Five Powerful Reasons to Eat Slower

re: Five Powerful Reasons to Eat Slower

snellingom — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 13:38:23 GMT

Ok, I've never posted here before, but this is something I need to say. If I chew my food very much the texture becomes disgusting and I would rather spit it out than swallow it! I can't keep food in my mouth that long without getting grossed out! How do I get over this? I had a friend who liked to savor each bite of her food, pushing it around through her teeth with her tongue. When I tried it I nearly gagged - not because there was too much food in my mouth; it just felt gross.

I like food. I like to cook at home. I scarf down my meals. I blame the public school system which conditioned me to eat my lunch in under 20 minutes.

re: Five Powerful Reasons to Eat Slower

4myhealth — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 21:53:40 GMT

I have learned something here..Because I am one of those that stay in a hurry and gulp my food down.. except when I am in a resturant I do like to enjoy being out of the house. But being a mother of 4 with 3 Teens keeps me on the run morining, and night. I really cant image slowing down to chewing eat bite 100 times.. If i had to do that I might as well put it all in a blender and drink it..LOL which would be totally gross! But I would argree that slowing down and eating the proper foods I might loose some weight, because one if u eat slower your body gets full faster! And I need lots of liquid to swollow my foods, as a adult I drink more than I did as a child. I really enjoy reading this site!

re: Five Powerful Reasons to Eat Slower

Coach Ross — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 01:13:12 GMT

Nothing adds stress to my day more than eating with slow eaters. I grew up in a home where we sat down and no one talked until we were through eating. I'm 59 and have never weighed more than 195 pounds and have no digestive problems yet. I'm content to leave the dangers of eating fast in the category of old wife's tales.

re: Five Powerful Reasons to Eat Slower

pookey — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 21:29:06 GMT

When my partner and I have dinner in a restaurant, this is not a problem. We eat leisurely. But, whenever we have dinner with friends, either at home or out, the difference in eating times becomes very apparent. The last time we had a meal out with friends, they had swallowed down their food before I was even one quarter finished my main course. It was if they had eaten like rapacious and starving dogs, who dont chew (because they dont need to, the dogs I mean).

Sometimes, this is problematic, and I end up asking for a doggie bag so that I can have dessert with my friends. The difference is unbelievable.

Funny how this subtle difference has often made the difference between whom you choose to have dinner with and whom you dont.

re: Five Powerful Reasons to Eat Slower

triciarr — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 20:38:17 GMT

I agree with this concept so much. We all seem to be pressure to rush through our lives. What is the point of living if we are always trying to get passed the current moment and can't enjoy it? Slooowwwww doooooooooowwwwwwwwwnnnnnnn-lol! Take your time and enjoy the moment you are in instead of worrying about the next one and the next one yet to come!

Tricia

re: Five Powerful Reasons to Eat Slower

alm260 — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 19:03:04 GMT

My father served in Vietnam where the military taught him to eat as quickly as possible and it created such a bad habit that he still eats way too fast. I grew up with this model of eating (and very little dinner conversation when my family did eat together) until a friend was brave enough and loved me enough to point out that I did the same thing. I purposely tried to slow myself down and my digestion improved quite a bit. Now I'm thankfully married to a wonderful man who loves to have conversations at the dinner table so I'm able to carry on the good habits of eating slowly.

re: Five Powerful Reasons to Eat Slower

DizzyIzzy1 — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 17:29:36 GMT

Hahaha I've always been a slow eater - painfully so; most of my food as a kid was stone cold by the time I finished, and it isn't much better now as an adult. I'm always the last to finish, most people get up and do their dishes while I'm still going. Guess it's a better thing than people let on, eh? :D

re: Five Powerful Reasons to Eat Slower

AUStone — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 14:27:24 GMT

About four-five months ago I found a book entitled "In Praise of Slowness". It is by far the single most valuable tool I have found to date. Slowness is a life-style that I actively try to foster each and every-day. Coming from me of all people might be a little strange. ( the insanity is in the bio ) . When i'm at home, I enjoy my family. When i'm at the market, my son and I pick out produce and meats we would like to try ( we sniff everything! ), when i'm at school I concentrate on classes. The list goes on and on, but you get the point.

