Another fast eater here! My entire family is too. I have just recently started to eat more slowly. I try to count my chews, lol. It's annoying at first and sometimes I forget but you get used to it. And I also like my food hot! Once it starts get cool, I nuke it for 20-30 secs.
Thank to you ALL for letting me know I am not alone in this struggle!
As some of you mentioned, I, too, eat a bit more slowly in public because I guess I'm more aware of how horrific I must look scarfing all that food down.
Kudos to those of you who have made peace with your fast-eating habit and haven't allowed it to affect your calorie count. I am that way sometimes, but I realized a while back that I probably would eat less if I ate more slowly. I say that because I tend to get REALLY full on restaurant meals, even if I order something that isn't high in calories. It's mainly because the courses are paced. So, for instance, I will pour 1 glass of wine and sip it while I'm eating my first course---a salad, for example. (I'm not one to guzzle wine--at least that's a blessing). Then, by the time my entree comes, I actually feel comfortable. I'll still eat my entree, but I might leave some of it because I'm actually full. (Of course, that doesn't always prevent me from ordering some dessert----but that's an issue for another thread!).
I thank you all for the tips, and I plan on trying the following after reading this thread:
1) I will microwave my food and/or serve it really hot so that I won't have to worry about shoveling it down because it cools down. This is such common sense, why haven't I thought of it before (a "DUH" moment).
2) BP, I am definitely going to try your suggestion of eating in front of a mirror. Actually, I've often wished that someone would secretly videotape me while eating and play it back. As hard as it would be to see myself in full pig mode, I think I need to see that to make a change.
3) I like what one poster suggested of putting the fork down every three-four bites. That's a sensible compromise to putting it down after every bite.
Thanks to you all, again, for the tips and encouragement!
I hear ya, I love food and I eat super fast. I do like my food hot too, and hate it when it cools off...
But I have gotten better, what I do is eat with my left hand (my non writing hand). I have also started using a knife more too. I have always been a "cut with your fork" gal if I cut it at all. It takes me twice as long to eat when I do it that way!
There's still times I lose track and scarf down...but lately I have been very good at preportioning my food so I at least do not overeat!
I find that way to be the easiest way to eat slower, give it a shot!
I used to eat really fast, but like shanhat81 mentioned, I started drinking a full glass of water before each meal. I find it's easier to slow down when my stomach already feels kind of full.
I hear ya, I love food and I eat super fast. I do like my food hot too, and hate it when it cools off...
But I have gotten better, what I do is eat with my left hand (my non writing hand). I have also started using a knife more too. I have always been a "cut with your fork" gal if I cut it at all. It takes me twice as long to eat when I do it that way!
There's still times I lose track and scarf down...but lately I have been very good at preportioning my food so I at least do not overeat!
I find that way to be the easiest way to eat slower, give it a shot!
I'm a fast eater but it's hard to tell usually because I like my food room temperature.. so it seems like I eat slowly, but once it's the right temperature I can't help but practically inhale it.. my fiance is a fast eater too. I haven't really done anything to try to get myself to stop, though. I probably should..
This is definitely me! I know they say it takes 20 minutes for food to register with the brain, but My dinner is finished in 5 minutes! I cant eat slower, I cant eat small bite sizes, unless my mouth is full (People joke its the only time I am quiet lol) It feels strange! Ive tried letting my fork or knife down, or not have a drink with me, so I have to stop during eating to get a glass of water but it doesnt slow me enough lol! I also have to drink while I am eating!
Im like that too. I eat too fast. Seems like its something we all have in common. I just CANT eat slowly, and enjoy the food, like people tend to say you should. If I eat too slowly I get bored, and then start eating fast again...
Yes. I find that "savoring" my food just isn't as satisfying! Apparently I just like to shovel like an oinker and that brings me some kind of strange satisfaction. However, not all foods have the potential to be scarfed, as someone mentioned- salads are slow, for instance- but honestly, all the tricks and tips in the world have no impact on my feeding speed, which is just ridiculously embarrassing. So no ideas, but solidarity!
If I'm at home and not busy, I tend to eat really quickly. At work I multitask so much that it takes me a long time to eat my snacks or lunch. Since I pre-measure all of my meals, I don't have to worry about the amount of time it takes for me to eat it.
I already know that I've served myself an appropriate amount of food, so I don't go back for seconds.
