194.2; I Eat Way To Fast

In the last month I've realized that my issues with my band and eating are due to eating too fast.  We live in the age of fast and instant gratification.  And while I've been following what I need to do since getting my band placed, this is the one thing that I have issues with lately. 

We all know that it takes 20 minutes for the brain to register that you're full.  Remember my post about how my brain is disconnected from my body?  Well it's still disconnected in this way also. 

There are times, like last Sunday, where I spend 2+ hours on a meal.  Several steps to many dishes.  This time it was roasted pork loin with cranberry sauce and bacon in and one it, cranberry sauce, roasted root veggies, beans and cornbread.  Labor intensive, but I loved every minute of it.  But you know what?  It took Pete and I 15 minutes to eat and we were done.  It's such a let down when that happens.  It feels like a lot of work for...nothing or for little reward/

I've been thinking a lot lately about how I can get myself to slow down.  Eating should not be a race.  I need to put my fork down and feel the food in my mouth and taste the food.  I need to eat so that I'm not hungry or have my brain think that I'm hungry and want to hurry and eat.  I need to really think about the food that I'm eating.

I found this Study on Fast Eating.  Listen to what it says about it:

Many people develop these fast-eating habits as children, desperate to get away from the dinner table — it’s amazing how these habits can be carried through to adulthood.’


Their study showed that eating a 690-calorie meal in five rather than 30 minutes induced up to 50 per cent more acid reflux episodes as the digestive tract is overloaded with larger lumps of food, prompting an overload of stomach acid.



Over a number of months sufferers can develop gastroesophagul reflux disease, linked with more serious problems including a narrowing of the oesophagus, bleeding, or the pre-cancerous condition Barrett’s oesophagus.



Eating too fast also contributes to wind and general discomfort, says Dr David Forecast, consultant gastroenterologist at the London Clinic and St Mark’s Hospital in London.



‘You’ll be gulping down large quantities of air, which can cause some discomfort in your digestive tract,’ he adds.

It makes sense.  I remember trying to eat fast as a kid so I could leave, or so we could go to whatever activity we had scheduled or whatever.  What I should and need to do is be like the Europeans and linger over my food.  Enjoy my food for a long period of time.  Not gobble it up. (sorry I had to put it in.  it is close to Turkey Day...)