Shut Up about What Other People Eat (Rant)

RJGraveyTrain

Alright I typically don’t like to do rant-style mytakes because I feel like they’re honestly pointless half of the time, they don’t really drive home any sort of message that can help anyone, and they kind of just read like the diary of a whiny whiner from whiny-town. But, I decided to not be so judgmental and to actually try and drive home a positive message with this mytake, so here is my rant about people who harass the shit out of other people about what they eat!

Shut Up about What Other People Eat (Rant)

I will be the first to say I am not that bitch that orders salad and water when we go out to eat, and I’m not the girl who will feel like her healthy-eating plan is ruined if she breaks down and has a cookie.

Shut Up about What Other People Eat (Rant)
HOWEVER! I recently got back on the bandwagon of eating clean and working out regularly since it’s something that – believe it or not – I enjoy, which I sort of forgot for a short time. I am actually quite a bit passionate about healthy eating and especially healthy cooking, as they coincide with my many random but enjoyable hobbies, so when I am eating well that’s all there is to it.

Shut Up about What Other People Eat (Rant)

Except that isn’t really all there is to it, because people ride my ass about it like I’m a damn mule.

But this mytake isn’t just about people who bust the asses of healthy eaters, these same people will literally bust your chops about whatever it is you eat and how much – hell they’ll even harass you for the type of diet you have, vegetarians and vegans know what I mean, don'tcha?

Shut Up about What Other People Eat (Rant)

I can say rather confidently that ever since I can remember, people always had something to say about how much or how little I ate. If I ate a lot, they had to react outlandishly and question me about what I was eating and why. If that upset me and I ate less, they’d ask me why I wasn’t eating enough or why I was “dieting” when I wasn’t even “fat”. I would then try to eat better and avoid certain foods, and all of the sudden I was scoffed at or told that I was “no fun” anymore. I couldn’t win. As someone who struggled with eating disorders, having people harass me about my food made it almost impossible to know how much to eat, or what, and how to do so in a way that was “acceptable” to everyone around me.

It literally created this aura of anxiety around food and eating around other people for me, so much so that when I moved out, I almost exclusively ate in my bedroom and always brought food home from restaurants instead of staying at the actual restaurant. If we were going out to eat, I had to read the menu ahead of time and decide what I was going to eat based on who I was eating with, so I could avoid negative comments. Even to this day, as a more confident person, I still have residual restaurant and food-related anxieties. Mind you, I am much better and much more confident today, but my point is to say it did have an effect on me that lasted.


Okay, cheese festival aside and back to the rant – this is the kind of shit I have heard throughout the course of my life. Yes, people think this is appropriate to say to someone apparently.


“Oh my god, are you STILL dieting? Why are you eating nothing but vegetables now? That’s unhealthy you know! You need protein!”



Actually I eat a lot of raw vegetables, but not exclusively, and no I’m not on a diet. If you looked there’s actually beans and other things in this bowl that are great sources of protein, along with some Greek yogurt, fruit, and a big fuck you sign right over there, all of which I am planning to eat, except the fuck you sign. YOU can eat that.

Then god forbid I actually DID decide to treat myself.



“Oh my god, you’re getting a triple? How can a skinny girl like you even eat all of that? That’s way too much food; you’re going to regret eating all of that.”



It’s funny that you’re the same person bitching at me about what I eat when I eat healthy food in proper portions, only to turn and bitch about what I eat when I’m treating myself. Oh, also yeah I’m eating a triple – like I’ve said, I have a fucked appetite that ranges from wanting to eat one piece of dry toast a day to having the appetite of a stoner other days, and considering I rarely eat this kind of stuff anymore, I don’t restrict myself the opportunity to have it if I CHOOSE. So I’m also getting cheese fries too, is what I’m saying.

Shut Up about What Other People Eat (Rant)

Of course, then there’s the “healthy dieters” that like to bust chops just as equally as everyone else. I say this in quotations because I swear these people know absolutely nothing about nutrition outside of the fad diets they found on the internet. I literally can’t have a little whole wheat pasta or brown rice around the office without No Carb Nancy telling me and everyone else how unhealthy our food is while she eats a salad and a huge, fatty slab of pork roast and cheese while lamenting about how she hasn’t lost as much weight as she expected.

Shut Up about What Other People Eat (Rant)


Why do we do this? Really, I want to know. I can only come to the conclusion that, as humans, we have a profound tendency to self project insecurities within ourselves onto other people. That’s what I genuinely believe. We make shitty and rude remarks to healthy eaters because we’re insecure with our own diet; we make remarks about people’s quantities and unhealthy eating habits because we’re not secure with our own. I’m sure it goes deeper than just that, too.

So in closing, let me finish with a PSA to EVERYONE who has either done this or knows someone who has: unless you have a good reason to be concerned – i.e. someone you know and/or love is literally starving themselves or very overweight and needs helpthen you have NO NEED to concern yourself with what other people do, or what they eat. Don’t make snide or rude remarks if someone wants to eat 5 plates at the buffet; don’t go on about how “unhealthy” someone is if they don’t eat meat; and don’t tell someone that they’re living less of a life because they’re okay with eating black beans and chicken breast over pizza and chicken nuggets! Just mind your own business, do what you want, let other people do what they want. Don’t say or do anything unless you TRULY have a reason to be concerned and interject, and even then, be reasonable about it, not an asshole.

All in all just be good to your fellow human, don’t be rude or annoying if you can avoid it, and for fuck sakes don’t be so damn concerned with what other people eat or do with their lives. Get a hobby, play Candy Crush – I don’t give a shit. Just do something else.



Thanks for listening/reading guys. Let me know below if you’ve ever experienced this and what you think about these types of people, along with any other thoughts or feelings on the subject. Also, you don’t have to worry; I’m not losing my shit over these types of people as much as it may seem. I am lucky enough now to be a confident and self assured person, so as annoying as this is to me in present day, it doesn’t have the same effects as it used to when I was younger. I just needed a good ol’ vent-sesh to air out some old irks.

So whether you pig on pizza and chips or love tofu and greens, have a good week everyone!

Shut Up about What Other People Eat (Rant)
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