# Learning to eat slow...



## highwood (Jan 12, 2012)

So any tips/tricks to training myself to eat slower? I wolf food down like it is going to run away...I figure if I can master this then I will also eat less because of it.

But silly question here..sometimes I think if I eat a plate of hot food slower the food will go cold??

I can easily polish off a dinner plate of food in five minutes then go back for more. I find eating slow and less is hard especially if I really am enjoying what I am eating, then I just want to keep eating it non stop


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## SlowlyGoingCrazy (Jun 2, 2011)

Put the fork down between each bite. Anyone there with you? I eat slower when I'm having a conversation, obviously cause I can't talk with food in my mouth. 
In general I eat pretty slow and yes the food gets cooler but it really doesn't really make a different to taste or quality. 

Leave 20-30 minutes between seconds because that's how long it takes for your body to know if it's full or not.


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## highwood (Jan 12, 2012)

So how long should it take you to say eat a sandwich, or a plate of food? 15 minutes at least??

I think I might have to change this thing I have of trying not to eat after supper...because then I find I tend to pig out at supper because I am thinking it will be my last meal until breakfast. Maybe it would be better to eat less at supper knowing that I can have say another light meal closer to bedtime???


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## SlowlyGoingCrazy (Jun 2, 2011)

15+ minutes seems right. I'm trying to figure out about how long it takes me but I have no idea. 

I think in general more smaller meals are better. If you figure out how much dinner you'll be having and split it in 2 then you'll have a meal at dinner time and another at 7 ish. 

What you have is important too because if it's really carb-y or empty calories you're going to be hungry again pretty quick. Focus on proteins and fiber and it'll keep you full longer.


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## highwood (Jan 12, 2012)

Honestly fat keeps me fuller than proteins...maybe I am weird but I can eat a salad with healthy proteins and an hour later be hungry but eat a Big Mac with large fries and that will sustain me for hours


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## SlowlyGoingCrazy (Jun 2, 2011)

Eggs are always my go to for a filling meal without many calories. 

2 eggs will fill me up for a while. 
For that burger type feeling,
I'd make an egg sandwich so 2 bread, tomato, cucumber (you don't even need butter cause the veggies moisten things) and 2 eggs. Sometimes ham or bacon too. 
All in all I'd be stuffed for hours without all that many calories for a dinner meal. Like can't even think about food stuffed. 

I can't do whole grain bread but using that would make it even more filling and healthy. 

Also it's easy to make and I don't have a bunch of dishes lol


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## UnicornCupcake (Dec 8, 2016)

I can't stand eating cold food so I invested in covers of all shapes in sizes and heat retaining bowls. I'll put my corn in a separate mini bowl with a lid on my plate while I eat my meat. My plate looks a little compartmentalized, but you can get pretty decorative covers and what not. 

Another thing I do is DO something in between each portion. After I'm done my beef, I'll get up and rinse out the pan used to make the rice and fill it up to soak. I'll repeat the same process for the entire meal. There's a lot of up and down, but I like my meals to last and I don't want to just stuff my face in 15 minutes. This helps with digestion, too.


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## Andy1001 (Jun 29, 2016)

highwood said:


> Honestly fat keeps me fuller than proteins...maybe I am weird but I can eat a salad with healthy proteins and an hour later be hungry but eat a Big Mac with large fries and that will sustain me for hours


Eat whatever you want.
Just don't swallow it!


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## highwood (Jan 12, 2012)

SlowlyGoingCrazy said:


> Eggs are always my go to for a filling meal without many calories.
> 
> 2 eggs will fill me up for a while.
> For that burger type feeling,
> ...


I eat a fairly heavy breakfast..i.e. today had two boiled eggs, three slices of bacon, one piece of toast and some hashbrowns and two hours later..I was starting to get hungry again


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## SlowlyGoingCrazy (Jun 2, 2011)

highwood said:


> I eat a fairly heavy breakfast..i.e. today had two boiled eggs, three slices of bacon, one piece of toast and some hashbrowns and two hours later..I was starting to get hungry again


Do you drink a lot of water? I used to never drink water, I only drank coffee and pop. I had to switch that out so now I can only have coffee and water and the more water I drink the less hungry I am. I'm still not a fan of drinking water yet lol but it does help keep me over to the next meal. 

