Why It’s Okay To Eat Alone and Enjoy It!

Society might say that it’s not right for us to eat alone and they might judge us for doing it, but society isn’t the boss of you! Get out there and eat on your own, what’s the worst that could happen? The waitress might come over a few million times to find out if someone else is joining you, or they’ll ask if they can move you to another table because there’s a couple that needs your table or they’ll just talk about you from far away and judge you. But that’s not your problem, you’re having a good time and that’s what matters.

Okay, maybe that introduction didn’t inspire any faith in you, but it doesn’t matter what people think, if you want to eat alone, you should. Or at least give it a try and then decide for yourself.

Granted, it might not go so well in India, because everyone is watching everyone else so closely, but think of it as a “me day”. So make an appointment for a massage or go to the bookstore and browse for a while and maybe even find a corner to hide in while you read. And then visit your favourite restaurant for your favourite meal.  

If you still need reasons why you should eat alone, let us help you out.

1. Experience solitude

Just because you’re alone doesn’t mean that you’re alone. You’ve got yourself for company. Given the amount of time we spent in an office with other people in a day, sometimes the solitude is just what you’re looking for. You get to have the table to yourself!

2. No small talk

Look, small talk is not fun at all. Some people are really good at it, but most are not and that makes sitting with people over a meal difficult sometimes. So eating alone gives you the freedom to just sit there quietly, listening to music or reading a book instead of having to speak. And let’s face it, your voice needs a break once in a while.

3. Brain shut down

When was the last time you completely turned off your brain and multi-tasking abilities? It’s important to just shut down for a while and focus on yourself and in today’s day and age, multi-tasking is the only way we function. What happens when you turn off your brain? Peace and quiet. Seriously, try it.

4. No sharing!

For once in your life, you get to eat your entire meal without having to offer it to someone else! When you go out with friends or family, the polite thing to do is to offer them a bite of your dish, which then leads to them taking a huge chunk and leaving you with nothing. Every single French fry on your plate is yours and yours alone. How ‘bout that?

5. Catch up on your life

You’re so busy talking to people about what they’re doing with their lives, discussing the best and worst parts of someone’s day, but when did you take a moment to just gather your own thoughts and talk to yourself? Okay, fine, you might look a little insane, but so what? Once in a while, you need to focus on you and you need to do things that make you happy!

6. Eating healthier

Before you start arguing, eating healthy doesn’t necessarily mean that you only make healthy food options. But you get to eat at your own pace and (lots of people don’t know it) but eating slowly and carefully helps increase metabolism. And you don’t have to rush through your meal because your table companion finished and is waiting for you to get through your course.

If you’ve never done it before, now is a good time to start. Eating alone isn’t a bad thing, it’s just like going for a movie alone or going shopping alone. If you haven’t done any of these things alone, it’s time to try something new and make this your new thing for the year.