Has this ever happened to you?

You sit down to eat, flick on the T.V. or open Netflix up, and you scroll looking for something to watch. 

You eat while you’re not really thinking about your food, because you’re trying to find something good to watch.

And before you know it, even before you’ve found something to watch, you look down and your plate is empty!

You ate everything in the 10 minutes it took to find something to watch and you barely even tasted it. You don’t feel satisfied because you didn’t even get to enjoy your food so you hop and grab some seconds.

You start your show, engrossed in it (after all it’s pretty intense) and STILL barely taste your food and clean your plate again.

Then after you sit back down you feel stuffed! Ugh.

Many of us eat so fast. Our lives are busy. A million different things demand our attention: kids, husbands, pets, t.v. social media, work and everything else.  Who has time to sit down and eat, let alone time to sit down, savor and enjoy a meal?

Eating slower, taking time to really turn off auto pilot and taste the food you’re eating could be the missing tool in your kit to losing weight and living lean for life.

Why? How? 

How can eating slower make any difference to your waistline and your health?

You’ve probably heard that it takes 20 minutes for your brain to know your stomach is full. You heard right. 

It takes AT LEAST 20 minutes for your brain to catch up to your stomach.

Your stomach could be signalling your brain… “YO DUDE! I’m full. Can you let Sam know I’m good? I really don’t need any more food.”

And like using owls in Harry Potter the line of communication isn’t super quick. And it can take your brain ages to catch up.

Eating slowly gives your brain time to get the “I’m full” message from your stomach. 

Most of us eat fast, our meals don’t even last 20 minutes. Don’t believe me? Time yourself next time you eat. 

Even if your brain and your belly were on the exact same wavelength, eating slower helps increase satisfaction.

When you take the time to eat a bit slower you actually take the time to notice and taste your food. You can’t really taste food you inhale. The more you taste your food, the more you savor it and really think about what you’re doing, the more satisfied you’ll feel.

And feeling satisfied differs from feeling full. Full is a physical feeling. Satisfaction is a mental full.  Your brain likes it when you take the time to smell the roses.

Ever feel bloated and uncomfortable after eating?

Eating slower can help with that.

One, you’ll give your stomach time to let your brain know you’re full.

Two, digestion is a series of events. You simply think about eating and a series of events are triggered. 

Digestion takes a bit of time to get warmed up. Kinda like a warm up before a workout. Sure you can do it without taking the time to warm up, but it isn’t really ideal or even good for you.

When you scarf down your food at lightning speed, your stomach and intestine are like, “Holy poop dude! What is happening?!”

They get assaulted with a bunch of food that isn’t chewed well and big ol’ globs come plopping down into your belly.

Gas? Bloating? Heartburn? Yeah. Your system let’s you know it isn’t pleased with your behavior.

How does eating slower help with weight loss and maintaining that weight loss?

You’ll eat less without even trying

When you give yourself time to know you’re full before scarfing your food down you’ll probably eat less.

When you give yourself time to really enjoy and taste your food, you’ll feel more satisfied with your meal, and probably eat less.

Eating less means eating fewer calories.

How can you help yourself eat slower?

Simply paying attention can make a huge difference. Maybe you’ve never even thought about how quickly you eat until now and now that it has been brought to your attention, that might be all you need to slow down.

If just knowing isn’t quite enough there are a few different things you can try.

Time a meal. And the next time you eat, try to stretch it out 1 or 2 more minutes. Be aware of the time.

Put your fork down between each bite. Typically we’ll put more food in our mouth before what we just put in there is chewed up and on its way to our stomach. 

Take a sip of water between bites. This accomplishes two things, you slow down because you’re having to space out your bites and an extra plus is you’re helping your stomach feel fuller sooner because you’re drinking water. 

Take a deep breath between bites. 

If you feel like being a bit silly and working on a new skill, eat with your opposite hand. Have you tried this before? Could be fun right?

And the biggest one! SIT DOWN WHEN YOU EAT. Sit at a real table in a real chair and eat your food. Not on the go. Not in your car. Not while working. Sit down with your food and do nothing else.

This is the hardest one. If you can’t do it perfectly what can you do to do a little bit better?

No you know why slower eating is great, and how to start implementing it, what’s left?

Doing it.

Knowing something doesn’t matter if you don’t actually put it into practice.

Start practicing eating slower today.

Choose one meal and commit to slowing down. Start with the easiest one if this seems hard. If you like a challenge start with what you think will be the hardest meal.

Sit down. In a chair at a table. Look at your food. Take it in. What does it look like?  What are you looking forward to about it? What does it smell like? Strong? Faint? Spicy? Sweet?

Take a bite. Taste it. What does it taste like? What does it feel like? 

Okay, you get it. Take your time and really savor that meal. 

Once you’re finished, do you notice anything different? What went differently with this meal than normal? Did you hate it? Did you love it? Was it hard to slow down? Did it feel more relaxing? 

Remember, you don’t have to be perfect. If you’re eating and all the sudden you notice you’re eating pretty quickly, pause, refocus and start eating a bit slower.

We’ve gotten really used to eating fast and that isn’t a habit that’s going to change with one more aware meal. And that’s okay.

There will always be meals that are eaten quickly, on the go, and without really thinking about the food you’re eating, but having that happen less often over time is the goal. Doing a little bit better. Improving. Growing. That’s the goal.