Do you count calories at all or just trying to cut back a little? I liked myfitnesspal app for when I counted calories. I would plan my entire day and knowing what I could eat and when helped me go through the day better. Just knowing I still had things left for later made me happy


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## highwood (Jan 12, 2012)

SlowlyGoingCrazy said:


> Do you drink a lot of water? I used to never drink water, I only drank coffee and pop. I had to switch that out so now I can only have coffee and water and the more water I drink the less hungry I am. I'm still not a fan of drinking water yet lol but it does help keep me over to the next meal.
> 
> Do you count calories at all or just trying to cut back a little? I liked myfitnesspal app for when I counted calories. I would plan my entire day and knowing what I could eat and when helped me go through the day better. Just knowing I still had things left for later made me happy


YOu are right, I know I do not drink enough water for sure. 

No I do not want to have to count anything, I just want to learn to moderate my food and eat way slower


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## Rowan (Apr 3, 2012)

I learned to eat at a stately pace during my childhood, from the older ladies in my family. I could maybe send you a disapproving elderly maiden aunt who would scold and perhaps swat your wrist with a folded fan if you began wolfing down your meal. Astonishingly effective! 


More realistically, you might want to look into mindful eating. Basically, there are a series of techniques that you can practice that will teach you to slow down and really experience and savor each bite before taking the next. And, yes, putting your fork down between bites, chewing more thoroughly, and taking small sips of your beverage between bites can all help with this. As a huge bonus, people who practice mindful eating tend to eat less because the body has more time to signal satiety to the brain, so you realize you're full before overeating.


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## Spicy (Jun 18, 2016)

Counting to sixty between bites will help. After doing that for a while, you will have retrained yourself to eat slower.


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## highwood (Jan 12, 2012)

Spicy said:


> Counting to sixty between bites will help. After doing that for a while, you will have retrained yourself to eat slower.


I will try that...maybe even count to thirty to start...just to ease into it. The worst is when I am starving I noticed that situation is the worst in that I am just shovelling the food in. I often think if someone was to videotape me I would be so embarrassed.


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## Taxman (Dec 21, 2016)

A few schemes that I have learned through Weight Watchers: CHEW-count your chews, do it slowly and count up to ten for soft foods and 30-50 for harder foods. Use a smaller plate, you will slow down when you see the plate emptying faster than it should. ALWAYS SIT. Do not stand over the sink, it encourages you to eat quickly. Savor the food, roll it around in your mouth, get the most flavor out of it, eating fast dilutes the flavor and lessens the experience. 

The longer it takes to eat, the more opportunity for the food in your stomach to send a satiety signal to the brain. Eating fast delays the signal.


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## Luvher4life (Jan 15, 2016)

Drink a glass of water at least 10 to 15 minutes before your meal. Chew food much more deliberately and thorough. Stop and take drinks every few bites. Once you swallow, count to 10 before entering the mouth with the next bite.


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## lucy999 (Sep 28, 2014)

10-5-10 rule.

Eat slowly for 10 minutes. Take a break for 5 minutes. Then go back, if you are indeed still truly hungry, which more often than not you will not be, and do not eat for more than 10 more minutes. I have been extremely successful with this method. It's quite rare that I go back and continue eating after my 5 minute break. It takes your body literally 20 to 25 minutes to signal fullness to your brain. Go to a restaurant and observe closely. Most people will inhale their food in 10 minutes. That is not enough time to Signal fullness.

Just like @Rowan said, this method is basically mindful eating. And I know this is a no-brainer to everyone, but do not eat unless you are truly hungry.


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## highwood (Jan 12, 2012)

Luvher4life said:


> Drink a glass of water at least 10 to 15 minutes before your meal. Chew food much more deliberately and thorough. Stop and take drinks every few bites. Once you swallow, count to 10 before entering the mouth with the next bite.


Thanks...great tips! I know when I am starving it is the worse


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## UnicornCupcake (Dec 8, 2016)

Oh! And do NOT lay or sit down immediately after you eat. You'll subconsciously associate food with relaxation and comfort. Instead, start on those dishes ASAP. Better for digestion,a nyway. Or take a slow walk.


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## katiecrna (Jan 29, 2016)

It's very interesting because statistically the US has the highest rate of obesity, yet we they studied how long our meals last, the US eat the quickest. 

