You come in from a long day at work, starving but exhausted. Who wants to turn the oven on or get the pan out? The two-day-old leftovers aren’t looking particularly tasty. And who can afford takeout in this economy?
I present the perfect solution – ‘Girl Dinner.’
What is girl dinner?
TikTok’s latest trend might be the most relatable one yet. As I’m writing this, I’ve just had my girl dinner (Quorn scotch eggs and olives, if you were wondering – I highly recommend).
The recipe for a perfect girl’s dinner is simple. Throw a few snacky things together from your cupboard and fridge, and voila, girl dinner.
You don’t have to cook anything. Instead, you eat a random collection of foods in your pantry or fridge until you are full. It’s glorified snack time.
It’s the dinner where you want something to eat but can’t be bothered to cook but don’t want to spend money on a takeaway. When no other meals can quite hit the spot, when you’re about to watch an episode of your favorite TV show but couldn’t possibly do it without a snack.
Where did the term ‘girl dinner’ come from?
Content creator Olivia Maher (@liviemaher) first coined the term in a TikTok. In her video, Olivia shows off a dinner comprised of bread, butter, grapes, cheese, gherkins, and wine. It sounds pretty good to me.
Well, she’s not alone. Over 700 million videos of charcuterie board snacks have been shared. TikTok’s latest trend isn’t something new. Most of us have been doing it for years. And probably thinking we’re alone in it. Girl dinner has shown us that we are, in fact, just like the other girls. Thank god for that.
This is a universal experience, apparently
After a long day of work, the thought of making a meal is outfacing even if the meal is ready and needs to be heated up. (Does anyone ever eat their leftovers?)
Sometimes, only the most random selection of snacking foods will do.
I have certainly enjoyed watching other people’s girl dinners (and taking notes for future meals!).
The darkside of TikTok
But as per usual, the girls can’t have anything. The cute trend fell into the wrong hands.
Since girl dinner started trending, people have questioned whether this is healthy, making women gain weight etc. What a shocker.
Not only this, but some users have also been using girl dinner to promote eating disorders and validate their own. Some videos even describe girl dinner as going to sleep.
This is not what girl dinner is meant for.
Girl dinner is meant to be cute and fun. No, it’s not a substitute for a proper meal. No, we don’t need to make it super ‘healthy.’
As @marinarecoverss reminds us, hot girls fuel their bodies. So, pile up that girl’s dinner plate!
‘Healthy’ Girl Dinner
Girl dinner relies on intuitive eating, redefining the idea that healthy habits must look pretty.
The professionals have been weighing in and ruining the fun of girl dinner with pointless rules about what you can and can’t eat. Boring.
Yes, you should try and eat your five a day and a roughly balanced diet, but we don’t need to overanalyze girl dinner. We don’t need to make everything into a strict diet plan.
Your Obsession With Diets is Showing
Every article I’ve seen has considered whether a girl’s dinner is healthy.
The obsession with ‘eating healthy’ is not healthy. The verdict from every article is that girl dinner is unhealthy unless you eat x,y and z.
But healthy comes in many shapes and sizes, and eating what you fancy is part of that. If your girl’s dinner is a pile of meringues, great. If it’s some honey popcorn halloumi, it’s also great. If it’s a full six-course meal, great, and I’m very impressed (please can I come for girl dinner with you).
Don’t listen to all the conflicting “this is good for you to eat” and “this isn’t” that TikTok completely bombards you with. Girl dinner is a fun trend, not a diet plan or health kick. Live, laugh, love girl dinner.
