Question

Question: Gloria from MA asks: Can you help with suggestions? I eat too fast. It is from 30 years of having a 20 minute lunch as a public school teacher. Help

Answer

Reply: You are not alone in eating too fast. It is a habit of most people living in a fast paced society. Even when there is time to relax and enjoy food, most people still inhale. There is no one cure for fast eating that works for all individuals. I can help with suggestions. The first step is identifying the reason or reasons why you are eating fast. In your case, you attribute it to the habit of having to eat fast as a teacher. Other reasons for fast eating can include coming from a large family where, if you didn't eat fast, there was nothing left, picking up the pace because you are eating with someone else who eats fast or stress. For example, eating with people that cause emotional turmoil can cause some people to eat fast. Often people do not even realize they are "shoveling it in" but it is their way of not dealing with the emotions of the situation. Once you have identified the main reason you are eating fast, develop two to three strategies that are appropriate for the situation. My number one strategy to slow down fast eaters is to get them to taste the food. Even making people describe the taste of food slows people down because fast eaters often do not even think about taste. Other strategies include putting your fork down between each bite, pacing your eating to the slowest eater at the table, chewing each bite at least 10 times, counting to ten between each bite, or forcing yourself to sit at the table a minimum of 20 minutes and trying to stretch your eating over that time period. The funniest tool I have ever seen to slow eating was a fork with a red and green light. When the red light came on, you had to put your fork down. You had to wait until the green light came back on to continue eating. I haven't seen it for years, but if I ever saw it again, I would buy it instantly as a fun way during talks to point out how fast most people eat! One other thought. Pretend you are the cook and imagine how you would feel when you spend 4 hours making a great meal, only to see it inhaled in less than 6 minutes! It can be discouraging and might make all of us slow down. (you can tell that is a pet peeve of mine, having been the person making the meal many times). Dr. Irene