If you are anything like me, you’ve always been a fast eater and that can be an extra issue when combined with intermittent fasting. In this video, I go through what I did to help me to stop scarfing my food when it finally came to meal time.
If you find that you are ravenous at your meal, consider eating more at your previous meal or shortening your fasting window.
What I do:
Before I sit down to eat I ask myself if I need to go to the bathroom? It’s funny, but I found if I need to go to the bathroom, I tend to be impatient and that can lead to scarfing the food.
I also do a mental check-in. Am I stressed? If I’m stressed and don’t realize it, that could cause me to eat mindlessly and probably too quickly.
When we sit down to dinner, we always say the blessing. We’re Christians and we thank God for the food.
After the blessing, I take a few seconds to just be grateful for the food. I remind myself that there are people all over the world who are starving and I am grateful to not be one of them.
I also try to enjoy each bite. I’m still practicing this, but I find it very helpful.
A rule that we have is no devices at the table and no TV on anywhere. This helps us to be focused on each other and the meal.
When I’m done eating or feel like I may be done, I do another check-in. Am I feeling full? If I’m full, I stop eating. If, after a few minutes, I feel like I could eat some more, I do.
Ultimately, I focus on overall results. So, if I later realize that I overate, I don’t beat myself up about it. I just make a note of it in my head and then stay focused on the overall results. If my goal is to lose weight and the scale is trending down over time, then I know that whatever I am doing is working.
Check out the video for more of what I learned.
Books I mentioned in this video:
