Are Unhealthy Eaters Ugly?

People who eat a lot of junk do eventually become less attractive, as all that junk messes up your body, skin, breath, teeth, etc.

When I'm eating at work, even if I'm not dieting (I eat healthfully even when not trying to lose weight or reduce Calories), people assume I'm trying to lose weight and *volunteer* advice or comments that I don't need to lose weight.

I tend to assume I'll like somebody more if they are eating very healthfully vs junk... I guess, look they eat like me we probably have things in common, though it's somewhat silly.

I stereotype women who eat very little as well. If I see a woman having 2 slices of tomato and 3 bites of grilled chicken for lunch, I just assume she will be a bit of bitch, cause being hungry all the time is not good for the mood. So I'd think negatively of the woman eating the small salad, in the example, even more so than of the one eating the fast food. Now, if she were eating a normal-sized salad, then it would be a different story.

Everyone knows that when you have a friend or coworker on a crash/starvation diet, they become unbearable. So I'm afraid of being around people like that.

Have to disagree with this.

An attractive woman can do, wear, or eat anything and still be turn heads. Frankly, she walk around town wearing a burlap bag with twigs in her hair; and men would still drool.

Here's a cartoon strip that makes this very point this very point:

http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=2421

My experience does mirror this. Guys I work with will make fun of me when I sit down and eat a salad for lunch and when I snack on fruit, nuts or string cheese.

Brian

I agree with Paul V....I think what guys really want is to have their cake and eat it too: ie. they want a healthy/hot woman (smart) who cans still eat junk at ball games and fast food places (fun). In other words, they want woman to LOOK they diet, but not ACT like their dieting.

I totally disagree. But then again I definitely judge people on what they eat and drink.

I met a friend's new girlfriend at his birthday party. It was at a place known for deep fried goodness and award-winning beer list. She ordered a side salad and a bud light "in a bottle". Cuz in a bottle it's just so much more classy.

I think the beer would've annoyed me the most if she hadn't kept repeating "Ohmygosh I had a HUGE lunch. Seriously HUGE. HUGE HUGE HUGE."

Someone feed that girl a sammich just to shut her up.

Luckily the 'relationship' didn't last long.

Why the hell does having a healthy appetite make a woman less feminine - thats just messed up. Its based on the primitive cavely concept that a woman is inferior, therefore she does not deserve to eat as much food.

Across all cultures of the world this concept exists - many baby girls die of malnutrition because boys are given priority for food, and women are in third world countries tend to be malnourished too because they only eat the leftovers - giving priority to the husband, then the children, then herself.

Maybe nature predicted that this would happen and gave women the ability to store more body fat :p

I myself have a big appetite - I'm a BMI 22, and I'm extremely feminine, so stereotypes mean nothing.

Ok, I have to admit, I'm guilty of having that stereotype.

I think we just assume that people who pick the oatmeal are smart enough to watch out for their health. I never much peanuts at a bar. Yuck. Everyone's hand has been there... Who knows what else you are eating. Blerk!

I do enjoy a nice healthy meal though "Bring on the ribs and patatoes" I just don't know if I could still eat fried foods.

And Nic, your buddy's girlfriend was looking for comfort from her partner. No wonder the relationship didn't last long if he couldn't figure that one out. A simple, "but you know Hun, you look great none the less. That "insert clothing piece" looks really great on you." The huge meal comments would have been over.

G

I tend to think that people respect me more when I'm eating a substantial meal of reasonable calories - like a big plate of rice and chilli con carne, or a homemade burger and a big salad. But if I'm eating just a salad or a soup, people look at me like I have an eating disorder or something. And If I'm eating a big greasy burger and fries then people probably think I'm unhealthy, ugly etc, but I don't notice or care.

I think there's a balance there - you'll be spared people's judgement in most cases if you eat reasonably.

At resturants I rarely eat everything on my plate, at dinners I opt for the small pieces of whatever(pizza, pie, etc.), I snack on fruit at work, and yet I'm constantly being asked, "Did you get enough to eat? Is there something wrong with the food?"

I'm not slim and trim, but I'm working on it. The constant nagging and pressure to eat more is just too much. It is such a double standard. Society pushes women to be the smallest size possible, yet at size 16 I'm pressured to consume. I've had to tell many of my friends to back off.

