Have you spent an hour making dinner only to have your family eat it in three minutes? Besides being a total drag it’s kind of disgusting. To celebrate food, we need enough time to taste and be grateful for it. I often reminded the kids to slow down while eating, especially when my son went through the inhaling food stage. Reminders to slow down can be said in different ways, for example, “This dinner took a long time to make, so let’s enjoy it by tasting it.” Or, “Before you put more food on your fork, finish chewing and swallowing your last bite.” Admittedly, once in a while I got frustrated and it came out more like, “For God’s Sake Slow Down!”
Other tips for slower eating: set your fork down between bites, chew slowly or count how many times you chew a bite, try to guess what ingredients are in your meal, set your fork down anytime someone is speaking to you or while you’re speaking (then have as much conversation as possible). Evan got really good at this and will ask things like, “Is that dill you added?” It gives him ideas for being more creative in his own cooking too.
Eating slowly is a great way to stay in the moment and eat mindfully, enjoy and appreciate your food more. You can eat less and lose weight because you will give your brain time to get the signal from your stomach that it’s getting full.
