Just as important as ‘What You Eat’ is ‘How You Eat’
Why eating your food too fast is a very bad idea
Life is often busy and chaotic and this is often reflected in how we eat our food, which for a lot of people could be classed as food inhalation- who has time for that chewing nonsense!!
As well as wolfing their food down, the majority of people have gotten into the habit of eating until they feel 100%, and when you pair these 2 habits together they can create a lot of issues for your health, weigh management, energy, digestive health and, ultimately, the results you see from your fitness routine.
People think of digestion as the process your food goes through in y0ur stomach once you eat it, but this is far from accurate.
The digestive process actually starts when we think about, see, or smell food, not after we’ve eaten our food.
This is called cephalic digestion and it results in the body producing digestive juices whose job it is to break down the expected food we’re about to eat so that it can be properly utilised by the body.
The problem with eating too is that these juices are unable to do their jobs correctly and this places a lot of stress on our bodies.
For example, when we don’t chew our food properly, saliva produced by the salivary glands and excreted into the mouth doesn’t get the chance to work it’s magic on the food we eat.
This means that our food doesn’t get as pre-digested as it should, we don’t taste food as we should, we don’t enjoy it as much, and it becomes much harder to swallow- it’s a pretty crappy experience overall
As a result, it enters the stomach which then has to produce even more digestive juices than it should have to and has to play catch up to break down the food that should have been worked on further up the chain.
The end result is that this creates a lot of internal stress, reduces our true enjoyment of the food we eat and throws a massive obstacle in the way of your health, fitness and fat loss goals.
Eating Until 100% Full- A Habit Paved With Problems
Another hugely important factor about how we eat is knowing when enough is enough, and rebuilding a good relationship with your satiety
It takes 15-20 minutes for you body to register how full it really is, so when you eat until your 100%, and do so in a few short minutes as outlined above, your body register that it is really 120% full after 20 minutes.
It’s also a massive cause of over-eating and gaining weight because you keep eating far beyond the point where you should have stopped, but you kept going because you’re body hadn’t realised it yet- remember it takes your body 15-20 minutes to realise this.
This leads to a host of issues:
- you feel bloated
- you feel sluggish way more than you should- not exactly
- you consume way more calories than you needed to but didn’t realise it at the time
- You make poorer food choices =because you’re not mindful of the food you eat
- it affects your mood, sleep, weight, productivity to name just a few areas
- It affects your ability to understand hunger cues so the problem continues
- It becomes easier to gain weight and harder to get leaner
- It affects you gut health and can lead to ulcers and other gastric issues
- You’re far less likely to exercise or make healthier lifestyle choices when all this is going on
What To Focus On To Change How You Currently Eat
While all this can seem overwhelming at the start, it’s very doable with the right approach
- Chew your food slowly- aim for 15-20 minutes to eat your main meals
- Stop eating when you feel 80% full- you should feel 100% full within 15-20 minutes once your brain register what you’ve eaten
To achieve this you can:
- put down your fork between mouthfull
- turn off the t.v and devices and remove as many distractions as possible so that you can be mindful of your actions
- Take smaller bites and chew them well
- Savour your food by chewing it slower and giving yourself time to really taste it
- Do your best to focus on how full you really are- rebuild good relationship with
Advice For Success
Like all habits, aiming to be perfect with them 365 days a year is a totally unrealistic approach.
We all go through times where we fall off track, so it’s important to understand that challenges are simply part of the journey, but that they don’t need to become our everyday standards of how we live our lives.
Don’t over estimate the power this habit has when it comes to transforming your eating habits, becuase just as important as ‘What You Eat’, is ‘How You Eat’.
So take it to heart, take it seriously and feel the difference in your energy, fitness goals, and every-day quality of life
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