What if you could move towards your fitness goals today by simply changing how you ate? What if you could feel confident in your choices and stay on track when eating out at traditional home cooked food during Ramadan? Here’s a simple skill you can start practicing at your next meal and it has nothing to do with what you’re eating.
Here's a simple nutrition skill our coaches teach their clients that will help them feel more satisfied with each meal, reduce hunger levels throughout the day, and lower the likelihood of cravings and overeating. All of this can make weight loss a lot smoother. Today we want to share this nutrition skill with you.
Think back to a time when you finished a meal really quickly. Maybe that was your last meal. How long would you say it took you to eat? 5 minutes? 3 minutes? Or just over a minute? And how did you feel right after you finished that meal? If you're like most people who eat quickly you probably felt a little bloated and even worse still hungry.
Why is that?
Fun fact: It takes about 20 minutes for the stomach to send satiety signals released by our hormones to our brains that tell us we’re full and that we’ve had enough.
Imagine you consistently finish your meals in 5 minutes or less. Your satiety signals have not kicked in yet. They still have a long way to go before they kick in. About 15-20 minutes to be exact. Instead of feeling satisfied with the meal you’re going to still feel hungry and likely nibble on a few things here and there, have another meal, or fight off your cravings until it’s time for lunch.
All 3 scenarios can make it difficult to get in shape and stay that way for a consistent period of time and they are all scenarios that can be avoided by practicing the skill of eating slowly.
You will give time for your satiety signals to kick in which will help you feel more satisfied with your meal and reduce your hunger levels throughout the day resulting in fewer cravings. You will also become more aware of what hunger and satisfaction feel like.
When you are more aware of those internal signals you could then replicate them when having meals outside your usual nutrition plan such as when eating out with a client or having lunch with the family. The best part is you can always eat slowly and take your time with each meal no matter where you are or what you’re eating.
Here are 7 ways you can eat slowly at your next meal:
1- Focus on the flavour of the food
2- Chew more than usual
3- Drink water
4- Put your utensils down between each bite
5- Have a conversation if eating with friends or family
6- Be in a relaxed environment with minimal distractions. Ideally in a seated position without TV or internet access. Focus fully on the food.
7- Advanced level: Eat with your weaker hand.
This will depend on how long you take to eat your meals right now. Time one of your meals today and aim to increase it by adding 1 or 2 more minutes using the tips above. The goal is to gradually build up to 15-20 minutes. Do you always have to eat this slowly? Absolutely not.
There will be times when you get busy at work and don’t have 20 minutes to enjoy your lunch. Times when you miss your first alarm and need to rush your breakfast before heading to the office. And other times when your mind is wandering off maybe because you’re watching a movie while having dinner.
Be aware of the moments when you eat quickly and try to find out why that is and how you can improve over time. That covers all you need to know about eating slowly. Give it a try at your next meal and let us know how it goes by leaving a comment below.
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