the eating slowly experiment

Background. I spend a large portion of my day thinking about and preparing my meals, ensuring they are both healthy and delicious. After all this contemplation and preparation, I sit down with my plate piled high and, more often then not, end up scarfing the goodness too quickly.

Not only is eating slowly important because it allows you to savor what you have worked so hard to prepare, but it also has health benefits. Studies have shown that eating slowly improves digestion, helps you avoid overeating, and allows you to appreciate food more. In fact, it takes 20 minutes for your brain to register satiety. Certainly, I have 20 minutes to spare for one of my favorite things in life...food.

Objective. To evaluate the effectiveness of 'eating slowly' methods.  

Methods. Implement one eating slowly method (see below) into my daily routine for 21 days*. After this time period has elapsed, report back on how successful the method was at slowing down my speedy eating ways. I will also remark on how easy each method was to implement in daily life. Are you worried about potential confounding? Then read the footnote at the end of this post. If you have no idea what I am talking about, feel free to ignore my nerdy ramble.

*21 days was chosen because this is the amount of time it takes to form a habit.

Eating Slowly Methods

1. Use chop sticks or small utensils for eating
   
2. Put fork down in between bites
   
3. Pause and calm myself before eating
4. Practice mindful eating (thinking carefully about flavors, textures, etc. while eating)
   
5. Time 20 minutes and stretch out meals accordingly 

Do you also struggle with eating too quickly? I have designed this experiment so you can do it with me. At the beginning of each 21 day method testing session, I will upload a brief post to announce the method to be tested, how to do it, and the exact dates for implementation. After the study period has elapsed I will post a full summary of the method and I hope to either have others' feedback as comments on that post or incorporate your feedback (e-mail me as you go @ mylessseriouslife@gmail.com) directly in the post.

In the end, I hope to discover the best method (or combination of methods) to slow down my caveman-like eating ways with the goal of making my stomach happier and appreciating food even more.

Footnote: A note here (for my more academic-minded readers) about potential confounding. If this were a true scientific experiment I would need to carefully consider how one of these methods would then impact the results of the following method. For example, after 3 weeks of putting my fork down between bites I may (and hope to) automatically do this when I begin the next method. And, clearly, this then alters the pure evaluation of each method. Technically, I would need some type of wash-out period (i.e., a period of doing nothing to 'forget' the prior method) to truly evaluate each method on its own. However, when it comes down to it, I WANT to change my eating speed and develop these habits and have decided to simply take each method as it comes while (gasp!) ignoring this confounding. With that said, I have chosen the order of these methods with an attempt to minimize this limitation. If you are a statistician, I deeply apologize for the mild arrhythmia you may be experiencing right now.

(images 1, 2)