I am a very fast eater, always have been. I am 46 so that's been a long time. Any one have any suggestions on how to teach myself to eat slower/ chew my food (more than 3 times) and take smaller bites? I know it all sounds so simple, but I can't seem to break this habit.

When I'm concerned about that I pick a number of times I want to chew -- say 15 -- and actually count the chews before I swallow. I don't do this much however!

Put your fork down

Last night, I went to the gym, came home and cooked my dinner and started to devour my food. I realized what I was doing so I sat up, put my fork down and just chewed. It takes practice and also helps if you don't have any distractions.

Start by eating with no distractions - no TV, no reading material, etc. Take a smallish bite, then put your fork down while you chew. If the fork goes down between bites, it really does make you slow down. Eventually, it becomes a habit.

I was going to recommend putting the fork down between bites as well. I also take a sip of water between bites.

I have a hard time with this, too, but I find that the opposite of what was said above works better for me. I eat my breakfast at my desk at work and it always takes me 30-40 minutes to eat a yogurt with granola in it. At lunch, when I eat with people or eat while reading, it takes me about 30+ minutes to eat. TV, however, speeds me up.

Oh man I used to have this problem- I could gobble down a huge meal in like 2 minutes. It was ridiculous.

I started paying attention to how thinner people eat.

1. They put down their fork.
2. They take sips of water between bites.
3. They savor the food
4. They talk in between bites.

I also then started aiming for taking longer to eat. My first goal was like 10 minutes. Then 12 minutes, then 15, etc. Then finally 20. First few times it was tough I won't lie- but I forced myself to do it.

NOW I'm the slowest darn person at the table lol. My husband and anyone else who eats with us is always finished before me- and I actually don't feel like I have to consciously slow down, it's just part of the routine now. Oh and taking longer to eat also equals eating less cuz you give your body time to realize it's full

All of the above and eat at the table, not on the couch in front of the tv.

I'd recommend take steps to increase your sensory awareness of every bite. Create a pattern/process in which you must:

1. Smell the food before you put it in your mouth.
2. Note the texture in your mouth and taste on your tongue.
3. Attempt to maximize the time spent on the tongue by allowing it to rest there and chewing longer.

The idea is to prolong the food pleasure so that you will be gratified with less.

A lot of people who eat compulsively derive their pleasure not from the actual food, but simply the act of eating. The food itself is less important than the psychological gratification of the putting food in their bodies and feeling full. If you eat mindfully and feel anxious about delaying eating by paying attention to your food, there's a good chance you're a compulsive eater. I know this was so for me.

Making myself eat by prolonging the sensory experience helped end the compulsive eating I had done all of my life.

I saw this on tv, I think its called gentel eating. its where you slowly put food in your mouth, hold it in there for a minute, savor the taste and flavor. you can use a timer to help you gauge your speed and all that. Im not really familiar with it though.

Counting chews works for me - I just see how long I can chew it before it dissolves completely. Putting the fork down feels too obsessive-compulsive for me.

I'm a super fast eater...sometimes I try to take a sip of water between bites to slow mysef down.

Eat with your opposite hand. If you're right handed, eat with your left. It makes it a bit harder so you take longer to eat, may eat smaller bites, etc. This may not work for everyone.

Try a bit of every suggestion and see what works for you!

What works for me is making a goal of drinking a whole glass of water with my food.