It's extremely embarrassing. I am the fastest eater I know besides my older brother (maybe---I may even have him beat). I'm not exaggerating when I say that I can polish off a full meal in less than five minutes.
I have tried all the tricks---putting my fork down between bites (even though that feels so asinine to me for some reason), chewing slowly, taking sips of water in-between, but none of those habits stick. When I think about why this is, a few things come to mind:
1) I like my food HOT. I've heard chefs say that most food tastes better eaten at room temperature, but I like it hot. So, if I take my time to eat my food, it gets lukewarm, and it doesn't taste as good to me.
2) It's like I cannot really TASTE the food as well if I don't have a big mouthful of it. Somehow, when I eat small bites, it's like I don't get a good taste of the food. I know this goes against all common wisdom that says if we eat slowly we "savor" food and enjoy it more, but I suppose I'm the anomaly.
Does anyone else have this problem? I sometimes feel like such a freak (and unladylike, a hog, ---you name it).
I'm not, I'm an incredibly slow eater, but my bf is very fast. It's annoying cos I have always been taught not to get up till everyone has finished eating but he just can't sit there for that long and he will hover around until I have finished my last bite and will grab my plate away before I have even swallowed, something he learned from his grandmother, which I find not only annoying but incredibly rude.
Do you know what may have caused you to eat food quickly may be from a young age? Maybe if you work this out you could make some changes and teach yourself to eat slower. My bf things it comes from school, when at his school the first people to finish were the people who got seconds when it was the opposite way round at my school they could only serve seconds from a certain time so we would eat slowly and wait.
A friend once watched me and claims I managed to make an apple last 20 mins, I was doing other stuff so I would put it down and do stuff between bites but that's a really long time to eat one apple even for a slow eater like me
I'm not, I'm an incredibly slow eater, but my bf is very fast. It's annoying cos I have always been taught not to get up till everyone has finished eating but he just can't sit there for that long and he will hover around until I have finished my last bite and will grab my plate away before I have even swallowed, something he learned from his grandmother, which I find not only annoying but incredibly rude.
Do you know what may have caused you to eat food quickly may be from a young age? Maybe if you work this out you could make some changes and teach yourself to eat slower. My bf things it comes from school, when at his school the first people to finish were the people who got seconds when it was the opposite way round at my school they could only serve seconds from a certain time so we would eat slowly and wait.
A friend once watched me and claims I managed to make an apple last 20 mins, I was doing other stuff so I would put it down and do stuff between bites but that's a really long time to eat one apple even for a slow eater like me
I envy you!!
I'm sure you and my husband could have a nice gripe session: I tend to fidget and/or get up and start cleaning the dishes while he's in the last part of his meal. It's so rude, I know! I think I'm just A.D.D. or something when it comes to eating. I think someone else on here mentioned getting bored as a reason for eating fast, and I had never thought of that, but I think that's part of the reason I eat fast as well.
I don't think it comes from any childhood thing because other than my older brother, my other siblings don't have this problem. I think I would have slowed down a long time ago if not for the aforementioned lack-of-enjoyment factor, i.e., not enjoying my food as much if I eat it slowly. Besides trying some of the tips that have been given here, I may just have to make the sacrifice of having less enjoyable meals for a while to see if, eventually, I'll enjoy them as much when they're eaten slowly.
I'll pop in that part of my eating fast actually comes from the stomach problems I have had over the years.
Food used to make me sick (before being on stomach pills routinely) and I got into the habit of trying to 'enjoy' my food before my tunny started hurting and put a damper on the evening.
Also it doesn't help that I've been in the restaurant industry for 15 years and it's always a 'wolf that food down' and keep busy mentality. I worked at one place that gave you a 10 minute break (and they timed it to the second!) to eat for the whole day. They were 10 hours shifts, so you needed to eat a meal on your break . . .
and haven't allowed it to affect your calorie count. I am that way sometimes, but I realized a while back that I probably would eat less if I ate more slowly. I say that because I tend to get REALLY full on restaurant meals, even if I order something that isn't high in calories. It's mainly because the courses are paced. So, for instance, I will pour 1 glass of wine and sip it while I'm eating my first course---a salad, for example. (I'm not one to guzzle wine--at least that's a blessing). Then, by the time my entree comes, I actually feel comfortable. I'll still eat my entree, but I might leave some of it because I'm actually full. (Of course, that doesn't always prevent me from ordering some dessert----but that's an issue for another thread!).