I usually eat salads and oatmeal and other so-called "feminine" foods. At my in-laws, my father in law is constantly asking me if I like the food, etc. because I don't eat huge amounts of it. I am pretty thin, so I guess they're implying that I should eat more? I think a lot of those stereotypes are true; a lot of times you are what you eat. I guess my husband is definitely a perpetuator of that stereotype: he only eats "man food"...things like brisket and potatoes and onion rings and beer. He also thinks it's really hot when I drink beer...maybe that's because it's usually an "anti-diet" food or something.

I haven't commented here in quite a while, but this topic is beyond silly. I eat oatmeal because I love oatmeal, no one usually is watching me eat breakfast at home anyway. My husband, on Atkins, was eating sausages in the morning which disgusted me.

When I eat out or see others eat out, I just don't consider what they're eating as a marker for their overall worth as a person. I look to see what other meals the restaurant is serving and if they look good or not. If someone is enjoying a salad, I don't consider them a better person than the person with the cheese steak sandwich, they may be getting fewer calories though. This is kind of an incredibly shallow way to view other people.

I think it can go both ways. I will say that an attractive woman can do almost anything and continue to look attractive. However, I am that guy at work who, when everyone orders out, I usually eat the lunch I brought (a turkey sandwich among other things). I always get the comment "what're you having today, turkey?", with a somewhat condescending tone. Even though, I know I am the only one in the office who gives a damn about what is in my food.

I think it's the manner in which people eat junk food that is unattractive. I associate eating junk food with being guilty and feeling guilty makes me want to wolf down the food faster.

Ditto, Mar.

Guys have always told me that they love women who enjoy eating because dining with them is more enjoyable.

I've seen too-skinny women in restaurants eating salad and water, and pity them. As if it is not enough to be under severe pressure to conform to an impossible aesthetic ideal without having the joy of eating taken away also.
Eating whatever one wants in moderation while being active will insure a healthy weight, although it won't guarantee stick-figure skinniness.
One way of making this whole dilemma disappear is to stop allowing media to control our values, and start creating our own.

The ugliest 'meal' I've ever experienced was courtesy of British Airways (though it could just as easily been another)! After a trying flight from New York on the approach into Heathrow, the airlines felt that 5:30 am was the perfect time to fill the cabin with a sausage, ham , and bacon buffet. Just what we needed to cure that jet lag...:-(

I've got to agree that this is a silly topic. I think only the most food-obsessed people judge others on what they eat. Now if you're eating like a slob, that's another matter...

But honestly, I've had men comment to me at various times in life that they were glad that I actually ate when we went out. (I wasn't overweight at those times.) Nothing's more annoying than someone who fusses over everything they eat and analyzes everything you eat when you're trying to have a good time.

If you want a salad, eat it. If you want something decadent, go ahead. Just don't make it an "issue." At least, that's my opinion.

I would have intercourse with the fat chick and ask the skinny chick to go get us a pizza and she would because she was hungry. Then she would bring back the pizza and we would have a messy three way grease fest.all while burning calories

Honestly, I dislike both extremes...and for both sexes. There's nothing more irritated to me than someone eating NOTHING but ultra-low fat, stupid fad diets, and calorie counting everything from side orders of green beans to condiments. Did you add butter to these vegetables, what kind of oil is in this salad dressing?

It's not that eating disgustingly good fatty meals makes people unattractive to me, but when they eat EXCLUSIVELY unhealthy meals, and chow down on a bag of doritos every day...well then it gets pretty disgusting. Lack of self control, and an utter disregard for how someone treats their own body doesn't win me over, that's for sure.

The first meal I ever had w/ my last ex was sharing a plate of cheese fries.

