By: Derek Wellock
There are huge benefits found in simplicity. Most people do not need a special diet plan, or weigh every meal and make sure you input every bite it into an app. The body is the perfect system and is built to run optimally as long as you treat it right. The problem is in our fast-paced society, we are in a rush, and when in a rush, we usually grab some kind of food that is highly processed and eat it fast as we can. There is a trick that can help you drop some unwanted body fat, reduce how much money you spend on food, and improve your health.
SLOW THE **** DOWN! Ok, the implied curse word may or may not have caught your attention. But the reality is slowing down, eating slower and gaining mindfulness of what you are eating and why you are eating it can truly help with your weight loss goals.
Without changing anything that you are doing, just slowing down how fast you eat your meals can facilitate your weight loss. When was the last time you took 15-20 minutes to eat a meal? Truly chewing every bit for 60 seconds and putting your fork down between bites. I know most of us smash food for time. I am one of those people, I am often accused of not even tasting my food. A year ago I set out on a path of mastering intuitive eating and one of the foundational habits is eating slow and here is why.
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Feel more Satisfied:
Eating slow will allow you to naturally feel fuller and more satisfied. When your gut has time to evaluate the food that is in there, the gut will suppress the hormone ghrelin which is the hormone that tells the brain you need food and are hungry. This process takes time, the slower you eat, your body has time to evaluate how much more food you need to eat. This works particularly well when you eat healthy whole food slowly. Even if you have to eat something that is highly processed, eating it slower you will eat less and this will benefit your weight loss goals.
2. Reduce Calories:
When you feel full, chances are you will not consume as much food, and naturally reduce your calorie intake without feeling hungry or restricted.
3. Improve Digestion:
The first phase of digestions starts in the mouth. Saliva breaks down the food in the first stage, the more broken down the food is in your mouth the better your gut and intestine will be able to absorb all the vital nutrients from the food. Better digestion means better metabolism and weight management.
4. Can improve our relationship with food:
Slowing down can give you a moment to be able to engage with your food, and think, how is this adding to or taking away from my health and my goals? The more mindful you can be when eating the more you can appreciate the food and enjoy the positive outcomes. Food is fuel to support life.
5. This can help reduce stress:
When you can take a moment and slow down you can lower your stress levels. All the time, we can find ourselves in a rush, using your meals as stopping points in your day to take a moment and slow down may contribute to overall stress reduction.
6. May save you money:
In my house since I started eating slower, I have found that I need about 30% less food per day. My weight has balanced out, and I feel great. But with my reduction in the food, we have saved about $150 per month. At one point I was trying to eat 3000 calories per day. With a basic macro plan, the math added up to an awful amount of food. I tried to eat this many calories in whole food. The reality is it was so much work to eat that much food I hated it. I am not trying to gain muscle mass, my goal is to be healthy and fit. Slowing down I naturally cut my food consumption back to between 1800-2200 calories per day. As long as I stick to healthy whole food and balanced meals I feel fantastic, recovered and save some money.
In short, if you want to lose weight and be healthy in both mind and body, eat healthy whole food slowly. If you want to gain weight, eat unhealthy processed food fast. I hope this information helps bring some insight to why eating slowly is a true foundational habit for intuitive eating and living a life that is thriving.
Here are some links that dive into deeper details on eating slowly.
https://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-slow-eating
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/eating-slowly-and-weight-loss#thorough-chewing
As always let me know how I can help inspire you to live a thriving life!