The lost art of chewing food
 

Since I started mid January I pay more attention not only to what and how much I eat but also how I eat.
I love good food and like to eat but strangely enough I don't take time to really chew. I am a fast eater and I have a tough time to really slow down and chew my food. Weird eh? You can enjoy the food much longer when you eat slowly and I still am struggling with this.
Anybody else having the same problem?
I am looking for more ideas to practice. So far I try to put down my fork between bites and really put effort into smaller bites. Sometimes I can manage, sometimes it doesn't work at all.
Part of it is, that I chat over my meals and stop paying attention. I am considering switching to chopsticks at home since that would considerably slow me down.
Any other ideas?

I used to be the same way.

I did a lot of things.

First- I figured out how long it took me to eat (I found it was within 5 minutes! No wonder I'd overeat!)

Then I decided to double that. 10 minutes. I started drinking a sip of water between each bite. I put down my fork, I did NOT hold my fork or eat while talking. I mean literally I was looking at the clock the whole time (I know it sounds crazy) to make sure I wasn't going too fast.

Then when I could do 10 minutes I switched up to 15, then 20 minutes. At 20 I felt that I was at a good enough pace :)

It was tough but I remember it took me a few weeks to really get it down to where it was more natural.

Now I'm usually the last to be done! It sort of backfired on me ;)