the 20-minutes method: results

I know you guys were starting to doubt my ability to eat slowly at all. Don't feel bad - I don't blame you, as most test methods in this experiment have been unsuccessful. Just when I was starting to lose all hope, my final method in the eating slowly experiment, the 20-minutes method came along and slowed me down.

Results. 

Well, what can I say? I'm a scientist and I like numbers. I immediately was drawn to the exactness of this method. Time 20 minutes, eat slowly enough. I think I knew from the beginning that I could do this method and do it well. 

Despite the fact that timing your meals in front of others can be a slightly awkward thing to do, this method made me completely aware of my eating pace and was...successful. For the first couple of weeks I literally started my stop watch and the beginning of every meal and continuously checked my pace as I ate. The goal was usually to be about halfway through my meal at the 10-minute mark. Many meals lasted slightly less than 20 minutes and some meals lasted longer, but overall this method completely re-vamped my eating pace. Realizing that I can't carry around a stop watch forever, I switched to checking the wall clock at the beginning of each meal and gauged my eating that way.

If I finished my meal too early, which was inevitable for some smaller meals or certain meal types, I still made myself sit with my empty plate until my timer went off before heading back to the kitchen for considering seconds. Sometimes this pause revealed to me that I was still hungry and I was able to gauge and satisfy this need without acting like a ravaging kitchen-invading beast. And sometimes this revealed that I was completely satisfied. Both realizations are life changing.

This method, I think, could be my eating slowly saving grace.

 
Have you tried timing your meals? Comment on this post and/or e-mail me (mylessseriouslife@gmail.com) with your thoughts on the subject. This wraps up the last method in this experiment! Look for one final experiment 'discussion and conclusions' post in the coming weeks!