And people wonder why women are paranoid about eating in public. Don't eat enough, or eat a salad, and people go "God, I wish she would just EAT!" Eat too much, and people go "God, what a PIG!" And of course, if you're fat and you're seen eating in public at all, well, that is just the cardinal sin.

i personally prefer to eat both ways- depending on my mood i might have fruit and water for lunch (yesterday) or i may like today have pb m&ms with teddy grams and candy necklaces. As far as other peoples perceptions of me go when they see me eat a salad they make fun of me but then when they see me eat junk food they say that i either must be bulimic.. or i have a metabolism like a squirrel- either way mixed reactions from mixed genders, i personally think it really depends on the person and their personal relationship with food... no corilation

Salad is for rabbits, a salad alone isn't enough to keep a human being healthy, I didn't make it to the top of the food chain just to eat leafy greens, I don't consider anyone that has a glass of water and salad for lunch any smarter than someone who wolfs down a burger and fries, if anything, they're stupid for believing that would maintain a healthy body weight and keep them nourished in the long term and satisfied in the short term, those are the types of chicks that wolf down cheese cakes and candy bars when no one is watching because she's so hungry and dissatisfied.

I'd rather sit with the burger and fries chick because I wouldn't have to feel sorry for her because she wouldn't be suffering from hunger pangs and the bad breath that goes with being starving, her mood would be better also, because she would be better nourished, and she'd appear less self-conscious and stuck up her arse than the salad-tosser chick, and she's more honest with herself too.

crumpet you are so misinformed it's not even funny. you are spouting the same kind of silly stereotypes that has come out of this article. there are many ways to make a salad. adding protein, veggies with more fibre like broccoli, nuts etc make a salad much more filling. i dont know what kind of salads you are eating but they do not all consist of lettuce and air.

if i was to chose to eat with any type of girl (although i'd eat with anybody who was good company regardless of their food choices), then it would be with the one who eats healthily. note how i say "healthily" and not "salad eater" because eating healthily doesn't just mean that all you eat are salads. the reason why i would sit with the healthy eater is because she would have naturally better skin, better breath from getting her nutrients (none of which are found in junk food) and will probably be in a better mood as healthy food improves your mood. the human race did not get to the top of the food chain by eating junk food - the effects on people are evident today: heart problems, diabetes, various diseases, obesisty and death. eating leafy greens has contributed greatly to humans.

i would not sit with someone who is ignorant to look down on me for having a salad and pity me because they think that i'm having hunger pangs. what they dont realise is by me having a salad i actually enjoy them (shock, horror!), i believe in eating something that benefits my body and that i dont need to feel stuffed from eating junk to feel satisfied with what i am eating.

Thanks for completely proving my point.

crumpet said:
Salad is for rabbits, a salad alone isn't enough to keep a human being healthy, I didn't make it to the top of the food chain just to eat leafy greens, I don't consider anyone that has a glass of water and salad for lunch any smarter than someone who wolfs down a burger and fries, if anything, they're stupid for believing that would maintain a heal[...]

I eat oatmeal for breakfast, therefore I am hot. Organic is even sexier...grrrrr baby.

I eat what I want. When I want. I hate how if I don't eat, people say I have an eating disorder. Why can't a girl not eat when she feels like it? My guy friends and boyfriends LOVE that when I'm hungry I have a really healthy appetite. Sometimes I only eat salads all day, other days all I want is steak and potatoes.

I think what's sexy is eating what you want, when you want, in MODERATION. I hate it when guys eat less than me too (haha BE A MAN!) I hate it when ppl go "OMG I ate SOOOOO much earlier..." nonstop just to prove why they're not hungry later on (whatever! I DON'T care until you start making me annoyed about it)

Obviously, there's also that thing that goes along with eating: How you look now. Someone overweight who eats too little or two much is not attractive to me. While a really fit person who does the same doesn't bother me as much.

:T That's how society is. Sucks.

But yeah, eat your organics and your occasional BK Fries *drool* Confidence is sexy.

Hmm, im like that, sometimes i'll be really hungry but i'll only eat very little so i won't look like a pig. Im 5'3 and weigh 163, in january i weighed 178 so im getting there. Sometimes i wish i didn't care what ppl say when i eat!!! im also guity of being one of those girls who will repeadily say, "WOW, i had the biggest lunch!" when in reality i only had like a salad and im starving.....*shakes head in shame* im getting better on my eating habits, but old ones are hard to get rid of......

Quig said:
# Quig
April 27, 2007 8:26 AM

When I eat out or see others eat out, I just don't consider what they're eating as a marker for their overall worth as a person. I look to see what other meals the restaurant is serving and if they look good or not. If someone is enjoying a salad, I don't consider them a better person than the person with the cheese steak sandwich, they may be getting fewer calories though. This is kind of an incredibly shallow way to view other people.
Quote[...]

