Slow Food
One thing about me: I eat really quickly. And "they" (you know, them) say that you should spend at least twenty minutes eating so your brain thinks its full and blah blah. You've heard it before. My latest experiment has been trying to spend twenty minutes eating. It's kind of hard!
I've been getting six-inch turkey Subway sandwiches lately, and checking the clock when I unwrap them, and then trying to spend twenty minutes eating them. I can usually do it, but what I have to do is take a bite of the sandwich and then go read the internet or something for a minute, then another bite of the sandwich, etc. I have to distract myself, in other words, make myself forget the sandwich is right there! And I am hungry! And I want to eat it!
This morning I made myself a mashed-strawberry sandwich ("mashed-strawberry" sounds way cuter in Dutch) and tried to spend twenty minutes eating it. I only made it twelve minutes, but still--normally I could probably eat the whole thing in three minutes. So I guess that's progress.
So far it has made no discernable difference in how much food I eat for the rest of the day, but I will try to eat slow lunch today and even maybe slow dinner. I can drink a slow latte! And that will certainly... do... something.
I am feeling fat, bloated, hate my hair, hate my body, and in need of chocolate at the moment. Also, I weigh 242 pounds again (yesterday I weighed 240 so I don't know what's up with that). I am really tired of being this weight, if I can be honest with you. I would like to be back in the 220s; if I am going to stay the same weight, I may as well be stagnating at a weight that makes me happy.
I was considering joining Curves yesterday (it's evil, but it's a block from work) but they seem to be closed or remodeling or something. Then I was going to play Dance Dance Revolution, but I knew the dog would probably destroy my dance pad. I should have gone for a bike ride, but I guess I didn't think of it. Maybe I should hire a personal trainer. Maybe I should try joining the gym even though it's impractical. The semester is almost over, and over the summer, I will have extra time, and I will spend that time exercising. My friends, that is a promise.
I've been getting six-inch turkey Subway sandwiches lately, and checking the clock when I unwrap them, and then trying to spend twenty minutes eating them. I can usually do it, but what I have to do is take a bite of the sandwich and then go read the internet or something for a minute, then another bite of the sandwich, etc. I have to distract myself, in other words, make myself forget the sandwich is right there! And I am hungry! And I want to eat it!
This morning I made myself a mashed-strawberry sandwich ("mashed-strawberry" sounds way cuter in Dutch) and tried to spend twenty minutes eating it. I only made it twelve minutes, but still--normally I could probably eat the whole thing in three minutes. So I guess that's progress.
So far it has made no discernable difference in how much food I eat for the rest of the day, but I will try to eat slow lunch today and even maybe slow dinner. I can drink a slow latte! And that will certainly... do... something.
I am feeling fat, bloated, hate my hair, hate my body, and in need of chocolate at the moment. Also, I weigh 242 pounds again (yesterday I weighed 240 so I don't know what's up with that). I am really tired of being this weight, if I can be honest with you. I would like to be back in the 220s; if I am going to stay the same weight, I may as well be stagnating at a weight that makes me happy.
I was considering joining Curves yesterday (it's evil, but it's a block from work) but they seem to be closed or remodeling or something. Then I was going to play Dance Dance Revolution, but I knew the dog would probably destroy my dance pad. I should have gone for a bike ride, but I guess I didn't think of it. Maybe I should hire a personal trainer. Maybe I should try joining the gym even though it's impractical. The semester is almost over, and over the summer, I will have extra time, and I will spend that time exercising. My friends, that is a promise.
17 Comments:
I've never understood that 20 minutes of eating thing.
I think it only works with very calorie un-dense (what's the word for that?) foods. Like if you had a huge plate of greens some nuts, and an orange, it would probably be the same calories as a sub, but would take a lot longer to eat.
With the calorie dense foods like a sub, there's just no way.
Then again, I'm the fastest eater ever, so what do I know?
I'm sorry to hear you've been so down on yourself lately. I've been feeling the same way for the last few weeks.
Here's thinking good thoughts for both of us that we snap out of it soon!
Dang, Mo! Don't be so hard on yourself already. Even if you spent the rest of your life at 242, you'd still be damned spectacular, cute, smart, and funny as hell and I'd still read your blog and think that you are pretty damned cool.
And I don't know who made up that 20 minute rule because trial and error taught me that *my* stomach takes 45 minutes to feel full--so I either eat something small fast and then hang on for 45 minutes, or I eat a huge amount of very low calorie food, essentially stuff myself silly on salad and veggies, and ignore the time altogether.
I hate food rules. Most of them came outta Cosmo magazine and the like--and aren't those the same mags that've tried to convince me that I'll only be hapy when I'm a size 2 with $20Kn worth of clothes from Dior? I don't trust them or their damn rules!!!
I think what you are supposed to do is take a bite and focus on that bite, chewing it and enjoying the taste rather than chewing quickly or not at all and wolfing it down. I think part of it is taking smaller bites than you might normally.
