You Need to Slow Down to Lose Weight

All we ever seem to do is rush, rush, rush.  When it comes to food, one of the worse things you can do is rush things.  Here are 11 great tips to helps slow you down and enjoy food again.

#1 - Chew your food 20 times before swallowing.  Chewing does several things it breaks down the food into smaller pieces which means the digestion system can get more nutrients out of it.  Chewing also takes time.  The longer you take to eat, the less likely you are to overeat.

#2 - Put your fork down between bites.  Slowing down the rate at which you eat is good.  Putting the fork down makes you conscious of how much you’re eating as opposed to using the fork like a steam shovel.

#3 - Take a sip of water between bites.  Most of us don’t drink enough water so the extra sips are good for us.  Sipping the water replaces a mouthful of food.  You probably will eat less and take longer to eat.

#4 - Eat with a dinner partner and make dinner conversation a part of your menu.  Talking slows down the rate of food consumption.  Remember it’s bad manners to talk with your mouth full.

#5 - Don’t eat in front of the television.  It leads to mindless eating.  Your attention is on what’s going on in the program not what’s on your plate. Television advertising is food focused during meal times and the food isn’t necessarily good for you.  Reminding you of the triple deluxe burger when you’re having a salad may just make you feel deprived. 

#6 - Start your meal with an appetizer that takes awhile to eat.  It could be a shell-on shrimp cocktail, crab claws, a few pistachio nuts in their shell, or a bowl of soup.  The appetizer slows you down while you take the time to consume it.  It also puts something in your tummy.  Your brain takes about 20 minutes to recognize your tummy is saying you’ve had enough to eat.  The appetizer gives you that head start.

#7 - Listen to mellow music while you eat.  The slower pace of the music slows down your eating.  The mellow music relaxes you and lets you enjoy your food.

#8 - Eat with your non dominant hand.  If you’re right handed, put the fork in your left hand.  You’ll slow down your eating pace considerably.

#9 - Don’t eat foods that are intensely hot or icy cold.  Wait until they’re a more neutral temperature.  Heat and cold make your taste buds less likely to taste the flavor of the food.  If the soup is scalding, wait until it cools down.

#10 - Wait ten minutes before you go for seconds.  The odds are you won’t want the food anymore.

#11 - Savor the aroma of the food.  Our sense of smell is a huge part of eating.  Give your nose time to indulge you in the scents of your meal.  Take the time to experience the flavor as well as the smell.