Today I had to time my lunch. I went to one of my favorite burrito shops, and the only parking spot nearby was metered. And I only had 40 cents on me…enough for 20 minutes.
Luckily I was wearing my trusty Casio watch, so I started the stopwatch.
First, I noticed that it took over ten minutes for me to get my burrito. I was starving and wondered if I could eat enough to satisfy my intense hunger in less than ten minutes, but I didn’t really have a choice.
So I ate and chewed and savored my burrito (this place has the best red and green sauce!). It was delicious even though I forgot to ask for chips! (In case you’ve never seen me eat a burrito, I usually open up my burrito, tear off a piece of tortilla, wrap it around a chip, and then dip it in the burrito insides.)
When I was about halfway done with it, I glanced at my watch and the time was at 21 minutes! But I wanted more burrito! I decided I would take one more bite and then quickly wrap it up and leave.
Thankfully there was no parking ticket on my car!
And later, I started to feel more and more full. As I write, it has been over two hours since eating, and I still feel really full. I am sure I could have been completely satisfied had I eaten even less.
To be honest, I didn’t realize how quickly you can go from starving (I was SO hungry!) to pretty full. I ate for less than ten minutes, for crying out loud! And like I said before, I was not shoveling the food in! I chewed, I savored, and I even paused between bites.
Now compare that ten minutes with the amount of time we normally give ourselves for meals.
Imagine you are at a restaurant. You have sat down and ordered. Finally your food has arrived! How much time do you expect to spend eating it? Much more than ten minutes, right?
I think far too often we reach the point of satisfaction way before we actually want to stop eating.
And it makes sense! I mean, it’s kind of a let down to go to a nice place, be served a beautiful meal that you have been looking forward to, and then push away the plate in five minutes. And heaven forbid you order an appetizer and then realize that you’re not hungry at all by the time you get the main course.
But, really, if you’re not hungry and you keep eating, your body doesn’t need that food. It just doesn’t. If your body needed it, you would be hungry! So since your body doesn’t need it, it is going to store it.
Let me rephrase that, in bold: if you keep eating when your body is no longer hungry, your body is going to store that excess food.
It takes practice to learn to spend less time eating. The best way to start is to think of dining as a complete experience, with eating being just one component. Companionship, conversation, ambiance, music, thoughts, attire, and location are some other aspects to focus on.
By Charlie Fields of kettlebody.com. Charlie is a San Diego personal trainer known for his pleasure-enhancing approach to exercise and eating. For more tips like this or to learn about Charlie’s bootcamps, eating workshops and coaching, or personal training, visit kettlebody.com.