Eating speed?

[milti girl]

How fast or slow is the correct eating speed? I take ages to eat/drink anything and am usually the last one left at the table picking at my food. People get up and leave because they can't wait for me to finish. Admittedly, I talk a lot during the meal but even if I'm alone I just stare off into space. Eating is a chore and I hate having to get through it. As a child, I was always punished for not completing my lunch within the break, and my mother had to tell my teachers that it was okay with her if I left food over. My teachers would make me sit on the floor with all the "slow eaters" and finish my lunch, and even THEN I was the last one left! To me, it's less about chewing 32 times and more about preparing myself for the next bite, easing the food down and not gulping it down. I hate eating, and anyone forcing me to eat quickly is just going to get puked on soon!

 

[nightning]

Eating speed... ratio of chewing to swallowing... depends on the person. How readily you get heartburns and indigestion probably should be factored in if you want to figure out the "optimal" chewing to swallowing ratio.

It's silly to set a "correct" speed. Chew enough so that you don't choke to death or make yourself ill but still finish efficiently is about the best you can do no? Besides, who counts the number of times they chew before swallowing?

 

[ptgatsby]

I love eating and am the single fastest eater I have ever met. I think that any time spent eating is wasted - but I love eating. That means, essentially, that I eat as fast as possible in order to eat as much as possible, before others leave. Always been like that, for me.

 

[kyuuei]

I slow down when its something small that I enjoy.. like this small bite-size pumpkin pie piece I have here. ^_^ I will stretch it out into 3 or 4 slow, chewy bites.

..Usually though, food = gone. I'm a quick eater especially when I have somewhere to be.

 

[Ivy]

milti girl, health-wise your way is probably better than eating too fast. From what I've read, there is some lag time between starting to eat and your brain getting the message that you're full. So the slower you go, the more likely you are to get that signal at the correct time rather than too late. Or something like that. Socially, I guess eating super-slowly could be annoying to your dinner-mates, but you could always just get whatever's left wrapped up to take away when everyone else is done if that bothers you.

 

[Simplexity]

Yea I would say I'm a pretty decent eater. I'm sort of impatient though and like to take advantage of those times where I can move and eat intermittently. If I'm sitting down I think I take larger chunks of food and chew it pretty quickly, I like to mix and match a lot too. I'm not the type of person thats bothered by contrasts I can pretty much eat any combination on the plate.

So even if I may not eat that quickly it looks more vicious because I have a shotgun mentality when it comes to selecting how I eat things.

 

[Colors]

I'm a moderate to fast eater. I hate it when people try to talk to me while I'm eating. There's plenty of time before and after the actual chewing "zone". When I'm eating, I'm eating... don't be all asking me about stuff.

 

[Ivy]

I'm trying to learn to slow down. But I am probably a compulsive eater to some degree--I'm only just now starting to get a handle on my constant urge TO eat in the first place, so slowing down is another step in the process. I'm probably on the opposite end of the spectrum from milti girl, and I'm sure there's a happy medium in there somewhere.

 

[prplchknz]

I'm a slow eater, always the last one finishing. I also tend to pick at things. For example I got a burrito for dinner thinking I wanted to eat everything at once. But then I decided to eat each topping individually. So I didn't finish it because when you seperate ingredients it takes longer to eat so you either just get bored, or realize you'e full sooner.

 

[GargoylesLegacy]

Oh Gee, great Thread!
That is a really tricky Thing. If you eat too slow, People won't wait for you, if you eat too fast People will complain, you won't taste much and you will be hungry pretty fast again (not to mention that you can easily get Something stuck in your Throat and half die).
I used to eat really fast, and my Dad always told me not to. So I tried to slow down. BUT it keeps coming back anyways, even after Years of practicing. And seriously, sometimes I DID almost choke on a Bite because I didn't chew it enough.
On the other Hand, I dun wanna sit at the Table and count my freaking Bites either. This is really tricky. However you do it, it's wrong.

But then I decided to eat each topping individually.

*lol* Actually I do that too. When I have a mixed Plate I would first eat all Meat-Pieces, then the Pies, then...

 

[Giggly]

I love to eat but I'm kind of a slow eater.

 

[Bella]

I eat quickly.

 

[Kyrielle]

I love eating and am the single fastest eater I have ever met. I think that any time spent eating is wasted - but I love eating. That means, essentially, that I eat as fast as possible in order to eat as much as possible, before others leave. Always been like that, for me.

I'm the same way. So is my father. I always look like I'm in a freaking hurry to go somewhere or I haven't eaten in days. But I'm not in a hurry, I just don't like my food getting cold or spending forever eating, especially since I can't eat and talk at the same time nor do I like talking while eating--I'm more than open to talking after eating, though.

 

[miss fortune]

I love to eat but I'm kind of a slow eater.

me too... I adore food, but I take forever to eat since I'm usually either talking over a meal or otherwise distracted!

I'm also an incredibly slow drinker unless I set out to get drunk- I can take an hour do drink a good glass of wine.

 

[kuranes]

I'm trying to learn to slow down. But I am probably a compulsive eater to some degree--I'm only just now starting to get a handle on my constant urge TO eat in the first place, so slowing down is another step in the process. I'm probably on the opposite end of the spectrum from milti girl, and I'm sure there's a happy medium in there somewhere.

+1.

I tend to eat quickly. Knowing this, I will sometimes eat a "real meal" ahead of time, if I know that I'm going to be going "out to lunch" with someone, where the social aspect of the occasion is going to be more important than my first impulses. That way I can slowly work my way through a light salad etc., and stop without hesitating at those awkward moments when I'm perhaps unexpectedly ( to me ) expected ( by them ) to answer, instead of chewing or swallowing. Silly of me, I know.

me too... I adore food, but I take forever to eat since I'm usually either talking over a meal or otherwise distracted!

I'm also an incredibly slow drinker unless I set out to get drunk- I can take an hour do drink a good glass of wine.

I've noticed that women are often experts at nursing one drink for an entire evening. Just kind of "wetting their whistle", as Lauren Bacall might say. ( I attempt to emulate this when I am designated driver.)

When I saw the title of the thread I thought it was about consuming diet pills ( speed ) , which would certainly help tame an appetite.

 

[Lateralus]

I'm a pretty fast eater, but I haven't always been that way. It started when I was in college, trying to grab lunch between classes. I've eaten a large pizza in under 3 minutes, before (and won $5).

The only time I eat slowly is when I'm out with other people, and even then I'm usually the first to finish.

 

[Atomic Fiend]

Eating speed varies.

 

[King sns]

I don't even sit down.

Inhale and run!

 

[htb]

See: PAC-MAN.

 

[King sns]

definately a good reference