One of the simpliest things you can do to help yourself lose weight or better manage your weight is to practice eating slowly.
Don’t confuse simple with easy though. The concept is simple, the execution takes practice.
But, it’s worth it because as well as helping to manage your weight, it also leads to better digestion and feeling more satisfied from your meal.
On the other hand, if you rush your meals, your digestion suffers and meals are stressful. It might seem like each meal is over too soon, which often makes you want to eat more. Or you finish your meal before your natural satiety signals kick in, and you end up uncomfortably full.
It’s something I struggle with myself, especially when I get home from work feeling hungry.
How does eating slowly help
Eating slowly allows your body to tell you when you have had enough. It takes about 20 minutes from when you start eating for the satiety signals to come from your your brain.
Eating quicker can lead to a lot of extra calories you don’t need, which has an expanding effect on your waistline.
Eating slowly helps improve digestion. Digestion is a step by step process that starts in your mouth when enzymes in your saliva starts to break down your food as you chew.
By eating too quickly this process is ineffective and bigger pieces of food end up in your stomach which can lead to digestive problems and who wants that.
Eating slowly helps you eat less, thats what most of the research on this topic shows.
In one University of Rhode island study researchers served lunch on two different occasions to 30 normal-weight women.
The first time they were instructed to eat as quickly as possible and on the second they were instructed to place their utensils on the table between each bite.
Both times they were told to stop when comfortably full.
Here is what they found:
- When eating quickly the women consumed 646 calories in 9 minutes.
- When eating slowly the women consumed 579 calories in 29 minutes.
That is 67 less calories in 20 more minutes! Multiply that by 3 meals a day, 7 times a week and thats a lot of extra calories.
Eating slowly leads to more long lasting satisfation. In the same study they also found when the women ate their lunch quickly, they reported more hunger an hour later than they did after their slowly eaten lunch.
How to impliment it
I suggest picking one meal a day to start with and when you are confident you are eating slowly, then move on to two, three meals and so on.
Here are some ways to practice eating slowly:
Place utensils on the table between each bite, only pick them up again once you have swallowed your food.
Sit at a table with no distractions. Don’t eat while watching tv, on your phone, driving etc, try eat every meal as if you are in a nice restaurant. Focus on enjoying your food.
Take a drink of water between bites. Have a full glass of water before your meal and sip on a glass throughout.
Take extra chews. Pick a minimun number of chews for each bite of food, This one seems strange but try it and see what think.
Time your meal. Set a minimum time your meal has to last, 20-30 minutes is a good start.
Pace yourself to the slowest eater. If out with friends, pick the slowest person in the group and match their speed.
Most of us lead fast-paced lives, so it’s understandable that we might try to rush our meals. But eating quickly does us no favors.
When we eat too quickly we end up eating more than we need, which leads to poor digestion, weight gain, and lower satisfaction from eating.
Eating slowly, in contrast, makes for better digestion, easier weight maintenance – and much greater satisfaction from our meals, so give it a try and if you have any questions ask below.