This is different than taking the same bite, eating it the same way as normal and reading the internet in between bites to kill time. ;-)
Also, now you can get a little package of apples at subway and a courtsey cup of water. So, get the apples, get the water. Take a smaller than normal bite of sub, savor it. Sip some water. Eat an apple slice, savoring it not just crunch crunch swallow, sip water again. repeat.
This should take longer than munch munch munch wolfing down your sandwich in less than three minutes. And you should enjoy your sub more, making your more satiated.
Mo, you're in good company. I feel like a slug because I haven't been to the gym in nearly 3 weeks. I was on vacation, but didn't have a chance to hit any of the hotel gyms. My food options were limited, and I wasn't able to make healthy choices. When I returned, I think I only gained 2.5 lbs, but it was still a bummer. Plus, I've also been dealing with travel fatigue (crossing the international dateline, time zone craziness, being on 10 flights in the past 3 weeks, etc.) and wicked jet lag. My body is definitely saying "WTF?!?!" My sleeping pattern is messed up, but I've been faithfully going to the gym since my return in order to get some normalcy back. The first session back at the gym was tough. And shocking to realize how quickly and easily it is to get out of shape. I'm a fast eater as well. I try to eat slowly, or to wait, but it never works. I always end up stuffing myself to the point of making myself ill. We all have our demons to conquer. Some of them go away with time, and some will always be with us. I've been stuck in the 180s for so long now that I'm beginning to wonder if I will ever see the scale in the 170s. But it's comforting to know that you, your blog, and your readers are out there. You're all an inspirtation! And you make me realize that I'm not alone. Here's to keeping each other positive and real!
"This is different than taking the same bite, eating it the same way as normal and reading the internet in between bites to kill time. ;-)"
Oh god, that is hilarious. Thanks for that.
And all other comments, too! Yay.
Yeah, I don't think that 20 minutes thing works as a universal rule. So much food is engineered to be consumed quickly these days, and trying to slow down just the mechanics of eating isn't going to make you any more satisfied.
But I also think there's a grain of truth to the idea of slowing down. I've noticed that a lot of the things I eat the fastest tend to be my trigger foods--for me, bread and starchy stuff. So maybe not being able to eat slowly has more to do with certain foods than with you.
Which I think is similar to what Toni said earlier, that this 20 minute rule thing works mostly when you're eating more nutrient-dense food. Like half-pound green salads really DO take a long freaking time to eat, and you spend most of that time actually eating, and not just stalling, or meditating between chews, or trying to astrally project yourself into a less hungry dimension, or whatever...
Also, make sure you have a big glass of water beside whatever you're eating. Take a bite, chew slowly, take a sip of water, contemplate life, repeat ;-)
And, yeah, exercise. Very important. (I am not telling you as if you don't know, just agreeing.) The MOST important element in my weight loss was exercise. Never grew to love it, but grew to accept it was a daily necessity.
I never took a long time to eat before my WLS, but now I do notice that it takes about 20 min between rounds of eating for my stomach to process the food. I would have been on the "20 min is bullshit" bandwagon, but, dang, if it doesn't hold true for me - at least at this point.
Exercise. Gotta do it. Don't gotta love it. I've been sick again on this diflucan, but it's sorta under control and I'm back in the water tonight. If it weren't for water aerobics, I swear I'd grow roots.
*S*
Well, my grandmother, who has always been slender, achieves this with ease, because she talks all the time and forgets there's food on her plate. (Every Sunday we have to tell her to shut up and eat, because we've all finished and she still has half her meal left).
Seriously, though, I have found that taking lunch with a colleague causes me to slow down, because you can't talk and eat simultaneously (well, you could, but I wouldn't want to watch). Also, eating something hot helps. I have a cup of soup (from a packet) and I can't swig that straight down.
Normally I do eat fast though, especially if I'm really hungry.
Sounds like your current state might be hormonal - is that possible? Even if it isn't, it'll pass. And as Brenda said, you are cool.
I am a slow eater. There is no difference. I don't feel any better about the meal I have eaten because I take longer to eat it..........
......maybe I don't eat slow...maybe I just eat too much!!!
Howdy! I've started reading recently (when is the next podcast by the way?) and have to say, I completely know what you mean with the fast eating. Even worse for me though, is that they say when you eat you have to sit at a table and not be distracted by tv, reading, etc....I don't think I can eat slowly and not at least have a book to flip through! So frustrating....
Hope you feel better soon! Maybe the lovely summer weather coming up will help :)
Hi Alli! We're recording the next podcast tomorrow; our fearless leader Jen Wade was on vacation and is now moving. But we will soon resume our regularly scheduled programming.
Hooray! I hope Jen's move goes well, and can't wait to hear the new podcast :)
I'm a fast eater too. My strategy lately has been to go ahead and eat at my normal rate, but then I have to wait at least 20 minutes before I can get up and get anything else. If I'm still hungry, I might have a little something health, but more often than not I find after that 20 minutes passes, the hunger passes too.
Just curious- did you give up on posting to this great new blog? Miss ya!
I will also chime in with the "I miss you" etc.
To want to be at a weight at which one is comfortable is admireable.
It doesn't help to rationalize the reasons why one can't do it. Some of the responders could probably rationalize the pain of a root canal as feeling good.
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