In other countries, meals are treated as special. Time is taken to prepare the meal, then they eat slowly, and converse with each other. It's suppose to be a social time. Time to not only feed our appetite but to spend quality time with family. Sadly in America we spend less and less time cooking, and it's usually one person cooking while the other family members are doing something else. Many times they eat as fast as they can, so they can go back to doing what they would rather be doing... watching tv, playing video games or playing on the computer.

This is the one thing about American culture that I can't stand. We need to have more quality time, everyone should be involved with the cooking, it should be a fun time to laugh and talk.


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## katiecrna (Jan 29, 2016)

Another thing is... there is hungry, not hungry, full, and disgustingly full. People shouldn't eat till they are disgustingly full, but they trained themselves to read "I'm doing eating" when they feel disgustingly full and they shouldn't do that. If your tired and need to lay down after dinner, you probably are eating too much.


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## SlowlyGoingCrazy (Jun 2, 2011)

I think people get those full feelings differently than each other. My daughter can only have a few bites of something until she is too full and starts being painful. She has to eat small portions all day. Can't even finish a whole apple in one sitting.
I'm probably middle-ish, and my son doesn't have that too full feeling. Ever. He's a teen now but even as a toddler he didn't have that stop eating switch and I had to monitor how much he was having vs watching for signals that he was done, I ended up talking to the Dr about it and it is somewhat common apparently. 

This is the main reason I figure out calories cause once you know how much you should be having a day it's easier to portion it out to suit individual needs. As long as my daughter ends up eating enough and my son doesn't eat too many it's all good.
I'm not on a diet and neither are they, I just want to make sure I don't go too much over normal cause 3-6pm I could eat a weeks worth of calories some days so when I monitor myself I make better choices.


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## Luvher4life (Jan 15, 2016)

I think it's the portions that are making Americans obese. That, and a lack of physical activity. Have you noticed that portions have grown over the last couple of decades? I would prefer to eat just enough and slow enough to feel full, not overeat. About the physical activity..., kids nowadays don't even know "how" to go outside and play. The majority of them just sit around playing on their phones, video games, and watch TV, instead of going outside for some actual physical activity. This will lead to obesity at some point for the majority of them.


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## Luvher4life (Jan 15, 2016)

highwood said:


> Thanks...great tips! I know when I am starving it is the worse


You have to allow your stomach to catch up with what you're putting in it. If you give your stomach time to actually "feel" the food that's in your stomach, you will get that "full" feeling much quicker. Take time to "savor" the food no matter how hungry you are. Watch your portions, too.


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## katiecrna (Jan 29, 2016)

Luvher4life said:


> I think it's the portions that are making Americans obese. That, and a lack of physical activity. Have you noticed that portions have grown over the last couple of decades? I would prefer to eat just enough and slow enough to feel full, not overeat. About the physical activity..., kids nowadays don't even know "how" to go outside and play. The majority of them just sit around playing on their phones, video games, and watch TV, instead of going outside for some actual physical activity. This will lead to obesity at some point for the majority of them.




Yea but people eat at restaurants because they have large portions. There are tons of nice restaurants that have normal portions but people think it's not enough food, and they want more "bang for your buck". Also given a choice, we would supersize our order. There needs to be personal accountability, no one makes us obese, we do it to ourselves


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## Luvher4life (Jan 15, 2016)

katiecrna said:


> Yea but people eat at restaurants because they have large portions. There are tons of nice restaurants that have normal portions but people think it's not enough food, and they want more "bang for your buck". Also given a choice, we would supersize our order. There needs to be personal accountability, no one makes us obese, we do it to ourselves


Exactly, and I am agreeing with you. People are always trying to get bigger portions for the buck. That's fine, but you still have to have discipline to keep yourself from eating as much. It's like I've noticed that some places serve chicken fried steak with gravy and all the fixings. The ratings are more dependent on portions than actual taste. I fix the best CFS w/gravy I've ever eaten, but I also make sure the steak are not excessively big. Eating slower, drinking water before a meal, watching portions, as well as watching what you eat are what is needed to slow down the process of weight gain. Exercising regularly will also help burn the excess calories we consume, too, as well as helping the body stay healthy. Also, the older we get the fewer calories we need because metabolism slows.


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## LaReine (Aug 14, 2017)

My stepkids would wolf their food so we introduced a rule- they had to sit at the table for 30 minutes, whether they had finished or not.

Eventually, due to the boredom, they started eating slower. 



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