10 tips to eat slower.

1. Practice. Fast food is a habit that needs to be broken. Practice mindful eating by planning it into your day. Write it down on your calendar, leave notes on your fridge, and send yourself pre-meal reminders until your new habits become automatic. It usually takes 3-4 weeks to form the right skills. And that is why our courses do not consist of one session, as we help to change not only one, but many bad eating habits, and this takes more time.

2. Sit down at the table. Sitting at the table to eat is a signal to the brain that the meal has begun. If you eat on the run or standing at the counter, you can quickly lose track of how much you ate. Even if you eat a lot, but standing up, you continue to feel that you are not satisfied.

3. Eat small meals. A clean plate is an incredibly powerful signal that the meal is over. For this reason, large portions often lead to overeating, simply because of our tendency to eat everything on our plate. Serve yourself small portions as a reminder to take your time and savor every bite.

4. Don't get distracted. Whether you're reading, watching TV, or pairing food with an activity, you're not paying attention to the food you're putting in your mouth. We understand that you are busy and want to multitask, and not take a break from work even for 15 minutes. But it's definitely worth doing in order to eat. And if you, for example, watch a movie and eat, you are guaranteed to overeat, because you won’t even notice how much you ate.

5. Chew thoroughly. Of course, you will say that you are chewing food, but still, if you eat on the run, there are chances that you are swallowing a lot unchewed. Take smaller bites and chew food thoroughly. Pay attention to the texture of what you are eating.

6. Drink. Another way you can force yourself to slow down your meal is to consciously drink throughout the meal. Also, the fluid in your stomach will help you feel fuller. For drinks, water is the ideal choice.

There is a little secret that is not actively spread, because it has only a scientific opinion, but no justification. Drink a glass of water 10 minutes before every meal and you will lose weight.

7. Put down the plug. The classic recommendation is to put a fork, spoon, or sandwich between bites. When we eat unconsciously, our hands automatically carry the fork to our mouths. By putting down your fork, you force yourself to relax a bit and focus on chewing.

8. Talk. You only have one mouth and if you use it to speak it will be difficult to put food in it. Eat with friends, talk and use it as an opportunity to slow down your meal.

9. Eat with people who eat slowly. We all have an unconscious desire to imitate the people who are around. If you eat with a ferocious eater, you can mimic their bad habits and eat quickly. To train yourself to eat slowly, try to find slow eaters who will influence you in a positive way.
How to learn to eat slowly and lose weight

10. Avoid feeling hungry, snack. Don't eat when you are hungry. Nothing will make you eat faster when you are hungry. Avoid strong feelings of hunger. Always plan your next meal and if you understand that a full meal is being delayed (the interval between meals should not be more than 5 hours), bring snacks with you. But do not forget that the breaks between meals should be at least 3 hours.

From the diary of a participant in the contest "Lose Weight Online" of the magazine "Beauty and Health" under the nickname Alenochka
Wise thoughts:
1. Eat slowly!
It is clear that eating on the run does not meet the principles of a healthy lifestyle.
Previously, this did not bother me at all, everything was tied to time ... .. Then I began to notice that sometimes I overeat, there is heaviness in the stomach.
And when I firmly decided to lead a healthy lifestyle, then, of course, the question became how to properly organize a meal.
It turned out that there is a direct relationship between the speed of absorption of food and body mass index. If you take care of yourself and scold yourself every time, when, forgetting, again began to eat too quickly, then the pleasure of eating is lost. Those who eat fast tend to get fat. If a person eats slowly, he manages to maintain weight. How to learn to eat slowly, so that it happens, so to speak, automatically?
And the conclusion is this: the faster you eat, the more weight you gain.
That won't do, I thought. We need to change our habits.
It was not so easy to inculcate the habit of slow food.
My motto for this period was the phrase - TO NORMALIZE YOUR WEIGHT, YOU NEED TO EAT SLOWLY!!!
But how can this be achieved? There was no more time, and the habit turned out to be very persistent.
I exchanged a tablespoon for a dessert spoon‚ an ordinary fork for a child‚ but this was not enough. Then, I began to cut into pieces everything that was cut, something, even to rub on a grater. The process of eating has slowed down‚ but not enough. Then I got the idea to try eating with Japanese chopsticks.
Funny? This thought made me laugh too, but I decided to try it.
I searched the Internet for information about how to use them, it turned out to be not so difficult.
The next day, I went shopping in search of the little thing I needed. And here they are my sticks made of tangerine wood‚ for the company I also bought 2 blue bowls‚ I read somewhere that the blue color reduces appetite.
I read the instructions for use and now I'm ready :-)). Of course, not everything immediately turned out smoothly, naughty pieces constantly strove to slide back into the plate, but perseverance prevailed. Within a few days, I was pretty dexterous with the new cutlery.
To my great surprise, an unexpected moment was added. In fact, you can take only one piece with chopsticks, and when you put it in your mouth, you begin to savor it. It turned out that individually the products have a completely different taste and aroma, more subtle or something ... I don’t know how to say it correctly, but new shades of taste have appeared in the food. Now it's easier for me to determine what I want: cottage cheese with blueberries, pear or dried apricots; chicken breast with cucumber or cabbage, or maybe with a tomato; what I want to fill the salad or just do not fill.
In addition to the fact that I significantly increased the time of eating, I have the opportunity to communicate more with my family at the table and my loved ones looking at me, slowly change their eating habits.
And then it's just beautiful and refined‚ now I'm not afraid to be in an oriental restaurant :-)).
This was another step towards building.

