Slow Down to Eat Less and Lose More Weight

In this article: 

• Eating more slowly can help you eat less to reduce calorie consumption and lose weight. 
• In a study, people took longer to eat their meal when they were listening to a slower metronome beat than a faster one. A longer meal duration could lead to lower food intake.
• You can slow eating by chewing thoroughly, putting your fork or spoon down between bites, and taking smaller bites. 
• Other ways to eat less naturally include mindful eating, using portion control strategies, and listening to your body’s hunger and fullness cues. 
• Your Lark coach is available 24/7 to help you make healthy choices around nutrition, activity, and more. 

‍

Losing weight can already be challenging, and it can be even harder with so many confusing messages about fad diets and weight loss hacks. Still, common sense strategies can help you pave your path to weight loss success. Slowing down to eat less is an example of a simple strategy. 

‍

Results of a recent research study published in the journal Nutrients suggest that slowing down may help reduce food intake. In this blog, we’ll look at the study, how you can use it to support your weight management efforts, and how else you can apply the science of eating behaviors to make low-effort, sustainable changes to lose weight. 

Science of Slowing Down

Researchers at Fujita Health University in Japan recently published results from a study on the speed of eating. They asked participants to eat slices of pizza with a metronome setting the pace of their eating. They found that with a slower tempo of 40 beats per minute, participants’ took longer to eat their meal. 

‍

They also found that the following factors were associated with meal duration.

• Chewing each bite more times before swallowing and taking the next bite
• Taking smaller bites, which increases the number of bites per portion
• Being female, women took longer than men to eat at each metronome speed

‍

What is the importance of slowing down and increasing meal duration? It can help you eat less and lose more weight. Here are possible reasons why. 

• Your brain takes about 20-30 minutes to register that you’re full. If you eat quickly, you might eat more than your physiological needs, leading to weight gain. If you eat slowly, you’re likely to eat less by the time your brain realizes you’re full. 
• Slowing down can help you eat less when you’re at the table or near another source of food, such as at a buffet at a party, for a long time. Eating more slowly for a given period of time can help you eat less overall than if you eat fast.

‍

Other reasons to eat slowly can include reducing stress since rapid eating can cause feelings of stress. It’s also beneficial to slow down to support digestion and avoid an upset stomach. 

‍

Eating slowly isn’t just about being polite. It’s about health and weight loss! Are you ready to eat more slowly?  

Tips for Eating More Slowly

If you’re used to doing everything quickly to improve efficiency in today’s fast-paced world, you might naturally eat quickly. That way, you can check the meal or snack off of your to-do list and keep moving through the rest of your list. 

‍

Here are some tips for slowing down when you eat. 

• Be aware. Simply being aware that you’re trying to slow down can help. Many people don’t realize that they’re eating fast or that the people around them are eating fast.
• Time your meals. Aim to make each meal last at least 20-30 minutes so your body has time to release certain hormones that signal fullness to your brain and your brain has time to register these signals. If you finish eating in less than 20 minutes, wait until at least 20 minutes before you stand up for second helpings. The delay gives your brain time to receive fullness signals.
• Chew more thoroughly. Chew each bite 20-30 times. If you don’t want to count, at least chew your food until it is completely ground up before you swallow. 
• Put your fork or spoon down between bites. It’s an easy tactic that forces you to space your bites. 

‍

These tips can help you slow down, but there’s more you can do to eat less naturally.

More Low-Effort Ways to Eat Less

Here are some ways you can support your efforts to eat less long-term while making meals more enjoyable.

• Practice mindful eating. Mindfulness involves noticing and accepting what’s happening. To practice mindful eating, try to notice the textures, flavors, and scents of your food. Notice how you feel when you’re hungry and how the food starts to fill you up. Look around to see your eating environment. These practices can help you enjoy your food more while eating less. Here are more tips for practicing mindful eating. 
• Consider portions. Portion sizes are often inconsistent with needs. Many people take oversized portions of high-calorie foods and undersized portions of low-calorie foods. Try reversing this pattern by having more vegetables, fruit, and lean proteins, and taking smaller portions of high-calorie foods, especially low-nutrient ones like butter, fatty meats, processed snack foods, and sugar-sweetened foods and beverages. 
• Respect your body. Listen to hunger and fullness cues. You may need to practice asking yourself why you’re eating and whether you’re actually hungry. It can also take time to learn your body’s fullness cues. 

Lose Weight and Keep It Off

Weight management isn’t about deprivation. It’s about smart strategies to work with your body. To lose weight and keep it off long-term, it’s best if your lifestyle changes are sustainable. That’s not usually the case with many types of diets. Here are some reasons why. 

• They can make it difficult to eat in social situations if you can’t find foods that are on your plan or if your eating schedule prohibits you from eating during the time that the social event happens
• They can become expensive if you need to purchase branded foods or meal replacements, or the diet relies heavily on meat
• They can lead to cravings or boredom if they exclude entire food groups
• They can be exhausting if you have to 

‍

In contrast, eating more slowly can be more sustainable. You can eat more slowly in any setting, and you can eat more slowly regardless of which food you are eating. It doesn’t require special food preparation or extra planning. 

How Lark Can Help

Small changes can help you improve heart health, lose weight, and manage or prevent chronic conditions. Lark can help you make positive choices daily. Your Lark coach is available 24/7 for encouragement, nutrition and physical activity coaching, and habit tracking. Lark can help you make healthy choices and establish habits that fit into your lifestyle so you can lose weight and keep it off with or without GLP-1 medications. 

‍Click here to see if you may be eligible to join Lark today!