Seeking Other Fast Eaters Who Want to Slow Down...

MolassesCoveredTurtle · February 2015

...in order to actually feel full instead of overfull.

As I am learning to trust my instincts with what to eat, I'm realizing I need to practice how eat.

I take really large bites, chew quickly and eat too fast.

I am beginning to realize that this is one of the main things that is contributing to my consistently going over my required calories.

Love to know if others realize how big a difference it could make.

Best!

~M.C. Turtle

mpeters1965 · February 2015

Oh, Turtle, do I know this. I'm one of five children with three brothers so I think those eating habits came early. If you wanted seconds, you had to bolt the first! I also talk too much when I eat (ok, most of the time) and before I know it, the food is gone. Like anything else, it sure takes practice and I have noticed some improvement. This is what works for me:

1. Don't wait until you are starving to start eating. It starts the meal off on the wrong foot.
2. Think, really think, about what you are eating when you are eating it. This is an exercise I find easier when eating by myself.
3. Don't eat standing up. I find if I am eating standing up, I'm more likely to hurry because I haven't left myself enough time.

I'm sure others will have some advice, too. Good luck! If you are being more mindful and trusting your instincts on what to eat, I'm sure you can figure out a better way to eat it!

Melissa

PearlAng · February 2015

I've never been a super fast eater, but I know when I get too hungry I tend to eat faster.
Also, I think it would help if you had really enjoyable and delicious food, because maybe you'll be more tempted to savor it? It's a thought. Good luck!

MythicalMe84 · February 2015

Usually 2 meals out of the day I have to eat fast. I have to eat breakfast in a hurry so I can go to work and lunch is a standing and shoveling in method. I know this isn't good but it is what it is.

jgnatca · February 2015

Try this:
http://hfhc.ext.wvu.edu/r/download/114469

Since Bariatric surgery I must eat slow. Also, try chopsticks.

misheri90 · February 2015

I used to practically inhale my food, still do sometimes if I'm not thinking about it. I wanted to slow down since I would eat so fast that I would go back for more thinking I actually needed more, regardless of how much I had actually eaten. I found with things like bread or cookies or chocolate, I would slow down if I broke those things up and ate the smaller pieces for longer than I would for a regular bite. For meals I share with people I try and make it a balance between the social and food aspect and take small intervals to slow my pace down, whilst before I used to basically polish off what I was eating and then be social (it's pretty much how my family eats so it's what I was accustomed to). For meals on my own, since I used to either drink before or after my meal instead of during, it helped to also have a drink to sip from since it gave me something to slow down my momentum. A slower pace becomes more natural as you get used to it but at first I think it's easiest to really be conscious of your pace and try to savour what you are eating.

BernadetteChurch · February 2015

I'm the youngest of 7 children, and had to learn to eat fast or miss out, so I call it large family syndrome!

I've been trying to find a way to slow down my eating for years and so far all I've managed to come up with is to put down my cutlery every few mouthfuls and just have a think and chew. It still doesn't come naturally though and I really have to think about doing it.

Liftng4Lis · February 2015

jgnatca wrote: »

Since Bariatric surgery I must eat slow. Also, try chopsticks.

Awesome idea!

beemerphile1 · February 2015

Put the amount of food you intend to eat on your plate - then eat as fast as you like, but no refills.

AmazonMayan · February 2015

I use chopsticks. It really slows me down. Also, maybe you have smaller forks and spoons you could use? Another trick, only put some of your meal on the plate at a time.

My best success is the chopsticks. I even bought myself a nice set of them. You have to concentrate on picking up the food, then keeping it balanced if its small stuff. Really slowed me down.

MolassesCoveredTurtle · February 2015

I agree with the not getting too hungry.

As a recovering emotional eater I actually can have difficulty discerning true hunger and comfort hunger. So, taking time to just check in with myself is important.

I also agree with the mindfulness (really thinking about what you are eating). I have found the audiobook "Intuitive Eating" to be the greatest resource for me in healing from Emotional Eating. They offer practices of stopping eating (in order to evaluate your hunger and enjoyment of the food).

Last year I used this successfully when I really wanted a frozen yogurt. I was visiting my parents and they kept talking about how fantastic a new frozen yogurt place was in town. I evaluated that I was really hungry and wanted the fro-yo, got a medium, but then realized it was awful. I kept eating it for a while, but it must have been loaded with fillers and artificial flavors. I ended up chucking almost the whole thing. (The audio book also helps with learning to throw food away - best quote ever...something like, "Whether in the trash or on your body it's a waste of food if you don't need it.")

I also have incorporated the utensils down. This does help, but takes practice to do. It has helped me become more aware of how often I am still chewing and have a forkful in queue in front of my lips (all while talking!)

