Imagine this. You’re enjoying your meal at a dinner party with friends. The table is loaded with so many good options! You don’t want to be rude, so you take a bit of everything that’s offered and sit down to eat and enjoy the conversation.
Before you know it, your plate is empty and you’re considering seconds. You don’t really feel all that full, and that pile of rolls over there is super tempting! So you grab another. They were so good, you really can’t say no! Right? AND it would be such a shame to waste it.
Then, as there is with ALL good dinner parties, dessert arrives. And while it’s not your favorite option ever, it’s looking pretty good. So you get a serving of that too.
All this time, you’re feeling like you’re getting just enough to fill you up. You sit back, satisfied after fully enjoying your meal.
Then it hits you! You ate too much and now your tummy is MAD at you!
Why Your Stomach Shows Up Late
Have you ever noticed this? Your stomach consistently shows up late to the party! It’s so rude. Not only is it late, but it always wants to make a grand entrance to make sure you don’t miss that it’s joined you.
It’s crazy, right? If your tummy wanted to have a say in how much you ate, it should have shown up on time and been there with you the whole way—keeping you in check, making sure you don’t eat more than there’s room for.
Unfortunately, that’s not how our bodies work. We have a messaging delay between our stomach and our brain. It takes time for our bodies to send signals that relay information so we can understand, “Hey! I’ve had enough. I can stop eating and be fully satisfied.”
Why We Eat Too Fast
In our society, we tend to eat quickly. Maybe it’s because:
- As kids we always wanted to get to playtime
- Everyone else eats fast and we don’t want to be last
- We got too hungry before eating so now we just can’t wait
- Any number of other reasons we’ve learned along the way
The result? We eat more than we need before we’ve even had a chance to process the fact that we’ve started eating.
Today, I want to share 3 small habit shifts you can make right now to help you eat slower and start losing weight if that’s your goal.
3 Simple Strategies to Slow Down Your Eating
1. Count How Many Times You Chew Your Food
The recommended number of times to chew is 32. If you’re eating steak, you may need to chew even more. If you’re eating toast or watermelon, you probably won’t make it to 32 because you’ll be chewing nothing by the end.
The goal: Chew your food until it’s really broken down—so much so that it’s kinda disgusting to think about. 🙃 Then swallow it.
Not only will this allow you to enjoy every bite longer, but it actually helps with digestion. Chewing is supposed to be part of the digestive process, and we typically speed through this step so much it barely makes an impact.
Benefits of chewing enough:
- You’ll eat fewer calories and feel fuller with the calories you do eat
- You’re less likely to choke
- You’ll improve your ability to absorb nutrients
- You’ll experience less bloating and gas
What’s not to love? 🥰
2. Drink Water Between Bites
Okay, so really, you could drink anything you want between bites, but I do highly recommend reducing the number of calories you drink. Our bodies don’t respond to liquid calories as well as solid, so they don’t provide the same cues to let you know you’ve had enough.
Drinking a 12 oz cup of soda provides 150-200 EXTRA calories over what you’re eating without any increase in satiety over drinking water. Is it worth it to you to have those extra calories? Maybe occasionally, but be intentional when you decide to splurge.
Another good option (cue the diet haters here) is to drink diet soda. 😱 When I was younger, I learned that studies said drinking diet soda would confuse your body and make you search for missing calories, leading to weight gain. Those were very low-quality studies and have since been debunked. Drinking diet sodas does NOT make you gain weight. In fact, it can actually help you stick to your weight loss plan better because you feel more satisfied.
Of course, if you don’t enjoy the diet and no-calorie options, just stick with plain old water. Add ice or infuse it with fruits and veggies if you enjoy it more that way.
3. Leave Some Food on Your Plate
Did I just cause you a little anxiety with that one?
When we were younger, it was very common for parents to teach kids that they HAD to clear their plate. In my opinion, it was one of the worst pieces of advice in the history of ever.
Here’s why: Our plates are pretty arbitrary sizes. We fill them up from the options on the table, not really knowing how much will actually satisfy us, then eat until it’s gone. We never check in with our tummy to see if it’s ready to take more because it’s the plate that determines how much to eat.
If we’re trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight, allowing a piece of kitchenware to determine when you’re done eating may not be the best strategy.
Instead, try this: When you have a few bites left on your plate, push it away from you so it’s not staring at you begging to be eaten. Wait a few minutes to see if you even need it. If not, dispose of it.
Remember: It’s either going to go to WASTE, or it’s going to go to your WAIST.
Start Small, Build Momentum
Eating slowly is actually really simple! It just takes a little bit more presence of mind to make sure it actually happens. If you begin working on these habits and find yourself remembering AFTER your food is all gone that you were supposed to go slower, that’s okay. Try to remember sooner next time.
I always recommend working on only 1 or 2 habits at a time. Any more than that gets hard to maintain.
So, if this struck a chord with you, leave me a comment and tell me: Which of these little habit shifts will you start to work on?
PS – If you’re ready for more 1-on-1 help to reach your goals and would like to explore working with me, schedule a game plan call so we can chat and see if we’d be a good fit to work together.