. Plus the pretty occasional lunch out with coworkers or friends (maybe 4-8 times a year for each of us). And perhaps 1-2 times a month we would get snacks out (ice cream, Starbucks, etc). Also lots of food out on vacations, of course.

    At first last spring, we tried to order once a week for pickup, but that slowly decreased, and now it's about 1-2 times a month.

    I think if/when post pandemic happens, we will probably end up doing something in between. Likely a little less inside restaurants because I have really realized how stressful I find ordering in person to be compared to on a website or app.
  • penguinmama87
    penguinmama87 Posts: 1,158 Member
    Probably twice a month pre-pandemic I would visit a drive-thru while rushing around doing errands. I can't even remember the last time I had fast food now, just because I don't have days like that anymore. That was about convenience more than anything.

    For regular sit-down restaurants, we order out with more frequency because we make a deliberate effort to. My husband and I have a regular "date night in." Now that restaurants are back open with seating, I'd love to actually go in, but our regular babysitter is still isolating. It was hard to find a really good sitter before, and now it's even harder.
  • COGypsy
    COGypsy Posts: 1,157 Member
    Nothing really changed for me except ordering in instead of eating out. I still don’t enjoy cooking so I probably order in 2-4 times a week. I actually am really enjoying how many more places deliver now, I hope that keeps up once things open again.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
    edited May 2021
    Not really. But we didn't eat out all that much prior to the pandemic...usually just a date night here and there for my wife and I. We've had a pretty long tradition of pizza night on Fridays with either a game or movie for a long time, and that didn't change. We've pretty much always had that take-out or delivery. Wife and I still went out for anniversary, both our birthdays, and several date nights which is pretty much par for the course for us.

    The only thing that really changed was not popping out to lunch on a weekend while we were out running errands or after the boys soccer games...but that's mostly because there weren't any soccer games up until a couple weeks ago when we got the green light to start playing again and weekend running around has been pretty minimal over the last year.

    We're eating out Saturday afternoon after my boys' soccer game for mother's day...Sunday was too difficult to get reservations and my mom wanted to come watch the boys play on Saturday so it works out perfectly.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,937 Member
    I reallllllllly want fish and chips at the local place.

    Haven't had it in over a year and I used to go once a week.


    I'll survive. I've come up with all kinds of great seafood dishes, so at least I have that going for me.


    :neutral:
  • chocolate_owl
    chocolate_owl Posts: 1,695 Member
    Pre-pandemic we'd go out 2-4 times a week - maybe a couple of weekday lunches, a weeknight dinner, and a weekend dinner. When the pandemic first hit, we tried to keep that up and support our local businesses by ordering takeout. Mid-pandemic, I decided it was time to lose weight, and we switched to making all our meals at home except for Saturday night dinner. We're slowly changing Saturday night dinners in to Saturday night dinners out, but it's a big mental shift after we didn't eat in a restaurant at all for 14 months.

    My company is still work-from-home, so I haven't had any mid-week invitations to lunch from coworkers yet. That's the one thing the pandemic has definitely changed. Otherwise my husband and I are eating like we normally would.
  • wunderkindking
    wunderkindking Posts: 1,615 Member
    Sort of.

    We used to eat out a lot more because we used to be out a lot more. The biggest real change though is that we started buying our groceries online and that hugely cut down on the amount of impulse purchases in the grocery store. Which led to a lot fewer snacks.

    We're all vaccinated now, which means we could go back to in store shopping but. Not going to do that when I've developed a good 'add to your cart' purchase history that serves my weight goals LOL.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,388 Member
    No, nothing changed for me.
  • mpetersly
    mpetersly Posts: 14 Member
    With my husband, he only does take-out, so nothing much as changed since and after pandemic. If I go see my family in San Antonio, we went out a lot, pre-pandemic. Since the pandemic and in San Antonio, if we did go out, we wear masks, social distance, patio only.

    My husband and I are vaccinated. I think he's ready to go out to restaurants, so hopefully we'll go out more.

    I'm sick of carry-out food, it either cold or not that good.
  • goal06082021
    goal06082021 Posts: 2,130 Member
    When all the restaurants around here switched to curbside, we would order out occasionally to continue to support our favorites as best we could. There were some dishes/places that we realized just weren't as good after sitting in a plastic/styrofoam box for 10-15 minutes, versus the two-minute trip on a ceramic plate from the restaurant's kitchen to our table.

