Do you eat fast?

ninerbuff
ninerbuff Posts: 48,454 Member
I almost inhale my food whenever I eat. I've been this way since childhood and then later in life as an adult because I did door to door sales for 12 years. When I was a kid, my mom didn't let us have 2nds till we first finished our 1st serving. So with 2 brothers and my day, it was basically a race to see who would get 2nds. Hence I learned how to eat quite quickly.
If I eat out, I'm usually the first to finish amongst anyone and then sit around and watch everyone else eat for the next at least 30 minutes.

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

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Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    It's me! I have a bunch of younger brothers and sisters and if it was a desirable food, you ate quickly or you didn't get seconds. I've learned to pace myself because otherwise I'd regularly be sitting and just watching my husband eat for half an hour.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,036 Member
    I'm usually a fairly slow eater, always have been.
    And logging some of my meals as I eat them hasn't helped things :mrgreen: (that's only at home though)

    On the other hand, watching my portions means that I will eat no seconds or very little, so I might catch up with others that way.
    And if it's a large social gathering I might finish early too, simply because I don't talk as much in large groups as other people.

    I'm an only child, I've never been in competition with siblings: perhaps that explains it, but I'm slow in other things to (for example getting ready for work), so I think it's just a general tendency. I hate eating in a hurry! (Well, I hate hurrying in general :smiley: )
    And aside from that, there is probably a cultural aspect: in my corner of the world (not anglo-saxon) we tend to take a bit longer eating our meals, especially in social settings.
  • moonangel12
    moonangel12 Posts: 971 Member
    My oldest is that way, has been since he was a toddler! I remember watching him chew something just a couple times and grimace as he swallowed it nearly whole 🙄 which was actually a bit terrifying as a mom to a toddler! Somehow he never choked! But even now he inhales his food. He barely chews! Sometimes he is finished eating by the time I am taking my second bite... he does have siblings, but knowing what he did as a toddler I think for some people it’s just what they do...
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 8,691 Member
    Growing up I always ate slowly. When I joined the military, boot camp radically changed my habits: you were given just 5 minutes to eat a meal, and anything not eaten by the end of that time goes in the trash as you are out the door for more training.

    My first couple days, I barely got in a few bites of food before having to move on. By the time week 3 rolled around, I could polish off an entire plate of food and sometimes a second plate as well. This pattern of wolfing down food lasted for a few years after boot camp ended, until I was married with multiple kids. I'm the family chef, and had to scramble to prepare a meal after getting home from work, plus cut up the food into bite size pieces for my kids, pour drinks, etc, so by the time I sat down with my own food I was not in the mood to continue scrambling. Consequently this plus the fact my family were often done eating before I even sat down, my average time spent eating increased dramatically, to where I luxuriated in simply sitting still for several minutes to actually taste my food. (After having reheated it in the microwave, of course.)

    Now my kids are all older and able to serve themselves, cut their own food, etc. But meal time remains a time for me to relax, often as a butt of my family's jokes about how long it takes me to eat. Never ceases to amaze them then when I wolf down a meal in under a minute when circumstances warrant.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,879 Member
    I'm a pretty slow eater unless I have to just get and go. When I was in boot camp I had to inhale my food because there was so little time to eat and also difficult because I was put on double rations to put on weight...I didn't like it very much...I enjoy savoring my food. I never really notice it unless we're out to eat, but my wife always finishes her food a good 10 minutes before I do. I only notice it when we're out because she's just kind of left sitting there while I'm chatting away taking bites here and there.
  • moonangel12
    moonangel12 Posts: 971 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I'm a pretty slow eater unless I have to just get and go. When I was in boot camp I had to inhale my food because there was so little time to eat and also difficult because I was put on double rations to put on weight...I didn't like it very much...I enjoy savoring my food. I never really notice it unless we're out to eat, but my wife always finishes her food a good 10 minutes before I do. I only notice it when we're out because she's just kind of left sitting there while I'm chatting away taking bites here and there.
    I am usually the last one eating when we go out as well, same as you... chit chatting between bites. And if I get a salad? Might as well add some more time to it. Takes me what feels like forever to eat salads!
  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,216 Member
    I got in the habit of eating quickly when I had a job that entailed travel 80+% of the time. Often traveling solo eating was almost always done alone and just became another task. I've also never been big on drinking anything while I eat. Subsequently, I don't feel I can trust my hunger or satiety cues so I lean on my calorie and macro targets dictating what my body needs rather than what I intuitively want/feel I need.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,846 Member
    I work to slow down my eating. One way I do this is half way through dinner I will often get up and start doing cleanup.

