Lily Allen Admits She Often Forgets to Eat and That She Can Go "Long Distances Without Food"
Lily Allen has admitted she often "forgets to eat." The Smile singer spoke about this on Off Menu, the podcast hosted by Ed Gamble and James Acaster. The singer-turned-actress, 37, admits she "loves food" but her "stomach [often] goes quite long distances without eating" and she "isn't very good at remembering to do things" like eating at regular intervals.
According to Birmingham Live, Allen was recently diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) which is known to influence a person's eating habits and ability to keep track of scheduled meals.
According to Daily Mail, Allen detailed her favorite meals along with revealing her "anti-capitalist way of thinking of eating." She explained how she struggles to order from fast food chains because the food is mass-produced, and so, she opts not to eat during plane journeys. "I'm actually really bad… I don't really get hungry," she told the Off Menu podcast when chatting about her dream three-course meal. She said, "It's when I see food I'm like Oh yeah I should eat. I think basically my stomach goes quite long distances without eating then it has a little bit and it goes yes."
"I love food. I love eating, but I'm just not very good at remembering to do things. I get up in the morning and I'm looking after kids and I just forget," she elaborated. People with ADHD are specifically predisposed to irregular and/or impulsive eating patterns, and some with the condition forget schedules and mealtimes when in a hyper-focused state.
Allen also revealed that she has a “weird stipulation” when it comes to fast food and other mass-made meals. “I can’t really eat food if it hasn’t been ordered and made for me … I can’t really deal with the idea that you order something and it’s just been taken from a pile of food that has already been made,” she said.
“It has to be some kind of intention behind it for me. I can’t eat plane food because it also just comes from a warehouse. This doesn’t make me sound like a very good person, does it? I suppose actually it’s a sort of quite an anti-capitalist way of thinking about eating. I’m not really up for food mass production and consumption of food.”
Allen, who is now married to David Harbour, shares daughters Ethel and Marnie with her ex-husband, Sam Cooper. Allen has in the past revealed she suffered from bulimia at various points throughout her career, saying: “I would love to be the skinniest, tiniest person in the world but I can’t do that without being unhappy. I like food.” And in a 2018 interview with Cosmopolitan, she revealed she “started not eating” before “having to do photo shoots and red carpets” ahead of her second album release.
Allen’s most recent comments about her eating habits come as the Smile singer has appeared noticeably slimmer in recent years. Her Instagram posts are frequently flooded with comments from fans expressing concern about her weight loss. But Allen addressed those concerns in a 2021 response to a fan, insisting that she’s healthier than ever.
When a fan wrote to her saying, “Worried about you Lily. I feel like we’ve grown up together and I’ve never seen you this thin," the mum of two replied with, “You’ve never seen me two years completely sober, not smoking and exercising every day," indicating that she is now avoiding alcohol to maintain her health.
