Eating too fast.....Road Runner of Eating...

QueenofCaffeine4Life
QueenofCaffeine4Life Posts: 88 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I eat entirely too fast. I can gobble up my meal without even really enjoying or tasting it. My mom eats like a turtle. Actually so slow its annoying! I want a happy medium. However, even telling myself to slow down................................does nothing.
Give me some tips to slow my eating. The idea of chewing 50 times is not a good idea to me. So give me something better than that.
«1

Replies

  • QueenofCaffeine4Life
    QueenofCaffeine4Life Posts: 88 Member
    I am trying that. I have no idea why this is so hard. LOL>
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    Since I lost out on the chopstick battle...

    Bring two plates to the table. One with your food and the other empty. Remove a bite from the food plate and place it on the empty plate before eating it.
  • QueenofCaffeine4Life
    QueenofCaffeine4Life Posts: 88 Member
    I like all your suggestions. You wouldn't think it was a big deal. But it really is. I can't stand smacking, crunching, and other noises. When I lived with my parents, gosh 25 years ago, my dad had bad teeth. He smacked and it drove me crazy. So I would gobble my food so I could leave the table. You would think 25 years ago or more I would have retrained myself...NOT!!.

    I realized the other day that very seldom do I taste any food after the first bite. I also realized that I ate large bites rather than dainty girly bites. I love apples, carrots, and other crunchy items but when I eat them I have to eat them in a hurry because I can't stand the sound of my own crunching.
    I'm a weirdo...............I KNOW THIS! hahah.
  • Crafty_camper123
    Crafty_camper123 Posts: 1,440 Member
    Another take: Are all meals like this? Or just when you're super hungry? If it's due to being hungry, maybe eat a low cal snack an hour or so before your meal to avoid getting too hungry and wolfing your food down.

    If it's every meal, then the other suggestions are stuff I would have come up with as well, lol. Savoring each bite, stopping and assesing how you feel, taking smaller bites, etc.
  • tracybear86
    tracybear86 Posts: 163 Member
    Crafty_camper123 wrote: »
    Another take: Are all meals like this? Or just when you're super hungry? If it's due to being hungry, maybe eat a low cal snack an hour or so before your meal to avoid getting too hungry and wolfing your food down.
    Good point here! If I wait until I am super hungry to eat, all bets are off! My husband once said I eat like a ravenous hyena when I am really hungry! :p
  • jelleigh
    jelleigh Posts: 743 Member
    I have same problem only my issue is with my good getting cold. My family jokes that making my food "magically" disappear is my super power. :D

    But here's a question: does it matter if you eat fast? If you premeasure and log your food then it's still the same number of calories going in so from a weight loss perspective it's same same.
  • LyndaBSS
    LyndaBSS Posts: 6,964 Member
    Mindful eating is a learned skill.

    I had my chopsticks engraved with the words "be mindful".
  • tracybear86
    tracybear86 Posts: 163 Member
    jelleigh wrote: »
    But here's a question: does it matter if you eat fast? If you premeasure and log your food then it's still the same number of calories going in so from a weight loss perspective it's same same.

    For me it's a question of whether my head knows that I am full and also how long before I am hungry again. If I eat 400 calories in 10 minutes my brain most likely won't acknowledge that I am full as for most people I think it can take up to 20 minutes for the brain to catch up to the stomach. If I eat those same 400 calories over an hour my brain will know for sure if I am full. N=1 for me is that I also don't feel hungry again as soon so I don't snack between meals or feel overly hungry by my next meal (which leads me to overeat). So overall I have an easier time sticking to a calorie deficit when I eat more slowly.
  • Hannahwalksfar
    Hannahwalksfar Posts: 572 Member
    Practice mindful eating. It sounds stupid but I’ve heard of people making themselves slow feeder bowls like dogs have and apparently it worked and it’s fun.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    I scarf my food down, think it’s a carryover from mom saying “you can’t leave until you finish” and I wanted to be doing other things. I REALLY try to sit quietly, no distractions, and pay attention. But that fails 99% of the time.
  • pierinifitness
    pierinifitness Posts: 2,226 Member
    I'm a proud fast eater. Think it's hard to change behavior unless using electric shock method. Eating fast, I believe, can lead to overeating because the gut isn't given the time to tell the brain it's full. I achieved my ideal weight range will still eating fast but I did close the mouth before exceeding my calories to eat budget.
  • Emmapatterson1729
    Emmapatterson1729 Posts: 1,296 Member
    I had to break the habit of inhaling my food.

    I use smaller utensils, take smaller bites, chew thoroughly, and do not allow myself to take next bite until current bite is swallowed completely.

    I try to make one meal take at least 15 minutes (15 minute food window).

    I had to make conscious changes until they became habit.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    edited August 2019
    I am another fast eater, I have this thing about eating fast so my food doesn't get cold! food needs to be piping hot unless its supposed to be cold of course! I suppose with a bit of practice and slowing it down I might learn to do so but it doesn't actually bother me.
  • cbihatt
    cbihatt Posts: 319 Member
    I was going to suggest conversation. If you are eating alone, you could try reciting something in your mind between each bite. Something that is mindless, but takes a minute to do. Like, when kids are instructed to sing happy birthday while washing their hands to ensure they do a decent job.