    I lost weight effortlessly during USAF Boot Camp for several reasons: the food was so terrible I didn't want to inhale it, it was mandatory to consume two glasses of water before getting up from the table, so I had to prioritize that, which helped to fill me up, and there were only the three meals and no snacking.

    Are there any recent Boot Camp grads here? I'm curious if there is still no snacking or if they've put in vending machines or something.
  • Speakeasy76
    Speakeasy76 Posts: 961 Member
    Yes, but I don't really know why. I have digestive issues, so eating quickly only exacerbates them. I'm trying to make much more of a conscious effort to not only eat more slowly, but mindfully. I often multi-task while eating, which I think is an even bigger problem for me.
  • anna_lowe
    anna_lowe Posts: 39 Member
    yep i eat ridiculously fast. i spend an hour trying to find the perfect video to watch while i eat...just to scarf down my food before the ads finish
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 8,691 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    I lost weight effortlessly during USAF Boot Camp...

    Funny, I gained 10 pounds during boot. This was 24 years ago, and in talking with recent grads (I'm a civilian contractor working with the military) I haven't once heard about "vending machines" as part of boot camp.

    I hadn't considered the difference in eating at home vs eating out. I realize now I'm actually the fastest to finish in a restaurant, so I have to ask myself how much of finishing last at home is a product of being slow, and how much due to being last to actually begin eating after taking care of everybody else?
  • ythannah
    ythannah Posts: 4,366 Member
    Another ridiculously fast food-inhaling eater here. I'm an only child so I don't have the excuse of competing for food in childhood. I've no idea where it came from. I manage to shovel in amazing quantities of food before any kind of "full" signal starts to register.

    I've recently developed issues with delayed gastric emptying which has greatly reduced the amount I can eat and I've had to drastically slow down as a result.
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    @ninerbuff I had a ½ hour for lunch. If I wanted to drive home it was a 24 mi round trip. I would drive as fast I could go and come screaming around the corners on 2 wheels. I did that on many aday and could wolf my food as fast as a freight train. Old habits die hard.

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  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,481 Member
    It depends which country I’m in.

    In the UK all my family and friends think I’m a fast eater and am usually 2nd to finish a meal (BiL is a true vacuum).

    As a child I was the biggest eater in my family so used to wolf my food down so I could scoop up my mum, dad, and sisters’ leftovers before they got cold.
    (We are talking pre microwave.)

    In Canada all my family and friends think I’m a slow eater. I’m usually last to finish. (excepting DiL who is such a snail that son asked me not to comment on how slow she ate when she first came to dinner 30 years ago)

    Still have that childhood hate of food that has lost its temperature so am the queen of sending food back for having sat at the pass too long when eating out.

    Cheers, h.
  • viajera99
    viajera99 Posts: 252 Member
    This topic reminds me of an old dinner blessing I learned from a friend of the family (who was a Roman Catholic priest, btw :)) : In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, he who eats the fastest gets the most!
  • GummiMundi
    GummiMundi Posts: 396 Member
    I used to be a fast eater too, but lately I've been mindfully trying to eat slower. I notice that if I chew my food properly I get to savor it more (and I feel more satisfied when I'm done eating).
  • yweight2020
    yweight2020 Posts: 591 Member
    Slow eating only child here