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 remember wolfing down a BLT sandwich in my dad's hospital room at age 11 and having a family friend say, "you're eating too fast."

I think there's something to be said for trying to slow down a little, for the simple reason that it stretches out the meal. Just by becoming more mindful of eating pace, I seem to have slowed down fairly effortlessly over the years. At the same time I suspect that we all have a natural eating pace, and trying to deviate TOO far from it won't help us enjoy our food more. I've never bought into the idea of X number of chews per forkful.

Freelance

I have that problem PLUS standing up in the kitchen to scarf my food. Horrible, horrible habit. However, despite having a very lovely dining room table, we rarely use it and instead plant ourselves either in front of the TV or the computer. I will say that doing that (even as bad as it's said to be) does provide a distraction enough that I don't eat as quickly.

I am usually finished eating in 5 minutes. It doesn't really affect me much because I let the food digest for 20 minutes and I'm usually full and don't want more.

I eat really fast too. I'm always the first one done.

I'm with you, I just don't enjoy it when I try to drag it out.

Pretty much my family/friends know that I'm going to be done way before them, and that I'm just going to chill and talk to them while they finish eating.

I have slooooowly become a tad slower at eating, but I'm with the others in that, I'm not really into making it totally change.

How fast I eat doesn't effect the calories I take in, and as long as I'm not swallowing food whole, I don't see the issue.

I'm a very fast eater, but that's usually because if I don't finish my food, my cat or dog will get to it. Lately I've been putting them out so I can eat at my leisure.

Yep, and it doesn't help that I serve myself half portion of what I give my beau so it's even more obvious.

Sadly the only way I can seem to eat slowly is to distract myself by reading, computer, or watching TV. All also considered "bad" for developing healthy eating habits.

I'm a fast eater too...I work in kitchens and you liderely only have a minute to shove food down your throat xD Even eating fast, I can taste my food fine and I still have time to savor it. And I don't overeat most of the time so I know I won't end up to full ^_^

It is a horrible habit & one I am most certainly guilty of. I eat WAY too fast. It's also a very hard habit to break. And OMG, I feel like SUCH A PIGGIE because of it!!! It's embarrassing, really. I, too, have tried all those "tricks". And that thing about putting your fork down between bites is just SO STUPID. I feel like a complete moron doing that! (esp in public!!!) And "sipping water" between bites doesn't really work for me, because hey - I sip fast too!! So what're we to do?

For me, the only thing that works is WATCHING MYSELF EAT. When I'm at home, I eat in front of a mirror. I know, crazy right? But seeing me shovel it in like that kinda grosses me out!! I can only imagine what other people see if they're forced to watch me eat, LOL.

When not at home, I try to just remind myself... "hey! Beach Patrol! - chew slowly!!" I try to consciously eat slower, sometimes I get up & go to the bathroom (even if I don't have to "go") or some other excuse to walk away from the meal for just a moment. It takes constant practice! I'm still not good at it - but the more I practice it, the more I am reminded to actually do it, if that makes any sense.

And yesterday, I had the privilege of a slice of cheesecake... my FAV dessert in all the world... I rarely have it because it's so calorie-laden & I know I'd really pig out on it if nobody was watching!! But I was DETERMINED to make that one slice of cheesecake last as long as possible! I ate it VERY slowly. I let each bite just kinda melt in my mouth. Oh dear Goddess, it was pure heaven!!

I guess us fast eaters will just have to continually "watch ourselves" for eternity. ~sigh! - seems daunting!!! - but I can't just let myself eat like that with no accounting for it. It's a large part of why I ate my way to 192 lbs.

Yes! I got really good at eating very slowly last time I lost weight, but with two very small kids, if I don't scarf I don't eat.

Another uber fast eater here.

A lot of my family members are fast eaters too. We're usually done with a meal in less than half an hour after it has arrived (my mother being the exception.) Admittedly I am trying to consciously slow down as well; I find if I distract myself with conversation or other things I rarely end up finishing my meal, which is rather amazing for me. By eating too fast I know I end up overeating because I don't give my body a chance to send out the 'I'm satisfied' signal.

Admittedly I used to think laying down the fork was rubbish as well but then I started doing it every second or third bite (instead of after every single bite.) After I lay it down I try to do something else that doesn't involve eating at all (continue conversations, check my phone, take a few sips of water, etc.) This has slowed me down quite a bit without it feeling forced or making it too obvious what I'm doing.

I completely understand the love of 'hot' food as opposed to 'lukewarm', a way around that is by making your food a little too hot at first if possible. That way you're forced to take it slow or risk burning your tongue and by the time you're done it would still be 'warm'.

My family is the same way. We all bolt our food and finish in no time, and there's Mom, just looking at us all like we're barn animals while she savors her food.

I actually felt a lot better when my sister got married; her husband still eats like he's in basic training, so I'm never the first one finished at holiday dinners anymore.

I used to be fast eater too until I got out of highshool. I met my DF and he BOLTS his food. Like if the plate isn't clean in 3 minutes it'll be 24 hours before you eat again. It bugged the crap outta me so much that I started having us eat with chopsticks.
Yeah I had to make sure our meals were the kind that could be eaten with chopsticks (everything had to be bite sized) but it worked great! Now we're so good at it that they don't even slow us down anymore and we've switched to the other hand to slow us back down.

I also love my food HOT, but I'm not picky, if it cools down, 30 seconds in the microwave makes it all better.

Yeap, I've always been a fast eater, mostly for your reason 1) - I like my food hot and fear that my food will cool off before I finish it!

....not that this explains why I eat my cold food quickly too >__>;;

Guilty, but only when I eat by myself. In public I on purpose take my time and go wicked slow because I hate when people comment on it!