Eating slower

librarylady · Post by **librarylady** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 6:48 pm

One great side effect of No S that I have definitely noticed is that it has caused me to slow down when I eat. For me this is very big. In my childhood we tended to race through our meals in order to beat my grandmother to the dishes. She could eat her dinner in about 4 minutes and then she hopped up and started washing. We ate in the kitchen and we all felt guilty about this elderly lady working while we ate. So we all inhaled our food. When I was a kid this did not affect my weight since there was only enough for a plateful for everyone anyway (I have said before that I did NOT come from a "food is love" background. I got plenty of love, but not the food variety

) Nor did we have dessert except on weekends. It just wasn't done. And snacks were nonexistent - except maybe for an apple or banana.

Anyway as I grew up and cooked myself (which I love to do) I tended to cook too much. So after eating far too fast, I would hop up and instead of washing the dishes a la Grandma, I would take a second helping -- I enjoyed the food so much I wanted more! Then I would let the dishwasher do the dishes - huzza for technology. Now I am learning how to linger and enjoy that first and only helping.

Thanks no S!

SimpleLife · Post by **SimpleLife** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 12:36 pm

I do eat too fast. I must work on this. I think I need to form a habit with this. It's something I must think about.

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 11:22 pm

I think there is something psychological and possibly even a mechanical feedback system in taking the time to chew food well and really taste it. I think that's why only a certain fraction of people do well on meal replacements, especially drinks. There's not enough chewing that goes on. Even if I make a smoothie, I put it in a bowl and spoon it in. And you can't really taste a food until it's quite ground up. Or at least you miss a lot of it. Even juice should be swished around to get the digestive process started on sugar.

"Chew your juice and drink your food" I heard years ago.

And stopping between bites. Register the food going all the way down. You'll get hooked. Once you get used to not eating fast, it will seem to you that other people think the fork is on a conveyor belt. Slow down! you'll want to tell them. (Don't, if they're adults.) You love food, don't you? Be sure someone watching would be able to tell...

jellybeans01 · Post by **jellybeans01** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 3:01 am

this is something I have to always work on. I eat so fast, I don't really know why. I heard that the stomach does not have teeth so we need to be careful and chew our food well for digestive purposes also. When I am good about eating slow I notice I usually eat less also.

SimpleLife · Post by **SimpleLife** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 8:52 pm

I was thinking of this today and I think I will challenge myself. I'll try to slow down and not finish the meal in under 30 minutes. 30 minutes is probably still too fast but I guess it is a start.

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:20 pm

Depending on how much you eat, 30 minutes is not bad. Depends on whether you have conversation, too. Better eat the hot things first!

SimpleLife · Post by **SimpleLife** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 11:51 am

Okay, I tried this with breakfast. It was really hard and I finished in 20 minutes. I had a few small cocktail sausage links, one slice of sprouted grain toast, one scrambled egg, and one small cup of coffee.

I did chew everything very well and took small sips of coffee.

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 4:40 pm

I think you did well. I actually often eat my breakfast in the car. It is the hardest meal to get myself to sit for because I feel I should be getting ready or doing housework I didn't get to the night before. But on the freeway, I can take my time, chew, and enjoy the morning light.

But the question is did you enjoy the food more? Or were you too distracted by trying to chew enough? Remember, it's about really tasting the food more. It won't always be a chore.

SimpleLife · Post by **SimpleLife** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 4:50 pm

oolala53 wrote:I think you did well. I actually often eat my breakfast in the car. It is the hardest meal to get myself to sit for because I feel I should be getting ready or doing housework I didn't get to the night before. But on the freeway, I can take my time, chew, and enjoy the morning light.

But the question is did you enjoy the food more? Or were you too distracted by trying to chew enough? Remember, it's about really tasting the food more. It won't always be a chore.

I did enjoy the food. I'll keep practicing.

gk · Post by gk » Tue Apr 26, 2011 11:09 am

SimpleLife wrote:I was thinking of this today and I think I will challenge myself. I'll try to slow down and not finish the meal in under 30 minutes. 30 minutes is probably still too fast but I guess it is a start.

I think that is a good goal.....I'll give it a try myself. If it takes that long to eat my food, I'll probably be less inclined to "tower" my plate as I have tended to do in the past. I think part of the reason I did that was I knew I had only that plate and I wanted it to last as long as it could. This could be a simple fix for that - thanks!

gk · Post by gk » Tue Apr 26, 2011 7:54 pm

Tried it with lunch today. It really does make a difference! My plate was emptier than usual when I started, but by the time I had finished I felt as if I had eaten a large plate of food.

I put my fork down after every bite and really paid attention to texture, taste, etc. Then I'd read my magazine for a minute or so and then repeat the process. Thirty minutes later I was more than full and didn't feel deprived at all. Helped me to focus on how much I was enjoying the food vs. how much I got to eat.

Who Me? · Post by **Who Me?** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 11:26 pm

I've got to learn to slow down.

gk · Post by gk » Thu Apr 28, 2011 1:32 am

oolala53 wrote:And stopping between bites. Register the food going all the way down. You'll get hooked.

This is so true!! I'm only on Day 2 of this new habit and it's made ALL the difference! I feel like I've been let in on the secret to success. Thank you!!!!