第1619期:The pleasure of eating alone

Should you eat to live or live to eat?... a question posed by French playwright Moliere in his work ‘The Miser’. While eating is functional, and our bodies need the fuel that food provides, dining with friends or loved ones can be a wonderful experience. However, some of us often find ourselves reserving a table for one in a restaurant. But is dining alone really that bad? Maybe not.你应该为生活而吃还是为吃而活着？...法国剧作家莫里哀在他的作品《守财奴》中提出的一个问题。虽然吃饭是功能性的，我们的身体需要食物提供的燃料，但与朋友或亲人一起用餐可能是一种美妙的体验。然而，我们中的一些人经常发现自己在餐厅为一个人预订一张桌子。但是一个人吃饭真的那么糟糕吗？也许不吧。We all have foods we like and dislike. Maybe it’s a pungent cheese or stinky fish. We sometimes hold back on things that may offend the noses of others. When dining alone, we can consume whatever we like, with the added bonus that we might be able to eat more healthily. Often, if you want a salad and your significant other wants some less healthy cuisine, you end up ordering the same. And if you don’t get the same, you might end up with food envy as you watch someone chow down on a pizza while you’re left holding the lettuce.我们都有自己喜欢和不喜欢的食物。也许是辛辣的奶酪或臭鱼。我们有时会对可能冒犯他人鼻子的事情有所保留。一个人吃饭的时候，我们可以吃任何我们喜欢的东西，额外的好处是我们可以吃得更健康。通常，如果你想要一份沙拉，而你的另一半想要一些不太健康的菜肴，你最终会点同样的。如果你没有得到相同的结果，你可能会嫉妒食物，因为你看着有人在比萨上大吃一惊，而你却拿着生菜。Have you ever spent too long debating with people which restaurant to eat in or when to meet? If dining solo, you can make the choice depending on your culinary desires at that moment and get your nourishment at exactly the time you’re hungry! And why does it have to be a restaurant? You could eat in a park, garden or even your bed – the point is, the choice is yours! That alone time also means it’s a time to switch off. According to psychologist Sherrie Bourg Carter, a bit of solitude can help your brain to unwind and may help you concentrate more.你有没有和人们争论过在哪家餐厅吃饭或什么时候见面？如果是独自用餐，您可以根据当时的烹饪欲望做出选择，并在您饥饿的时候获取您的营养！为什么它必须是餐厅？您可以在公园、花园甚至您的床上用餐——关键是，选择权在您手中！独处的时间也意味着是时候关闭了。根据心理学家雪莉·布尔格·卡特 (Sherrie Bourg Carter) 的说法，一点独处可以帮助你的大脑放松，并可以帮助你更加集中注意力。Finally, for some, dining alone can be a necessity. For those of us who suffer from misophonia, a hatred of sound, that can in some cause PTSD, the noise of someone else masticating can be unbearable. Eating alone can save you from the extreme anxiety that may arise listening to someone smack their lips or the sloshing of saliva in their mouths! So, is eating alone bad? Well, it may not be for everyone, but there certainly are some benefits to it. Try it sometime – you might just like it!最后，对于某些人来说，独自用餐可能是必要的。对于我们这些患有恐音症的人来说，对声音的厌恶，在某些情况下会导致创伤后应激障碍，其他人咀嚼的噪音可能是难以忍受的。一个人吃饭可以让你免于因听到某人咂嘴或唾液在嘴里晃动而产生的极度焦虑！那么，一个人吃饭不好吗？好吧，它可能并不适合所有人，但它肯定有一些好处。找个时间试试——你可能会喜欢的！词汇表fuel 燃料，这里比喻食物所提供的能量dine 用餐，吃饭reserve 订位，预约pungent （气味或味道）强烈刺鼻的stinky 难闻的，臭的consume （大量地）吃，喝cuisine 菜肴order 点菜food envy 嫉妒其他人在吃的美味菜肴chow down 吃掉dine solo 独自就餐culinary 饮食方面的，食物的nourishment 营养，提供营养的食物masticate 咀嚼smack one’s lips （吃东西时）咂嘴saliva 口水