Roommate annoyance!

I've watched my roommate eat 3 donuts, a muffin, an omelette made with butter, cheese, meats, the works and a chocolate bar JUST TODAY. It's only 1:30.

I guess it helps motivate me to stay on the healthy track when all she's eating is crap. It's frusterating though! I cant wait until i have my own room again

I don't mean to sound offensive, but why are you so upset? Did she ask you to eat with her? Why does her eating make you angry or frustrated? And why are you watching what she eats so keenly? If you said you think she suffers from BED and you are sorry for her, that would be different of course, but somehow your words indicate that you take her eating habits as an offense against you and your healthy eating. But if it motivates you as you say to "stay on the healthy track", than why are you angry?

I think you need to clarify your feelings for her and her food, it would diminish the frustration. By the way, omelette made with butter is not crap (just my opinion).

My roommate is the same way. She's probably gained 15-20 pounds since school started though, so she isn't one of those people who can devour anything they want and not ever show it.

She goes to Longs and buys giant value packs of assorted candy, hot cheetos, and bottles of soda, and sits there snacking all day. For lunch and dinner she usually eats a hamburger and fries from the dining hall, with a few pastries for dessert. (Occasionally she will go on a 'diet' which means she eats instant ramen instead of a hamburger. OH OK.)

I've learned to ignore it, but I've also learned that the sound of someone eating/chewing/crunching junk food makes me want to strangle them with their own intestines.

"the sound of someone eating/chewing/crunching junk food makes me want to strangle them with their own intestines."


You know, based on the above quote I imagine she is still healthier than you.

I've read things like that quoted from anorexic teens.

Feelings and words like these are much more toxic than junk food.

i guess it just annoys me that i have to be around it all the time. It's like i can never escape from the thought of food because there she is eating right beside me constantly. I want to think and focus on other things, and usually it's impossible because it's invading my personal space.

I don't know if she has a problem with eating or not. If so, i do feel sorry for her, and i wish there was something ic ould do to help her, but i don't feel it's my place to confront her with these questions as we are not "close."

I didn't mean for it to sound like i'm a horrible hostile person. I just wanted a place to vent for a few seconds so hopefully my frustration would end and i could go back to being productive.

thanks.

Whoaaa there, I'm just teasing! I'm definitely not anorexic, and I love my roommate! (I just don't love what she eats.)

I used to have very similar eating habits to my roommate. I didn't care what I put into my mouth--if it tasted good I'd eat it. (If it didn't taste that good I would probably eat it too.)

Once we educate ourselves about nutrition and health, and the GOOD things to put into our bodies, it's incredibly frustrating to be surrounded by people who continue to eat the junk that we now know to be no good for us. There is concern, because I care about her and I don't want her to be unhealthy, but at the same time all I can really do is offhandedly mention that I have an interest in nutrition and exercise whenever she says she wants to lose weight, and she can always feel free to ask me for any help.

So far she hasn't reacted to my prompting, and I'm not going to push it. I know I'd be upset if someone kept insisting that I change MY eating habits. This school year is almost over, and soon I won't live with her anymore--but hey, maybe I made an impression? I can only hope that she learned a little bit from living with me and will someday be bitten by that same desire to live life as healthily as possible.

I'm far from anorexic (in fact right now I'm reading a book about anorexia and bulimia for my psychopathology class and I can't imagine living like that) but the sound of people crunching and smacking their lips drives me up the wall. Honestly, don't people's parents teach them to eat quietly anymore? Living with a roommate can be extremely frustrating, especially when you just get placed with someone you don't know, and little annoyances just become bigger and bigger over the year. I don't think this poster has an eating disorder, it just sounds like normal roommate aggravation to me.

Northdakota84, I do not mean anyone has an eating disorder here. However, one of the symptoms of anorexia is (correct me if I'm wrong here, you are more of an expert obviously) being overly critical of other people's eating.

What I mean is that you should not set too much value on healthy eating and treating your body right. Not to the expense of patience or humor. Yes, yes, I understand about personal space (there was a time when I shared a room with two other girls, both of whom were always complaining about their boyfriends - it was like living in a soap opera). But eating healthy is not a virtue, it does not make you a better person. Eating junk does not make anybody a worse person either! Being patient and charitable (old fashioned word, but applicable) do. If you are so in awe of the Healthy Eating Deity that you can be so upset by someone eating poorly, you need to reconsider your approach to lifestyle issues.

That said, having a room of your own is goooooood.

