I love to eat, okay? There. I said it. Now that we got that out of the way, let’s move on to something that actually matters.
I wouldn’t necessarily describe myself as a ‘foodie’, for lack of better term, but I do have a deeply emotional connection with all things consumable. Eating is probably my favorite pastime. I love to cook and I am always thinking about my next meal while eating my current meal. I’ve always been this way, so when people started to comment on the types of food I eat, and ‘how fattening’ they were, it came as an irritating shock.
Not so much as a shock, as I know that mac & cheese and pizza every week is not the best for my health, but more as a…who in the HELL asked you to police my food?
Obviously, some people just don’t know how to mind their damn business, and because being concerned with themselves and only themselves seems harder to do than mastering Latin, they feel the need to comment on everything you put in your mouth. But the comments are never health-concerned—it seems as if they are purposely trying to shame you into feeling fat. “Oh, you’re eating again?”, or “Do you know how many calories are in that?”
Yes, I am eating again. Yes, I know how many calories are in this slice of pizza. Mind. Your. Business.
The reason it presents such a problem for me is that I, along with so many other girls, struggle daily with body image and food. Because of my past, I have had fears of eating in front of certain people, because just a passive aggressive side eye or snarky comment is likely to stay in my mind for months. And during those months, I will struggle with eating, or probably not eat at all.
Words matter. Always. While you might think you are being health conscious for a friend, you are actually being triggering, rude, and insensitive. If I want to stress eat away midterms, work, impending bills, and life choices, it is simply what I am going to do. College is stressful enough without the food police.
Regardless of how I eat, I maintain a relatively active lifestyle. I try to go to the gym at least five days per week, eat vegetables and fruits almost every day, and I walk everywhere. If my health was seriously in danger from the food I eat, naturally, I would make changes. However, given my history with eating, those changes could potentially hurt my health even more. It would be best to just not say anything.
I am always going to have a strong bond with food—that’s just how am I. I love all kinds of food, and no one can make me feel some type of way because of it. People who project negativity onto others because of what they eat fail to realize that no one asked for their opinion. Just mind your business.