Eating Too Fast?

jilybean · June 2008

I've heard things about how you tend to eat more if you eat fast because you don't give your body time to send the "I'm full signal" ...............2 questions about that.

1) Do you all think that is true?

2) Who much time is it supposed to take to eat a regular meal?

I'm a teacher and sorry but that career just requires that you be able to slam down your meal in 20 minutes or less, some days with cooking time

But even at home I eat fast, my husband and I will sit down to eat, when I'm almost done I look over at his plate and he might be 1/2 way through his meal. It's embarrassing...making me feel like a pig at a trough fighting for food...only there's no competition. (there is a nice image for you visual people! HAHAHA)

jilybean · June 2008

I've heard things about how you tend to eat more if you eat fast because you don't give your body time to send the "I'm full signal" ...............2 questions about that.

1) Do you all think that is true?

2) Who much time is it supposed to take to eat a regular meal?

I'm a teacher and sorry but that career just requires that you be able to slam down your meal in 20 minutes or less, some days with cooking time

But even at home I eat fast, my husband and I will sit down to eat, when I'm almost done I look over at his plate and he might be 1/2 way through his meal. It's embarrassing...making me feel like a pig at a trough fighting for food...only there's no competition. (there is a nice image for you visual people! HAHAHA)

chelsey787 · June 2008

i have the same problem - this is one of the things i've been working on. what i've found out is YES! it is definitely true.

when i take my time to eat my food and savor each bite i find that: 1) my food tastes so much better and 2) i don't eat nearly as much as i would if i scarf it down.

here are a few suggestions that have helped me out:

1) make eating a sacred time - no TV, books, computers, or any other type of distraction (i know it's hard when you're a teacher - i'm training to be one :happy: but maybe take the summer to make this into a habit)

2) after each bite, put your fork down! chew and swallow this bite before you pick your fork back up.

3) if you're eating with family and friends, make the effort to make the meal about conversation and not so much about the food. you'll still be eating, but your focus will be on something much different (having a conversation)

4) do NOT let your body become super starving! this definitely causes us to over eat. if you're hungry an hour or so before you're going to be eating dinner, eat some almonds, an apple, or anything to tide you over until your meal.

hope this helped jilybean!

chelsey

MisdemeanorM · June 2008

I think that it does not really matter if you eat too fast - so long as you don't eat super fast until you are stuffed. If you have a predetermined amount that you are going to eat (say a bag lunch or what is on your plate - no seconds) and you stop when you are done, you may still feel hungry, but in 10 minutes you realize that you are actually full. If you had eaten slower you would have the same effect if you took 10 extra minutes to eat.

So, as long as you don't overeat because you think you are too hungry you should be fine.

Oh, and eating faster we tend to not chew as well, and then don't get as much of the nutrition out of what we are eating because it cannot be digested as easily. So that is something to consider.

And eating slower gives you time to enjoy what you are eating, so if it is a "cheat meal" be sure to eat it slowly because if you are going to eat that (ie) chocolate cake - you better have time to enjoy it! (Rather than look at an empty plate and realize you don't remember eating those 550 calories... and then you end up eating more!)

jilybean · June 2008

thanks for the advise and good luck with the teaching. It can be the most challenging and rewarding career! It's the only job I know of that one day you want to run form the place screaming and never go back and the next you'll stay late to put together a special activity for the same group of kids that drove you nuts the day before!

I just finished my 7th year teaching special education

Kimosabe · June 2008

Well just to let you know it does make a huge difference in the timing. I tried it myself, and I tell you what it definitely made a difference.

If you don't have the time, I would definitely make sure you are measuring your food, so that way you don't eat more than you should.

But try it sometime, make a plate of what you would normally eat, then sit down and eat slowly. The best way to ensure that is to put your fork down after each bite and then pick the fork up again. But you have to make sure you put the fork down. And see if you eat any less than what you usually do.

It works for me, there is a British Nutrionists that has proven this. I think he still has a show on, Making you Thin. Not sure I will have to do some looking.

But hey it never hurts to try, it only hurts you when you won't :laugh:

Kimosabe · June 2008

Just an update...

When you don't have the distraction...

