Something Interesting I'm Trying

Lately I've heard  about an idea about appreciating food more that also has side benefits.  That idea is called slow eating.

The concept is rather simple.  You take a bite of food, try to chew it thirty times, swallow, then wait thirty seconds before you repeat the process.  Those touting its virtues say that it helps you to savor and appreciate your food, eat less, lower your stress levels, and to lose both weight and inches.

I've heard about this concept several times over the last few years as an alternative to our "hurry up and go!" lifestyles that push us to not slow down for anything.  Added to that is a religious background common to many U.S. citizens that believes that stretching out a meal is at best self-indulgent, and at worst a sin against God Himself.

I think slow eating has merit, myself, and have launched onto a six-month experiment, using myself as the guinea pig.  Other benefits I see coming from this includes spending less money on food, more talking with those I love (an admitted weakness of mine), and possibly a way to remove mental clutter from my mind.

The experiment actually started on October 22 (I've been without a computer lately) and my first meal was a bowl of apple cinnamon cereal.  I took a bite, set my spoon down and counted to thirty, after I swallowed.  Then I took another bite, and repeated the process until the cereal was gone.  However, I drank my coffee at the same normal pace I always do.

My cereal got soggy before I finished it, so either I need to eat two smaller bowls, or make do with one smaller bowl.

In what I've seen so far, the amount of "chews" (which sounds oddly sounds disgusting, btw) can range from seven to forty-five, depending on what you're eating.  I may have to widen the range, for I haven't had pork chops in a while, a pork is a lot denser than beef.

The next thing I ate was an apple cinnamon doughnut from an apple orchard near Mount Pleasant, Indiana.  I promptly forgot about eating slow and wolfed it down in just a few seconds.  You would think that my mistake would've ended the experiment, right on day one.

Not so.  One doughnut - especially a small one - does not derail an experiment.  My family and I then went on to Cracker Barrel, and that's where I saw the potential - and power - of slow eating.

Whenever we go to Cracker Barrel, I almost always get the same meal: a grilled sirloin steak with three side dishes, along with biscuits.  Normally, I'd have very little to take home, if any

I cut my steak into small pieces, and had a small area set up with steak sauce and ketchup for my steak fries.

Then, no matter what I ate, I'd take a bite, set my fork on the plate, chew up and swallow the food, and then counted to thirty, or talked with my family.  When you're eating with family, it's easy to space time out between bites.

We spent half an hour at the table, approximately, after we got our food.  I ended up taking home half the meal, except for the coleslaw. (An aside:  Cracker Barrel food is - to me - delicious and well-made, but their coleslaw is easily beat by what my local grocery store sells in their meat and deli section.)

I noticed a difference on this meal, which is what I wanted to share.  By eating slow and pacing myself, I was actually able to notice when I was full.

A very illuminating thing to experience.  Added with keeping a food diary, it will be interesting to see how things work out later.

Peace be unto you.