"the sound of someone eating/chewing/crunching junk food makes me want to strangle them with their own intestines."


ha i know where you're coming from with this. my roomate last semester was the most bodily noisy person EVER. and im sure bodily noisy isnt even grammatically correct, but thats the ony way i could think of to describe it. every little thing she ate or drank, i could hear in side her mouth. it was disgusting. she noisly slurped all her soups, and hot chocolates, smacked anything that didn't have to be chewed, and crunched anything that was to be chewed. oh and she had a hacking cough that she always claimed would  "go away next week" but never did. and she was the first person i meant who drank loudly. i didnt even know it was possible. every swallow of a beverage was followed by this loud disturbing gulping sound. AHHH. oh and she snored like a 300 pound man.

needless to say this semester i am in an apartment with my own room. :) dont know how i survived. i feel your pain :(

hmm interesting..i lived in the dorms for three years + summers....and I know if any of those girls (including the ones i liked) had bothered me about what I was eating..I would have chewed their heads off (ok not literally..haha)..especially most of them eat worse than me and/or were bigger

just because you live 5 feet away from her (im assuming in a dorm room) doesnt mean its any of your business what she eats

:) thank god its almost of the end of the year eh?

I'm not saying I'm an expert in anything. I was just trying to say that I understand the poster's annoyance because I've felt the same way with some of my old roommates.

Being overly critical of other people's eating habits is not a symptom of any eating disorder according to the DSM. At least, it's not included in the diagnostic criteria, but I don't have the book here with me to check the rest of the section (guess I should know it by heart since my final is in a little more than a week...eep). I don't post responses looking to get into arguments or trying to sound like I'm an expert. I'm sorry if it came off that way.

I am very sorry, all I wanted to say is that you know more about these things than I do, since you are studying it! I didn't mean to accuse you of posing like an expert or anything. I'm very sorry.

I got the info from an msn.com health site where it was stated that people with EDs are more critical of other people's eating habits. Not the best source, I know - but I came across a pro-ana website once, and one poster there was venting about her own fat roommate living on junk in a very similar way... angry and judgmental. That is all, I did not mean to offend you or anybody.

Not in top shape today, I'm afraid...

speaking of annoying roomates my 3 b****s of flatmates are currently blaring music (really bad music also) out in the common room like its an effing disco. ha, not for long...

i need to just get a studio apartment. or better yet, a quiet log cabin out in the woods with much much seclusion. ugh.

I see my friends stuffing their faces with junk and my best friend  has definately gone beyond her frosh 15 but it isnt appropriate for me to jump in and preach to her about healthy eating so I have no choice but to sit back and watch my friend stuffing junk in her face and declining all her junk she offers. I guess I just get frustrated cause I did the same thing my first year and feel bad that she's gonna have to figure it out the hard way like i did. Not to mention seeing her enjoy all those treats sure makes my mouth water!

And alot of friends always want to make mcD's or Pizza runs and I'm always pretty much left out since I never eat anything there they assume I dont want in on the fun. Why does avoiding junk food in university seem so Taboo?

Hmm... sorry I went kinda off topic here..

I'm sorry your room mate has put you in this situation. I know you can't avoid your room forever, but does your campus have a cafe or other quiet places for you to study or do work?

If your room mate's munching makes your sweet tooth start to ache, always have some healthy snacks that you enjoy around so you're not inclined to take some of her junk. Apples and other fruits are low in calories and good for satisfying a sweet tooth.

Just hang in there! Every time you say no to one of her donuts, the stronger your will power gets. It'll get easier, hun. :D

One of my roommates drinks 15 beers a night 4 nights a week. It's nauseating to watch, and explains why he is obese.

Well, dm84, in a few years' time it will explain some other things too, most likely.

However, cheer up, you always have the option just not to watch!

oh gosh, I understand completely. living with a room mate is pure h***, no matter what their habits are. mine slurps cereal and eats cough drops loudly.. and talks to her mom on the phone twenty times a day.. and leaves the window open when it's freezing outside.... etc, etc, etc!!! I know you don't have an eating disorder, you're just venting about an extrememly frustrating situation.

It's called the freshman 15 for a reason :)
(though I've ironically lost 15 pounds this freshman year so far, haha)

And don't be so hard...many are like that. I know that over the summer I ate horrible and even during the first quarter of freshman year I didn't gain anymore weight but I still ate horribly...stress, late night studies, and social activities are hard on your body and your eating habits.

I'm going to assume that you used to be eating not so great foods either, or you wouldn't be on this site...so why criticize someone else? If she enjoys eating bad food, that's her deal. If someone had told me that I needed to lay off the junk food when I ate it all the time I would have smacked them and felt reallly insecure for a while. As long as she isn't in your face about eating the food I don't see how that's annoying...

It's just hard to watch someone else eat badly and have the temptation of junk food around all the time when you are trying to eat right. I had a roommate like that my first year of college as well. ugh. Sometimes it just helps to vent, and it's much better to do it on a message board then to blow up in her face. ;)

OMG! My roomate at school is the same way! She thinks that by eating 10 packs of 100 calorie pack Cheez-its or whatever and then eating scones for breakfast (almost 500 calories!) and her cinnamon coffee cake and cookie dough. She thinks she's skinny too and she's like I have such a fast metabolism and she has so much cellulite. im like omg...but its herbody if she thinks shes hott...in the meantime...i will be 93 pounds thank you