    I cringe whenever I see people recommend excessive chewing. I have TMD issues and just the thought of all that chewing makes my jaw hurt. LOL!
  • icemom011
    icemom011 Posts: 999 Member
    I'm also a super fast eater. I have been like that my whole life. I think it's stemming from wanting to go back and play as a child, because of having to finish all food before i was allowed to go. That, actually, created a special place for me in the "clean plate club" as well. My kids took same habit and eat just as fast as i do. I've also been overweight my whole life. So i think there's definitely a correlation between those habits. My wife is a slow turtle eater, and have always been skinny. So fast forward to now, I've been aware of this damaging habit and have been trying to break it snd slow down. And i can't seem to do it. I've tried chewing longer, and have no patience for that. Tried chopsticks too, but not everything can be eaten with them, tried doing other things, like reading, watching videos, just forcing myself to slow down and not shove food in my mouth as fast. Idk, for some reason it tastes better and /or i have no patience for this. Not giving up though. I find that having someone next to me who eats slowly is most effective. Because not only we have conversations (which makes them eat even slower, how that's even possible, lol?), but it reminds me that i still will be at the table for a while, so i better have some food left on my plate for that.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    Try having multi courses with a short break between.

    Even if it means breaking your meal in two (2nd half kept warm in oven or wherever)

    Or at least have an appetizer, that is why they were invented, to stimulate the appetite and signal fullness.

    This can be a savoury drink, a small soup, salad, or anything else that is low cal.
    10 min later have your meal.

    I have always found going out for a multi course meal where there are rests/conversation gaps between courses means I can’t eat as much.

    Shame because it is usually expensive, tasty, and I sometimes can’t fit in my fav course, dessert.

    In the UK they think I wolf down my food; in Canada they think I eat at a snails pace.

    Cheers, h.
  • Danp
    Danp Posts: 1,561 Member
    I'm curious as to why?

    Why do you want to eat your food slower? What are you expecting to happen from eating slower? What benefits do you think will come from eating slower?

    I guess if eating fast give you indigestion or reflux then it might help...
  • Cahgetsfit
    Cahgetsfit Posts: 1,912 Member
    I'm a gobbler too! Especially if i'm hungry! It's like I don't even chew, I just shove the food in my mouth and down my gullet.

    I find that the hungrier I get the faster I eat, so I really try to eat more often now - I've become accustomed to eating 4 solid meals a day so that as soon as I start to feel peckish it's already time to eat again.

    During my work week I eat 2 meals at my desk, and I have found that that has helped me to slow down because people will come in to talk to me, or the phone will ring, or I'll have to answer an email or something.

    If I'm at home I usually read or watch something - but that can be good or bad. Generally makes no real difference to my eating speed I don't think.

    It's hard. I try to slow down too every so often, when I am reminded of how you should eat slowly and blah blah blah.
  • QueenofCaffeine4Life
    QueenofCaffeine4Life Posts: 88 Member
    Danp wrote: »
    I'm curious as to why?

    Why do you want to eat your food slower? What are you expecting to happen from eating slower? What benefits do you think will come from eating slower?

    I guess if eating fast give you indigestion or reflux then it might help...

    In answer... because I feel I take in my food at such a pace that I don't even enjoy it. I also eat so fast that, as others have said, I don't feel satisfied when I am done with my portion. I will have eaten my protein bar in a few bites and not even known I have eaten it----if I were not tracking each time I eat.
    Its a mindset.

    Plus eating fast is not good for the digestive tract. Causes gas and bloating.

    I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL OF THE SUGGESTIONS!!

  • cbstewart88
    cbstewart88 Posts: 453 Member
    I have been a fast eater all of my life. I think it stems from when I was a kid - and I just wanted to wolf down my meals so I could go back outside and play. I know it's not the best habit, but I have come to the point in my life where I have to pick my battles, and this just isn't one of them....
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    edited August 2019
    QueenofCaffeine4Life wrote: »
    Danp wrote: »
    I'm curious as to why?

    Why do you want to eat your food slower? What are you expecting to happen from eating slower? What benefits do you think will come from eating slower?

    I guess if eating fast give you indigestion or reflux then it might help...

    In answer... because I feel I take in my food at such a pace that I don't even enjoy it. I also eat so fast that, as others have said, I don't feel satisfied when I am done with my portion. I will have eaten my protein bar in a few bites and not even known I have eaten it----if I were not tracking each time I eat.
    Its a mindset.

    Plus eating fast is not good for the digestive tract. Causes gas and bloating.

    I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL OF THE SUGGESTIONS!!

    Just to back this up-mindful eating (not “intuitive”) was a big part of my binge eating disorder treatment. When I binged. I was entirely disconnected, eating in hiding, not tasting or even really all that aware of what was happening. Even when I wasn’t binging, I still wasn’t really all that involved or in tune with my eating. I was watching Tv, reading, or just thinking about everything else. I couldn’t tell you what anything tasted like or possibly even what I just ate.

    Eating mindfully-always-has transformed the way I interact with food and makes being in the moment and in the experience the norm (so the actual process of consuming food during a binge now feels very “off”).

    For people who may be prone to binges or zoned out eating, it can be a complete game changer.

    I’m not implying OP (or anyone else) has binge issues-I had a lot of the same disconnected experiences when I wasn’t binging. Eating mindfully (most of the tactics listed in this thread to slow down are ways to eat mindfully-being in the moment) can really help that.

    Plus all the other stuff she said.

Categories