I am a Speed Eater

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Moby_Dick
Moby_Dick Posts: 26 Member
in Motivation and Support
You know what I noticed today. I am speed eater. I eat too fast, sometimes at my desk, other times just standing in the kitchen, oh and in the car of course, preferably while driving.

How can I enjoy something if I don't pay attention to it? How can I enjoy the food if I gulp it down? Not just what I eat is wrong, it's also how I eat.

I love to watch cooking shows, the chefs and cooks always "plate" the food. The make it look pretty and it looks apealing. Not me, I try (tried) to pile as much on my plate as possible. I was always more concerned with the amount of food -never with the looks.

I ate slow(er) today, gave my little brain a chance to keep up and guess what? I couldn't eat it all.

Replies

  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,714 Member
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    Good for you! I completely agree and if you read through all the intuitive eating and mindful eating threads you'll see that your "revelation" is very important to long-term success with weight maintenance and being satisfied with your allotted daily calories. It takes practice, but keep it up! It will pay off for you.
  • dejavuohlala
    dejavuohlala Posts: 1,821 Member
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    I know exactly what you mean, I'm also guilty
  • MsAmandaNJ
    MsAmandaNJ Posts: 1,248 Member
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    I catch myself shoveling chips into my mouth on occasion...more Doritos means more tastiness, right? No, it just means I'll run out of them sooner.

    I find that when I'm aware of what I'm eating, I take my time to enjoy it, maybe even play with it a while. Little nibbles make snacks last longer. And like you noticed, it's hard to overeat when you take your time.
  • CorneliusPhoton
    CorneliusPhoton Posts: 965 Member
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    When I try to be more aware and eat slowly and mindfully, I am mostly aware of wanting to eat faster.
  • tinamarie6624
    tinamarie6624 Posts: 182 Member
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    I think you are doing great. To stop myself from eating as much, I have to make every bite feel like a production and it fools my brain into thinking I'm eating more than I am.

    Good luck on your journey!

    Tina Marie
  • Zombella
    Zombella Posts: 490 Member
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    This is how I am sometimes. I will inhale food just because I feel like I need to eat when in reality I am not hungry at all.
  • yayamom3
    yayamom3 Posts: 939 Member
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    I am a speed eater, as well. I've been a teacher for 24 years. We have about 15 minutes to scarf down our lunch, while also supervising our kiddos. It creates habits that are hard to break the rest of the day. I'm always the first person done eating in social situations, despite consciously trying to slow myself down. It's embarrassing.
  • cory17
    cory17 Posts: 1,383 Member
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    I am a speed eater, binge eater, stress eater. When eating, my mind just shuts off. Read somewhere that one should be chewing each bite at least 30/THIRTY times (think good digestion etc). Try it! Had to do that after some dental work and OMG what a difference.

    Add me please, looking for support :)
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
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    You could consider adding in more foods that are hard to speed eat. For example, steak takes time to chew. Add some large chunk veggies, and you pretty much have to sit and enjoy. It also helps to not eat in front of the TV/computer. There's lots of great books on mindfulness. Geneen Roth authored some books on mindfulness with eating.
  • dutchandkiwi
    dutchandkiwi Posts: 1,389 Member
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    I am a bit of a speed eater too and recognize your description
    For me it helped to have smaller portions more often - It simply slowed me down and made me think more about what was on the plate.
    I also have smaller plates - I can still pile up quite a bit, but it is still as much as would be on a normal size plate.
    Last but not least I tried the: Chew ten times before swallowing somebody told me abut Never made it to ten, but it did make me more conscious and slower
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,871 Member
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    I'm big on food appreciation and enjoyment of various complexities of flavors and textures so I eat pretty slow. Probably also why I've never really been into ultra processed food stuffs...it's all very basic and boring. Yes, I'm a food snob.
  • annette_15
    annette_15 Posts: 1,657 Member
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    Im a very slow eater. If I do not have time to sit down and really enjoy my food, I will delay eating until I can. I do not eat on the go, and especially if I'm having something higher calorie Im not gonna just stand somewhere and shove it in my face because what a waste if you cant even taste your food... If I have to eat really fast and I'm in a hurry cause I have to go somewhere and wont be able to eat for a while I usually chose the 'healthiest/plain/boring/good for me food possible so that I dont care what it tastes like and dont wanna enjoy it lol
  • ShammersPink
    ShammersPink Posts: 215 Member
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    Moby_Dick wrote: »
    I eat [...] in the car of course, preferably while driving.

    Is that legal where you live? It could lose you your licence in the UK.

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