There was a study done on people who went to a movie theater and had popcorn while watching, well what they didn't know was they were eating week old popcorn, and these people ate the whole thing.

Now when the movie was done they asked the people how there popcorn was, they all said it was ok, some didn't even remember what it tasted like, so they let the people taste fresh popcorn, and that's when the customers realized they were eating nasty popcorn.

So I would keep this in mind, just take your time to savour. It will be well worth it.:flowerforyou:

AngelicDevil80 · June 2008

I've heard things about how you tend to eat more if you eat fast because you don't give your body time to send the "I'm full signal" ...............2 questions about that.

1) Do you all think that is true?

2) Who much time is it supposed to take to eat a regular meal?

I'm a teacher and sorry but that career just requires that you be able to slam down your meal in 20 minutes or less, some days with cooking time
But even at home I eat fast, my husband and I will sit down to eat, when I'm almost done I look over at his plate and he might be 1/2 way through his meal. It's embarrassing...making me feel like a pig at a trough fighting for food...only there's no competition. (there is a nice image for you visual people! HAHAHA)

1) I think its true. If I manage to eat my meal slower then normal, I see that I do eat a lot less.
2) It just depends on the person, but when Im eating slow and want to taste everything it can take up to 45 minutes for a meal.

When I go out with my sister I eat slow and by the time shes done Im about 1/2 way done. I feel weird but Im not gonna rush it. When I want to eat something that needs to be limited or that Id binge on I just take small bites and savor it. Then I control that craving.

AngelicDevil80 · June 2008

i have the same problem - this is one of the things i've been working on. what i've found out is YES! it is definitely true.

when i take my time to eat my food and savor each bite i find that: 1) my food tastes so much better and 2) i don't eat nearly as much as i would if i scarf it down.

here are a few suggestions that have helped me out:

1) make eating a sacred time - no TV, books, computers, or any other type of distraction (i know it's hard when you're a teacher - i'm training to be one :happy: but maybe take the summer to make this into a habit)

2) after each bite, put your fork down! chew and swallow this bite before you pick your fork back up.

3) if you're eating with family and friends, make the effort to make the meal about conversation and not so much about the food. you'll still be eating, but your focus will be on something much different (having a conversation)

4) do NOT let your body become super starving! this definitely causes us to over eat. if you're hungry an hour or so before you're going to be eating dinner, eat some almonds, an apple, or anything to tide you over until your meal.

hope this helped jilybean!

chelsey

In therapy we have a thing we have to work on and its mindfulness, but one exercise we do is when we eat to just taste it and only focus on that meal at that time. I eat less thinking of it that way. But we also use that for everything..like when reading only read and focus on that. Doing that took a lot of stress out of my life lol

iojoi · June 2008

I've heard things about how you tend to eat more if you eat fast because you don't give your body time to send the "I'm full signal" ...............2 questions about that.

1) Do you all think that is true?

2) Who much time is it supposed to take to eat a regular meal?

I'm a teacher and sorry but that career just requires that you be able to slam down your meal in 20 minutes or less, some days with cooking time
But even at home I eat fast, my husband and I will sit down to eat, when I'm almost done I look over at his plate and he might be 1/2 way through his meal. It's embarrassing...making me feel like a pig at a trough fighting for food...only there's no competition. (there is a nice image for you visual people! HAHAHA)

I think there is something in this
I have noticed my slimmer peers eat slower than I do .. and my larger peers seem to eat faster than me so I have been trying to slow down and I do enjoy it better and experience the flavors better which is more satisfyin as somebody who enjoys their food :laugh:

apple321grape1 · June 2008

I think that's true, because the food need to be digested before other food come. I have tendency to eat fast too, but at the same time I drink a lot of water. I think the water help to digest food faster.

Probably, I will put tips about it later on to my blog about this topic at http://healthydiet-tips.blogspot.com

AKH137 · June 2008

From what Komosabe was saying... there is also a book called "I Can Make You Thin" by Paul McKenna. I read it and it was really helpful. It discusses eating slowly and enjoying your food.

Eating slowly can be helpful because it makes you pay more attention to what you are actully putting in your mouth.

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Eating Too Fast?

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