The realization that I do NOT have to force myself to speed through my life was a day of reckoning for me. I have alot to do. So what? I might as well enjoy MY journey through life. Taking the time to enjoy things makes a world of difference everyday for me.

Not to mention its just plain fun to see how iritated people get when I refuse to be rushed away from the registers, take time to order food ( like asking questions ), I take strolls sipping organic coffee while s-l-o-w-l-y making my way to what-ever-class-ive-got-on-the-other-side-of-campus, I get to class on time though.

Funny...I so hard-core usd to be "faster is better". thank goshness that's over with.

re: Five Powerful Reasons to Eat Slower

tomheik — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 11:04:57 GMT

Eat slowly, chew your food thorougly , eat only healthy food and stop your eating before being full- If you can follow those principles, you should never have a weight problem. Weight control is really that simple.

re: Five Powerful Reasons to Eat Slower

seg — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 14:21:44 GMT

2 decades ago ha !!!!! Maybe 200 years ago. Mediterraneans on the whole, when they sit down for a meal especially supper, or "special" occasions usually lasts for hours.

Great food , good wine, good company, can only be a prescription for happiness which is one of the pillars of good health, most European communal civilizations are like that, so this notion that the slow food movement started 2 decades ago is a crock a........Other than that great article...

re: Five Powerful Reasons to Eat Slower

www.TheHealthyGlow — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 13:15:21 GMT

Slowing down at meal time is an important practice in my home. Not just eating but slowing down to enjoy our food and eachother!!!
We have hectic schedules but I unwind by cooking a healthful meal and then my husband and I relax and share our day with eachother and our two small children over our meal. Chatting keeps it slow too. It is a special time of day to come together and connect.
We do this every Sunday at Grandma's house too. Being Italian we have a huge family and it has been a tradition to all get together on Sunday and share eachothers company and have dinner. It is alot of fun and reminds us that it is important share family time. It is also teaching our children the importance of family as well.
And It makes Grandma feel extra special too...by the way there are about 15 of us every Sunday!!!

re: Five Powerful Reasons to Eat Slower

nutriposa — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 02:50:52 GMT

Funny that this article came up. I was to eat the other night and my boyfriend and I sat next to 4 frenchmen. They were there right at the same time we were if not maybe even a little before. I watched them as they ate and drank their wine trying to understand some of their french. My boyfriend and I got our food around the same time they did and we were done and pretty much out of there when I looked over to see that they were only about halfway done with their meal. I commented to my boyfriend wow they eat so much slower then we do and take time to enjoy conversation, the flavor of the food, and wine. In watching them I decided that I really need to take the time to eat slower, enjoy life, and embrace some of the ways of the french. Thanks for the reminder.

re: Five Powerful Reasons to Eat Slower

Pwyll — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 02:45:05 GMT

Not only is drinking fluid hard on digestion as mentioned, due to dilution of the gastric juices--even worse are cold fluids--which are served in every restaurant in the country. A little warm something would be ok-maybe three or four ounces...
Eating on the run--5 minutes between bites--no, that doesn't count for slow and Relaxed!! Nice try.

re: Five Powerful Reasons to Eat Slower

Russ Bianchi — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 22:00:26 GMT

SLOW FOOD IS THE ANSWER!!!

re: Five Powerful Reasons to Eat Slower

Magnolia — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 17:21:50 GMT

Great article! People complain that they don't have time to eat but that's just what they've been conditioned to believe. Scheduling is everything. How about trading lunch hour for two thirty-minute morning and afternoon heavy snack periods?

Eating slowly won't mean you will not get enough to eat. Just keep in mind you can eat again in two or three hours and you will feel less desperate. And like everything else we do, eating slowly is habitual. Doing it involves a little bit of retraining. Have patience; it is worth it.