I agree.

I hate that society has made it so difficult to just enjoy the food without judging others on what they eat.

Fairycloud9 said:
Hmm, im like that, sometimes i'll be really hungry but i'll only eat very little so i won't look like a pig. Im 5'3 and weigh 163, in january i weighed 178 so im getting there. Sometimes i wish i didn't care what ppl say when i eat!!! im also guity of being one of those girls who will repeadily say, "WOW, i had the biggest lunch!" when in reality i[...]

Maybe if you ate more, of the right foods of course, you'd lose weight even faster. I don't think it is necessary to eat very little to lose weight.

mia ok you try and survive on just leafy greens. I'm not saying people can survive on just steak or just donuts either, my point was people do need a more balanced diet to survive other than just nibbling a few lettuce leaves and sipping water. The girl that just sits there eating leafy greens is probably more mindful of her dress size than of how healthy she actually is, or is just putting on a faccade to make herself look like she's taking care of herself, she'd probably wolf down a tube of cookie dough if she were at home by herself with no one watching.

It's not like I actually do care about what people eat, It's their own life, their own body, and I'd sit with anyone regardless, I meant to say if I had to choose, I'd choose the burger and fries chick. If I HAD to sit with the salad-tosser chick I'd sit far enough away so her bad breath wouldn't waft up my nostrils and make me gag.

I think that I must have been living under a rock for all this time because I have never noticed what anyone was eating when I went out. Honestly it has never crossed my mind. Whether out with boyfriends or my female friends,or at work. I think that generally if I am out with a specific person I tend to be paying more attention to the conversation than what they are putting in their mouths. I can't understand why anything so trivial would matter. I am sorry but the last time I went on a date I didn't view the evening's success on whether or not the guy ate a salad or a steak. An interesting person is still interesting regardless of what they are consuming. Because we don't eat a solid 24 hours a day. Sometimes we step back from the table and have to function like normal so juding someone based on an activity that you may see them do on occasion is ridiculous.

To be honest I don't care much what others eat as long as they don't make a big deal out of it. If they keep talking about it, you can't help but notice.

Wow, there's some pretty brain-dead commentary in here. These are findings of a study, in grained stereotypes that people have-- it's not about your precious opinion. Feel free to "disagree," not even knowing what you're really disagreeing with-- most of you just don't like the finding. The findings make good sense, and are what one could expect about how we view gluttony.

This completely makes sense to me. We are evolutionarily hard-wired to have a survival of the fittest mentality. Therefore, people who are eating something unhealthy are unconsciously deemed unfit.

I think that people who make a point to eat healthily--not just for looks mind you, but for health--will notice more than those who do not.

I also read a study that states that an overweight women at the mall holding a 64-ounce fountain drink is considered less attractive and lower class than the same woman drinking a bottled water.

Actually I find that people who ridicule someone who is eating healthy are doing so out of guilt. They know they should be eating healthier but they don't - so they project that guilt on those of us who do.

I wonder if the point of the story isn't so much about WHAT someone is eating as it is about HOW they eat it. I've watched people sit down to a huge lunch and plow through it like a bear at a campsite. THAT is rather unpleasant, my friends, and very unattractive - no matter what you look like.

That study is about the persistance of the old sterotype of women as weak and fragile. It sucks..

more fuel to the anorexia trend that seems it's no going to end

When you have eating disorders (as i had) you make up statements like the ones in the post.. "to be feminine you have to eat less" "you have to be under 60k to be a woman" and so on. it's the kind of crap, the "magical thinking", you have in your brains that keeps you in the desease.

it really sucks

i am trying to lose weight but i refuse to starve myself or be seen ordering a tiny side salad for lunch. i am eating three balanced meals a day and am throwing out the snacks of cookies and chips in favor of fruit, veggies or a yogurt. i have replaced most white breads and pastas with whole grains which has lowered my cholesterol by 30 points. what do i care if someone sees me eating a giant sandwich for lunch? its on wheat with no mayo or cheese, its a low salt chicken or turkey and packed with every veggie they offer. you cant tell that from a distance!

oops forgot to add the drizzle of olive oil to help raise my good cholesterol!