You need to learn not only why it is harmful to eat quickly, but also how to eat slowly so that food brings only benefits.

Harm of "fast food"

Nutritionists and gastroenterologists say that saturation comes gradually, and only appetite comes directly during meals. Nutrients that enter the bloodstream do not begin to act immediately. Only after 20 minutes they irritate the saturation center, which is located in the brain.

If you eat quickly, you will end up eating much more food than you actually need. Everything superfluous will affect both the figure and the stomach. Excessive load is dangerous for the digestive tract. The result will be a feeling of heaviness in the stomach and problems with the stool.

Additional problems appear if a person eats quickly, not chewing food thoroughly enough. Too large pieces make it difficult for the digestive tract. Pancreatic enzymes do not cope with splitting, products enter the intestine in an insufficiently “processed” state. Conditionally pathogenic bacteria begin to multiply in them, causing dysbacteriosis.

Dysbacteriosis is dangerous not only with constant disorders and discomfort in the stomach. If untreated, complications may develop, which include:

1. Iron-deficiency anemia;
2. violation of hematopoiesis;
3. decreased immunity;
4. enterocolitis;
5. peritonitis;
6. pancreatitis;
7. blood poisoning.

All these problems can be avoided if you eat slowly, without haste, and chew slowly. Even if problems from improper eating have already manifested themselves, it is never too late to reverse the situation.

How to eat right

• There are simple rules of nutrition that are useful for weight loss and good digestion. They concern not only food habits, but also the system of cooking.
• When planning your daily diet, consider the following:
• Eat little but often. The standard breakfast-lunch-dinner scheme with large portions is not the best option. Nutritionists say that the optimal number of meals is 5-6 times a day. It is important that each serving is no more than 200 grams.
• You need to eat not “just like that”, but only when there is a feeling of hunger: there is no need to supply calories to the body once again.
• Snacks are allowed before the main meals. Strong hunger will become an incentive to eat quickly and a lot, which will nullify all attempts to establish a proper nutrition system.
• Eating smaller portions will help a glass of cool water half an hour before breakfast, lunch or dinner. A slight feeling of fullness will not allow you to eat too much.
• It is not necessary to drink food actively: the liquid dilutes the gastric juice, making it less effective. This increases the digestion time.
• Chew carefully! This is one of the most important installations, which will not only stretch the lunch time, but also help to sufficiently moisten the products with saliva, which will have a positive effect on digestion.

If there is such an opportunity, it is better to cook at a time. Thus, you can get a double benefit: only fresh products will get to the dining table, and there will be no opportunity to put yourself an additive. You will have to stretch the pleasure, and this will also help you learn to consume food slowly.

Separately, it is worth reviewing the diet. It is desirable to exclude all food waste: fast food, chips, carbonated drinks, crackers, spices, white pastries, mayonnaise and various sauces. Cooking food is better in the oven or steamed, fried in oil dishes cause a serious blow to the liver.

Why should you eat slowly?

Focusing on the process of eating and chewing thoroughly is what becomes a must for a person who wants to lose weight. These same habits help to “fix” an overly distended stomach. Slowly savoring food will gradually reduce your appetite. In addition, a losing weight person will have the opportunity to determine the optimal portion size.

A quick absorption of a favorite dish deprives a person of pleasure, while a leisurely savoring gives it and brings moral satisfaction. After a funny dinner, there is a feeling that a person has not eaten at all. The result is dissatisfaction and a desire to eat something else. This is dangerous by overeating, which also brings negative impressions.

After a meal, there should be no discomfort in the stomach. If there is discomfort, it means that something went wrong. The reasons can be many, from the wrong process of eating to inappropriate products. In addition, the “wrong” sensations that appear regularly can be a sign of a developing pathology.

According to scientists from Japan, people who eat very quickly face "metabolic syndrome" - this includes not only excess weight, but also problems with cholesterol levels. Such people are more likely to suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. If you eat slowly, all this can be avoided.

