The Power of Rituals - Article

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 12:08 pm

Saw this and it made me think of NoS and the power of habit, which is really what they are saying when they talk about automating something. However, it is also about savouring your experience.

http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/12/new-resear ... Socialflow

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 2:27 pm

Too bad businesses can use this to promote products that have no more intrinsic value or possibly even less.

I like that the behavior of savoring the food increased the value. I've long been eating my meals more slowly, taking at least 30 minutes for lunch and dinner. One writer on the French traditions of eating says he thinks the fact that they eat their meals slowly explains the French paradox as much as what they eat does.

eschano · Post by **eschano** » Mon Dec 16, 2013 2:02 pm

So true Oolala!

NoSnacker · Post by **NoSnacker** » Fri Dec 27, 2013 10:14 am

oolala53 wrote:I like that the behavior of savoring the food increased the value. I've long been eating my meals more slowly, taking at least 30 minutes for lunch and dinner.

I am going to try slowing down when I eat my meals for some reason I rush..I think this bad habit came into place for a couple reasons, the latest being when my kids were babies no matter when I sat down to eat they seemed to get up from a nap, etc. so I would rush so I could eat before that..and the biggest is when I would go to my grams house on the weekends during my pre teen years she always baked all kinds of apple pies etc. and I would get my full when I was there....she used to say to me "you can't be hungry, you must be eating with your eyes"...so a lot of habits to break for me... being the oldest of 9, my mom definitely couldn't afford the luxury of making pie

herbsgirl · Post by **herbsgirl** » Fri Dec 27, 2013 4:16 pm

Slowing down is a big one! I have a blog post about that

http://countyourbites.blogspot.com/2013 ... h-big.html

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Fri Dec 27, 2013 6:03 pm

Deb, it's not just you. Americans in general rush eating. Even thin people do, in my experience. I have thin friends who gobble their food. When I ask if we're in a hurry, they'll say, "I was just hungry." Yet they don't necessarily eat all that's there. But thin people are now the exception in our society, so I still maintain that eating slowly supports greater satisfaction with less.

I sometimes even have to stop and reheat some of my food when I eat. I refuse these days to rush so that I can eat it hot. That is one drawback to putting everything on your plate to start. The French and Italians eat meals in stages that slow them down, and they can concentrate on the hot food alone. However, they have rather set ideas about the serving sizes so they don't overeat even though they don't see it all at once. They don't keep eating one course. They save room for the next one.

However, unlike herbsgirl, I do chew my food for longer than most. It's such a habit now that I feel I have really missed out on much flavor if I don't. (My lunch time at work is quite short. If I don't get to sit down soon after class ends, it's easy to feel rushed. Sometimes I rush; sometimes I just don't get to finish.)

Years ago, I read that an alternative health doctor said to chew your jjice and drink your food. He meant that even juices should be swished around in the mouth before swallowing. They are food, not just a beverage, and carbohydrate digestion starts in the mouth. And food should be chewed until it is almost liquid rather than just small enough to swallow. That was what helped me start the habit.

But I found that even with these practices for meals, I could never apply them in a binge.

herbsgirl, you report that when you started this most recent bout of bite-counting that you were eating 70 bites at a meal. Does that mean you were taking 70 minutes to have a meal? Because you say you started even before that by eating a bite a minute.

I'll put my other questions on your thread later.

herbsgirl · Post by **herbsgirl** » Fri Dec 27, 2013 6:07 pm

Oolala I ate around 80 bites a day the first week, not 70 bites a meal

I guess I could have made a typo or something!

My bite-a-minute practice has been off and on scince 2011, but I got really comitted to it after I started counting bites this time

My goal is usually to stay under or around 25-30 bites per meal even on S days, and this works perfectly for a 20-30 min meal. On N days I eat much less than that right now though

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Fri Dec 27, 2013 6:28 pm

You're right! I mis-remembered. YOu did say 70 bites a day, which would account for 20-30 minutes per meal.

NoSnacker · Post by **NoSnacker** » Fri Dec 27, 2013 9:59 pm

oolala53 wrote:Deb, it's not just you. Americans in general rush eating. Even thin people do, in my experience. I have thin friends who gobble their food. When I ask if we're in a hurry, they'll say, "I was just hungry." Yet they don't necessarily eat all that's there. But thin people are now the exception in our society, so I still maintain that eating slowly supports greater satisfaction with less.

I'm going to experiment with slowing my eating.....I did for a couple meals but I'll keep trying..I think it makes sense to savor the food and let your stomach let the brain catch up...

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 2:35 pm

Might as well. It can't damage you! And you're now learning what to do when something is hard.