Eat Slow, Lose Weight. 5 Steps to Leisurely Eating.

photo by Hans S

Hi, my name is Tracey. And I’m a slow eater.

It all started in elementary school when I’d eat dinner with the family. I’d blabber on and on about what I learned in school, why cerulean was my favorite Crayola crayon color, and how Diana with the bushy bushy brown hair was one of the most evil girls I’d ever met. While I was busy playing Chatty Cathy, my mom, dad, and sister would be munching away on their meals. So it’s only natural that by the time they started clearing the dishes, I was only halfway done with my dinner.

(I know, I know: You’re shocked and amazed that my family would leave me all alone at the dinner table. I think I’m scarred from it. Sure, they came back down to eat their desserts with me. But it’s not the same. Not at all. Some psychologist is going to benefit from this big time one day. It’s cool—it’s not like I’m holding a grudge. It’s not like I purposefully eat slow with them nowadays just to make them suffer with their guilt for a full meal. Really.)

Anyhow, I recently read a study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, that said eating fast—family, are you listening?—is linked to overeating. Ha! That’s right.

Greek researchers measured levels of two hormones—peptide YY (PYY) and glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1)—in the blood that are responsible for satiety in 17 adult men. First, the men ate 657 calories worth of ice cream (someone’s got to do it) in five mintues. In a second experiment, the men ate the same amount of ice cream in 30 minutes. When participants wolfed down the ice cream in record speed, researchers found lower levels of the fullness peptides than they found when the men ate at a more leisurely pace. (No word yet on how many of those men got massive ice cream headaches post-trial.)

“Yeah, yeah yeah,” you say. “My mother told me to slow down all the time when I was growing up.” True—researchers have supposed that speed eating leads to overeating. But this new study is particularly important because it suggests a reason why: hormones that control appetite are curbed when you scarf down your food.

As happy as I am to find justification for my slow eating, there’s someone else who’s crying a little inside: The Man. See, The Man’s used to devouring an entire hot dog in the time it takes me to perfectly re-work my turkey club. Since I made him feel bad about leaving the table before I’m finished he’s polite, The Man waits with cleared plate for me to finish my dinner. Sometimes it takes another 15 minutes. Sometimes another 30 if I’m particularly talkative. You can imagine how he felt when he found out that my leisurely eating is virtuou

Me: Hey, so, um, I read a study that said eating quickly is linked to overeating.
The Man: Oh.
Me: Do you think you eat too fast?
The Man: Nope.
Me: Maybe we should try to slow down how fast we eat.
The Man: Uh huh.
Me: And by we, I mean you.
The Man: Nope.
Me: Please don’t make me be slow by myself! Please!

OK, so it might now work on him—yet. In case you’re more motivated to set a leisurely pace, try these five tips:

1. Put your fork down in between bites. Your chicken’s not going to get up and walk away and your peas aren’t going to roll off your dish. So there’s no reason to leave your fork hovering over you plate like a vulture while you frantically chew another bite.
2. Don’t eat until you’re satisfied with your meal. I’m a picky eater. Always have been. Always will be. And I’m not afraid to be picky at restaurants, when I don’t have full control over how my food is cooked. If I order a BLT and the bacon is limp, I’ll take the time to trim off the mushy, slimy fat. Is it dainty and ladylike? Nope. But it prevents me from eating something I’m not totally, 100 percent looking forward to. And it slows me down a bit.
3. Sip water in between bites. Sometimes I’ll eat dinner with a friend and wonder how I can go through three glasses of water in the time it takes her to take a few swigs. Doesn’t she get thirsty? Doesn’t she get heartburn? Whether or not it actually forces you to eat less (I think it does) stopping to take a few sips of water in between bites is a great way to tell yourself to slow the whole meal down.
4. Stop when others stop. I can’t count the times I’ve been so rushed by my dining companions’ speed eating (and waitresses too eager to clear plates) that I’ve given up on my meal before I was done. I’m not advocating throwing out a darn good meal because you’re a little slow. But when a friend finishes her meal, consider whether you’re really hungry for the rest of yours. Sometimes—especially with giant restaurant meals that can feed an entire African village—the answer is no.
5. Chew. Ground-breaking, right? The thing is, The Man chews about four times per bite, which means he can eat about a gazillion times faster than me. Not that I count, but I chew each bite closer to 30 or s0 times. I’m not worried about choking or anything; I’m just enjoying what I’m eating. Try chewing your food more, paying attention to the mix of flavors and textures going on in a dish.

What about you—do you zip through a meal faster than a starved puppy or are you do you take your sweet ol’ time?