    We did split a huge 1900-calorie loaded-fries appetizer for dinner from one of those local places every week for the first 8 months of the pandemic. As a ritual and way to spend time with my husband, it was nice, but when I decided to get serious about weight-loss again, we had to stop. We've gotten the appetizer again a couple of times since then - like, literally twice - and it's much better as an occasional treat dinner. I pack up 1/4 of it, to save the rest of my half for later; my husband usually eats his half all at once, but he's not a 5'2" woman trying to lose, so it's fine.
  • Janatki
    Janatki Posts: 730 Member
    I miss a nice meal out with OH. Didn’t do it often, but every month or so!
    Have continued to have the odd takeaway - couple of Nandos & Pizza Express & the odd curry!
    Working from has meant no lunches out from the office, or with mates & that’s what I really miss - the camaraderie, probably not the coffee, lunches & treats.. though I agree I’ve save ££!
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,598 Member
    I lost 40 lb too. I no longer had to gear my lunches to what would be safe and appealing at work, so I can just quickly throw an omelette together at noon while working from home. I haven't eaten out a single time since COVID began and I don't do takeout at all, so that means I have saved money and calories both. I have spent some time considering how it will be when we go back to the office and what I can batch cook and freeze ahead of time to maintain the healthier style of eating.
  • whoami67
    whoami67 Posts: 297 Member
    I miss restaurants, but don't see myself returning to them anytime soon. I liked them for the social aspect and that seems to be gone for good with eternal masking.

    I don't like eating out now. You have to scan a code to see the menu on the phone...and I don't want to read the menu on my phone. I don't want to rush through a meal while wearing a stupid mask where I can't understand a word anyone is saying. The food is more expensive and the portions are smaller. The menus are cut back to bare bones so there isn't much to choose from. Four of my favorite restaurants went out of business. And there's not even any salt and pepper available.

    I don't often order delivery; I think only twice during the pandemic. It's gotten so expensive that it isn't worth it to me to spend that much money. About once a month, I pick up takeout from my one remaining favorite restaurant (they don't have in-person dining yet), but I don't enjoy eating the food at home. It's a breakfast place and I wonder why I just spent $25 when I have eggs in the refrigerator and coffee in the cupboard and could easily make the same food myself. I did buy a bunch of gift cards from that one restaurant throughout the pandemic in hope of helping them stay in business, but I don't eat their food often anymore. At least their business seems to be thriving, but it's a niche healthy gluten free with vegan choices-style bakery/cafe.
  • penguinmama87
    penguinmama87 Posts: 1,158 Member
    whoami67 wrote: »
    I miss restaurants, but don't see myself returning to them anytime soon. I liked them for the social aspect and that seems to be gone for good with eternal masking.

    I don't like eating out now. You have to scan a code to see the menu on the phone...and I don't want to read the menu on my phone. I don't want to rush through a meal while wearing a stupid mask where I can't understand a word anyone is saying. The food is more expensive and the portions are smaller. The menus are cut back to bare bones so there isn't much to choose from. Four of my favorite restaurants went out of business. And there's not even any salt and pepper available.

    I guess things are more "normal" here than I realized - it's very atypical for people to wear masks while seated at restaurants here. The tables are spread further apart, but it doesn't seem very sensible to continually lift and lower a mask (thus touching it with your hands and all that jazz) for each bite of food.

    I'm sorry about the restaurants going out of business. The ones we order takeout from are all small local places that we really want to stay in business. While compliant with applicable restrictions I'm happy that they remain personable and friendly. Even though we're not really big restaurant people that kind of casual friendliness is something I am a little bit concerned about losing overall - when I go out now I try and make an effort to at least make eye contact and smile at passersby, and say hello, because it seems like sometimes we're all avoiding each other. And I'm actually quite introverted!
  • VegjoyP
    VegjoyP Posts: 2,708 Member
    I was heavily plant based and now full plus vegan ( animals, enviornment and concious) I didn't go out much or enjoy it before and now it's the same for the most part except I am definately interested in a few places that are vegan/ WFPB in Florida where I live. With the new way of life I am discovering so many amazing foods, creative dishes and recipes!

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