Secrets of Slow Eating

Even if you understand why you need to eat slowly, changing established habits may not be very easy. At first, you will have to keep yourself under control and constantly remind yourself of how to eat properly. You can create a note on your phone or put a reminder on your fridge.

There are also little tricks that suggest how to learn to eat slowly and thoughtfully in order to lose weight and maintain normal health.

• Eating is recommended at the dinner table, and not on the go or near the computer. This helps to concentrate on the process and tune in a certain way.
• Another secret: if we eat, then we are not distracted. Reading or watching TV at the table are annoying factors that make it difficult to concentrate on chewing. The vector of attention shifts, and the process of eating is postponed to the background.
• You can use a "live example". It is good to sit at the table with other people who eat slowly. It is human nature to unconsciously copy the behavior of others, there is a desire to adapt to the neighbor. At the same time, the old rule remains in force - do not be distracted.

A meal in a pleasant company involuntarily stretches, but this does not always happen correctly. So, gastroenterologists do not recommend talking while eating. Because of this, involuntary swallowing of excess air occurs, which causes heartburn and belching - a negative reaction of the gastrointestinal tract.

• While eating, you can take a short break and put the cutlery aside. At this time, it becomes possible to evaluate your own feelings: has there been a heaviness in the stomach? Maybe saturation has already come, and it is not necessary to finish eating a portion?

Good habits help change lives for the better, and new nutritional rules should become systemic.

The adjustment period can be quite difficult, but the changes will be noticeable after a month. Lightness throughout the body, good health and a good figure will be the best reward.

In our fleeting time, when everyone is trying to do as much as possible and do much more, there is simply not enough time to eat. So then you have to “grab” food on the fly, without thinking about whether it is good for our body. This way of eating is often not very good for our well-being, and we do not even notice the taste of what we eat. The habit of eating quickly or on the go has a very negative effect on our figure and extra pounds will not take long. In order to prevent this from happening, you just need to slow down the pace of the process of eating, then the feeling of satiety comes faster, and portion sizes are much reduced.

But is it really that easy to learn to eat slowly? There are a few easy ways to help you learn how to eat right.

In order not to eat much more than you would like - do not watch TV, do not sit at the computer. Simply reading the morning paper will distract you. Train yourself to enjoy the process and the taste of every bite of food.

Instead of the usual appliances on the table, choose small ones. Instead of a large spoon or fork, take dessert ones, and replace dessert ones with tea ones. Pay attention to table setting. The better the table is laid and the more beautifully decorated the dishes, the slower they will be eaten.

Switching to small meals. Eat little but often (even if you are not very hungry yet). The more hungry you are, the faster you will absorb food.

Nutritionists often argue about how to eat right - alone or in the company of interlocutors. On the one hand, people who eat alone are completely focused on the taste and quantity of food eaten. On the other hand, some people are so engrossed in conversations that sometimes they forget that there are plates of food in front of them. The choice is yours, but don't forget that dining with friends does not mean adjusting to others, both in pace and in quantity.

For quick saturation, you need to chew food very slowly and thoroughly, this contributes to better digestion.

All food should be cut into small pieces. The less vegetables, fruits, meat or other food is cut, the longer you will chew it. Bread should be broken into small pieces, and not bitten off from a whole slice.

A lot of people "jam" stress or negative emotions. This cannot be done. Do not sit down at the table in a bad mood, in a state of nervous tension. This leads to the fact that a person can, without controlling himself, eat much more food than usual. Better drink water, calm down and only then start eating, enjoying every bite. So you will enjoy the taste and do not damage the figure.

Another way to teach yourself to eat slowly is to put down your cutlery. After each piece of food you put in your mouth, put your fork or spoon down on the table and relax and focus on chewing. And only after chewing a portion, take the cutlery in your hands.

Remember that alcohol consumption increases appetite and uncontrolled increase in portions.

It will take more than one day to accustom yourself to the right way of eating. But after 3-4 weeks you will feel much better and more beautiful. Health to you!

Be sure to watch the related video

A person is given out not only by gestures and manner of speaking, but also by what he eats. But even more about him can be the way he does it.

This classification of personality types from LittleThings, although not scientific, is interesting enough, because it is based on eating habits. Are there psychological reasons why you like to have a quick meal or, on the contrary, like to stretch your lunch longer? According to food science expert and founder of Food-ology, Juliet Bogossian, eating habits or habits can say a lot about your personality.

Lovers eat slowly

This type is known to many: everyone has already finished their meal, and only one person is slowly picking at the plate, eating one piece at a time. He never rushes anywhere, enjoying the process.

Bogossian notes that this type is usually people who like to be in control. They value life, confident in themselves and consistent in their actions.

