Holy crap, I eat fast

Today I decided to start practicing taking smaller bites and chewing each one at least 20 times.  Good God was that hard.  It seemed like it was taking forever to get to swallow anything.  I never really thought about it, but I was eating very fast.  Pretty much stuffing it in my mouth and swallowing it.  My instinct was to swallow at about 3-5 chews, so it was crazy hard to wait until 20.

Just thought I would share that.

It doesn't take practice to eat that way, really.  Just one bad experience will set you straight.

That is why I am practicing now.  I hope I am good at it by the time I have surgery.

Eating slowing is definitely a challenge for me too.  I use small plates and utensils, but I'm always the first one done at meal time.

Vomit once, and you'll slow down.  

Good of you to make the observation and try to tame that habit now!

I discovered the same thing about myself.  After I got sick a few times I began to crochet while I ate my meals to help pace myself.  

This was and still is a bad habit that has been very difficult for me to break.  Of course I had to go super slow when I was a new post-op.  Bur the further out I got the faster I could eat and sometimes I feel like I'm back to my old habit.  

I actually bought one of those little hourglass egg timers with the sand in it so I could use it at the table and time myself between bites.  It's been helpful!  

This is also my biggest challenge, and am practicing while in pre-op stage.  Some meals are easier than others but not sure why. The small plates/utensils have helped some. I suspect as with most of my habits, it's just that - a habit that needs changing.  Another poster in her blog mentioned watching other people eat and gaining a better appreciation of how sloppy and fast it was - and it used to be her!  

This is a big problem of mine as well and I know it. I am always the first one done at the table and my husband comments on it a lot. I try to slow down but unconsciously I always end up speeding up again. I'm really struggling with this and I want to try to fix it pre-op so I don't have to deal with the consequences of nausea/vomiting post-op. I honestly think it's going to be very, very hard for me and my therapist agrees because it was drilled into me as a child hurry up, hurry up, come on your doddling, if you don't hurry up I'll take your plate away, etc... Plus I had 5 siblings and it was almost survival of the fittest, if you didn't get to the table and get eating you may not get your share so now it is an ingrained habit but I'm determined to kick it. I like the timer idea, I think I'll try that it will help me focus on my chewing during my meal. Thanx for posting and good-luck

I think that is one of the biggest problems with us as a country.  Most of us who become obese, never learned to eat slowly and/or have small portions.  We pack our schedules so full that we either eat on the run or eat so quickly we never understand what or meaning of "fullness" is.  I had a good old fashioned childhood where we played outside ALOT, even in the winter no matter how much snow - the more the merrier!  But when one parent became ill, it was hard to feed a family of 6 so we ate what would fil us up.  Sandwiches, pasta, potatoes, all the things I learned to crave all my life.  When I married, I made sure my wonderful hubby had good meals but I ate what would fill me and began my obesity in my 20's.

But never was I told to slow down at the table.  That is a habit we need to change nationally to get out of the cycle of obesity.