Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Mindful Eating

I have always been an extremely fast eater.  First one finished, wanting seconds, and around desert time would feel uncomfortably full.  I have tried slowing down, but it has never really happened or stuck.  This is all about to change.
I am going to set my fork down in between bites.  That means once the food is in my mouth and the fork is out of it, I will set down my fork and not pick it up again until I have chewed and swallowed.  At that point, I can get my fork ready for the next bite.
I don't know why I had never thought of this, and I am not the one who came up with the idea.  I was reading a post by Tina of Carrots 'n Cake in which she suggested a daily challenge to see if you could eat one meal where the fork gets set down in between bites.  Small step, large results. 
I took the challenge.  I ate my breakfast and in between almost every single bite, I would set my spoon down.  I wasn't perfect, I had 2 or 3 different times where I noticed I was getting the next bite ready as soon as I had placed the current bite in my mouth.  BUT I noticed.  I set my spoon down.  Even though the spoon was ready, I waited till I had chewed and swallowed before picking it up for that next bite.
What a difference! It took me twice as long to eat my morning oatmeal. 

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