Those who eat slowly only occasionally may do so because of a bad mood or a breakdown. According to psychologist Julia Hormes, mood also affects the way you eat.

Sometimes people of this type can feel pressure to keep up with everyone else. But the habit of eating slowly can have a very positive effect on human health - reduced energy consumption, less hunger and enjoyment of eating.

Lovers eat fast

There is a high probability that you or someone in your environment just fits the description of this type. Such people usually empty the plate before most people have even eaten half of it.

Such habits testify to initiative and vigor, purposefulness and readiness for experiments. But at the same time, these people can be impatient. According to Bogossian, the speed at which you eat gives away the pace of your life.

There is nothing wrong with this habit, but it is worth remembering that eating too fast can harm your health in the future and cause excess weight.

Seeker of adventures

Representatives of this type are always on the lookout for the next gastronomic adventure. When it comes to food and any other issues, such a person is always looking for thrills and likes to take risks.

“Your unique approach to life is something you should never change. Just do not force others to behave the same way, because not everyone likes experiments, ”says Phil Mutz.

According to Bogossian, adventurous people show a willingness to try new things outside of their comfort zone.

Demanding and whimsical eater

Representatives of this type can forever remain true to their children's taste habits and refuse unknown dishes. Such people always ask the waiter to serve the dish without any component or sauce.

Many of us know that chewing food thoroughly is the key to a healthy digestive system. But fast eating contributes to overeating, because the brain cannot concentrate on the process and regulate it. And then even a full stomach does not create a feeling of satiety. It takes time for the satiety signal to reach the brain. As a rule, this happens within 20 minutes. If a person is used to eating at a fast pace, then he manages to overeat before a feeling of satiety arises. To avoid this, and at the same time to play it safe from gaining excess weight, you need to learn to eat slowly. So how do you readjust? What will help you learn to eat food slowly and focus on satiety signals?

Psychologists state: people with a choleric temperament quickly got used to eating. They do this all in their lives, because slowness is not characteristic of them. Such men and women, on the one hand, have time for a lot, but on the other, they have problems with the digestive system. And for choleric people, and for other people who have the habit of quickly absorbing food, nutritionists are advised to follow the rules that will help you learn to eat slowly:

1. Eat food always at the table, not on the go. When a person sits down at the table, a signal enters his brain about the start of breakfast, dinner, lunch. On the go, he simply will not be able to control how much food to absorb. By concentrating on a particular dish, you can feel full faster and sometimes you can’t even overpower the portion on your plate. It is worth recalling that in the days of the nobility at a dinner party, a sign of good taste was not a clean plate, but a little food on it. After all, people came to visit not to absorb treats, but to communicate.
2. Reminders. Surely the habit of eating quickly in a person has been formed over the years. Therefore, it is necessary to fight it with constant practical reminders that food must be chewed thoroughly. How to do it? For example, you can hang a note on the wall or refrigerator, where it says in large print: "We chew slowly - we live great." Such a reminder will help not only you, but also the growing family members. Make such a voice recording in your mobile phone, leave it on your desktop at home. Another reminder option is an hourglass or even an ordinary one, which you need to put in front of you while eating. Nutritionists state that it will take three to four weeks to form a healthy habit in this way.
3. Eat small meals. An empty plate is a strong signal of the end of a meal. That is why large portions always lead to weight gain, overeating. Put a little food on the plate and savor each bite.
4. Don't get distracted while eating! If you watch TV, are at the computer and eat at the same time, then you simply won’t be able to concentrate on slow chewing. Combining meals with other activities causes the brain to ignore food because the brain is focused on a movie, a game, a book. Psychologists call this the second dominant. Therefore, you need to learn to break away from your favorite activities, which will help you eat slowly.
5. Play slow music while you eat. Sometimes listening to a classic, calm melody helps to tune in to a slow chewing rhythm.
6. Place a spoon or fork on the plate from time to time. Nutritionists recommend doing this from time to time in order to relax a bit, take a break from eating food and focus on chewing.
7. Talk during the meal. Contrary to the tradition of being deaf and dumb when eating, you can and should deviate from this rule in order to learn to eat at a slow pace. Conversation with relatives, colleagues, relatives should be used as an opportunity to take small breaks in food, to slow down its intake.
8. Eat with those people who eat slowly. Most people tend to copy those we respect and associate with. And if during the meal there is a slowly chewing, balanced person who deserves your respect, then you will tune in to the same meal.
9. Have a snack. Allowing the feeling of hunger to arise, you will involuntarily absorb the dish at a fast pace. This is natural. After all, you are driven by hunger and the desire to get enough soon! A snack in the form of an apple, pear, juice will help to avoid the onset of severe hunger.