Another thing I've done to help is order or take the smallest size of things. I find it allows me time, once I finish, to determine if I want more. If I truly am hungry I take more. @beemerphile1 - kinda like your idea...except eating fast is the thing I'm trying to avoid, not quantity. Eating fast counters one's ability to actually feel fullness appropriately. That's what I'm working on.

~

amsnew · February 2015

LOL, I just posted about this somewhere else. I am a recovering food inhaler too!

Adding a bowl of raw, fibrous vegetables to my meals has helped a ton because you actually need to chew them well before you can swallow them. I know this sounds dumb, but I spent a lot of time practicing this - bite of food, bite of veggies. Bonus points for eating less because I'm fuller. I like celery, baby carrots, peppers, etc. Anything that you can't really gulp down whole.

Sometimes I feel like I need one of those bowls like you get for dogs where the middle is all raised so they can't bolt down their food, ha ha.

MamaJ1974 · February 2015

If you're familiar with Geneen Roth's work, she has some visualizations and exercises that have helped me slow down. Slowing down has helped me understand better when I'm satisfied. (Not that I always stop at that point, but it's all baby steps!)

beemerphile1 · February 2015

MolassesCoveredTurtle wrote: »

I agree with the not getting too hungry.

...Another thing I've done to help is order or take the smallest size of things. I find it allows me time, once I finish, to determine if I want more. If I truly am hungry I take more. @beemerphile1 - kinda like your idea, except eating fast is the thing I'm trying to avoid, not quantity. Eating fast counters one's ability to actually feel fullness appropriately. That's what I'm working on.
~

The mind runs a little behind the stomach. There is always a lag between eating and feeling satiated. Even eating slow, you can easily overeat before your mind tells you to stop. That is why you preplan the quantity.

You said;
"...this is one of the main things that is contributing to my consistently going over my required calories...."

If you only plate the amount you are allowed/plan to eat, you cannot overeat by eating fast.

dbmata · February 2015

I've found this to be useful in the past..

Or, you could talk more, slow down. I make sure a short meal takes a half hour, a social meal, I prefer to last 2-3 hours.

wkwebby · February 2015

I was told to try eating with your left hand (not with the chopsticks though, that would be a double whammy). This really makes you concentrate on the eating. Also, I have done the drinking lots of water before a meal (about a full glass). If you like to drink during, that is good as well because you have to take that time to drink in between bites.

PeachyCarol · February 2015

I've been working on this issue myself. Mainly I've been trying to be very mindful of taking small bites and chewing them really thoroughly, making sure there's nothing left of that bite in my mouth before I take another. It's just taking me some discipline to remember to do this and not slip into my old habit of shoveling food in and taking big bites.

JPW1990 · February 2015

In the BBC documentary posted the other day, they addressed this by having the group with the fast eating problem eat burgers one day standing up. They brought them back another day, had them all sit at a table to eat the same size burger, and had to spend 30 minutes eating it. Some used fork and knife, some tore it apart, some just took slow bites, but they all felt fuller after the 2nd burger, and had higher levels of the hormone that stops hunger (they did bloodwork after both meals). From that it would seem the easiest trick you can do is just set up a timer for yourself, and spread out however many bites you have over 30 minutes.

ninerbuff · February 2015

MolassesCoveredTurtle wrote: »

...in order to actually feel full instead of overfull.

As I am learning to trust my instincts with what to eat, I'm realizing I need to practice how eat.

I take really large bites, chew quickly and eat too fast.

I am beginning to realize that this is one of the main things that is contributing to my consistently going over my required calories.

Love to know if others realize how big a difference it could make.

Best!

~M.C. Turtle

One of the methods I used to help slow down is the 20 chew per bite practice. It's monotonous, but it's helped me to slow down gulping my food so fast.
I used to do door to door work for 12 years, so a meal was usually finished in 5 minutes or less on a daily basis. Not to mention that growing up, my mom wouldn't let us have seconds till we finished what was on our plates, so my brothers and I were always speed eating to get seconds.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

MolassesCoveredTurtle · February 2015

Thanks for all the thoughtful posts. I have some new things to look into or some things to revisit.

I live with a very slow eater. He once remarked I should chew my food more...I watched him eat his food, counted his chews then did the same for myself. I unfortunately chew really quickly too...so even if we both chewed 20x I was still beating him.

Recently, I've noticed more, it's not so much what I plate up...it's the portion size on my fork. Ultimately, yes...this will determine my plate size...but I need to watch the portion that actually goes into my mouth first.

Thanks again, all!

~

Seeking Other Fast Eaters Who Want to Slow Down...

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