A buddy I work with asked me this once when it was approaching lunchtime (noon) and about 10 minutes before 12:00 o-clock noontime while we were in the middle of an important project I turned to him and said - "Where are we going for lunch in 10 minutes"? Seemed like a simple question but it provided him the opportunity to explain to me that there are two types of people in the world when it comes to this topic.....

Live to Eat - According to this guy - This is the category he says I fall into...From the time I get up until I go to bed my mind reminds me that it is "almost" or "time to eat".....I rarely miss a "meal time" and if I do I usually make it up one way or another.....Guess this is why I will never be skinny.

Eat to Live - According to this guy these are folks that only stop to eat when their body tells them it is hungry and this type person may or may not eat "three squares" a day - it just depends on how busy they are and what they are doing.

Not saying this guy is right with his comments but I do find his point of view to be interesting related to this specific topic.....Just thought I would share.....

Live to Eat, definitely. If I gave in to every impulse to nosh on something, I'd weigh 300 pounds.

Bad enough as it is @210.

Little of both. But at 50, I have to be careful.

Eat to Live.

Sometimes I am amazed at peoples passion for food. I just try to eat the minimum needed to keep my energy level up and be healthy.

Depends.

On a regular day, whatever. Food can wait.

If I'm traveling, its a special occasion, or I'm planning on making something tasty, then the food is pretty much all I think about.

I'd say I fall somewhere on the blurred line between the 2.

I’ve become an eat to live guy. Unfortunately my illness has put me on a planned temporary ostomy bag. I am no longer driven to eat, and large meals or eating a bunch just becomes more problematic. It’s the best and the worst diet I’ve ever been on. It also got me off all soda and most sugary stuff. (Not all).

My dad was live to eat and it definitely killed him. You gotta find a moderation. Best if you find it yourself without it being forced on you.

Both, but probably more towards Eat to Live.

Most of the time, especially while at work, I just scarf something small as time allows when I get hungry. Often just a tuna packet, a handful of nuts, or a protein bar/shake. Outside of work, if I'm busy enough on a project or something, I'll often skip lunch without really realizing it, and before I know it it's like 6:00 pm and I'm starving.

But when I have the free time, I enjoy cooking good food and eating "real" meals. I try to plan ahead and do that at least a couple times per week.

I do both, but even at 55, I work out 4 or 5 days a week so I keep the red side of the ledger in check.

I'm mostly an "Eat to Live", as I often miss meals. However, I snack a lot (on the wrong stuff). My weight is stable, but way too high.

flashguy

I mean, I am a cook, after a fashion, so I'm kinda supposed to listen to those impulses...

I will say, most cooks, especially during peak seasons, can forget to eat.

Best tasting food I ever had, was some take-out Chinese. I had forgotten to eat for three days.

I’ve seen a few people claim that they only eat to live but I’ve only seen two where that is true. Both are guys I work with who refuse to eat anything bad for them. No candy, ice cream, chips, donuts. They only eat enough to provide what they need. Surprisingly one has done that since a teen, still works out at 70 and still had a heart attack. The other one only eats one meal a day and has high blood pressure.

Most people I’ve run across that claim that are thin. Due to that they have a false impression that it’s due to their efforts. They don’t eat well but they have a metabolism that burns calories quickly. The mistake I’ve seen many make is to equate being thin with being healthy. I know more thin people who’ve had heart attacks than I know fat people. Out of people I know I can think of five who were thin and had heart attacks but nobody overweight. I’m not saying that’s the norm but it’s what I’ve seen.

Now to answer the question, more toward live to eat. I grew up poor and many times lived with very little food. I blame that on my eating now that I’m older. It’s an excuse but there’s reasoning behind it.

My wife has repeated this question many times during our marriage. She said her grandmother is the person who first posed it when she was a little girl. We would both say “Eat to Live,” although that doesn’t preclude putting time and effort into a good meal.

Eat to live with one exception.
I Live to BBQ

I suspect, like most human tendencies, that this is more of a predeliction than a compulsion.

But it does remind me of a conversation I had recently with our vet. He and I were bemoaning the consequences of growing old, and he observed, "When I was younger, all I could think about was sex, now it's food!" I'm not as old as he is, but I understand his remark.

since dialing in around keto, it is definitely 'live to eat'.

i am just not hungry - too much energy to burn, i pass by meals all the time. just don't think about them like i used to...amazingly i quit eating breakfast (my favorite meal). i eat lunch and dinner. 1/2 the time i make myself eat...to stay healthy.

i am guessing anyone seeing my user-name can safely assume i am kinda big for my size...true...(but improving a little).

was a 'live to eat' kinda guy for as long as i can remember.

i prefer today's approach. good post O.P.

Eat to live but lately I'm building up some reserve.
I blame it on my age.

Definitely live to eat. I've been known to plan trips around where I want to eat.

Eat to live - definitely. If there was some way to live without eating, I'd opt for that in an instant.

Eat to live but like most purchases, I prefer quality over quantity. If I'm going to eat, I prefer it to be good. Not that it needs to be 4 star French but good in terms of relative quality.

Quality ingredients and quality cooking so that I enjoy what I'm eating. If I have to do something, might as well try to enjoy it.