Have you seen the Tik Tok of the girl claiming that the key to ensuring you don't over eat is putting your fork down in between bites?
The video above isn't the original video that I saw, but it does a pretty job of explaining why this might be true for some people.
Note to self - start saving/liking ALL the videos on Tik Tok for reference.
I for one, have been there: starving, desperate, ravenous, can't-wait-another-minute to get food in the belly - and inevitably I end up shoveling the food down my gullet so quickly my brain nor my belly even registers I've eaten! So then I eat again. When my brain and belly catch up to my mouth it's too late and I'm miserably full.
It makes total sense! By putting your fork (and anything else that might be in your hand, ahem, the cell phone) down in between each bite it gives your brain/body the ability to focus on one thing and one thing only: chewing!
"You're taking your brain out of auto-pilot and into conscious eating mode," Anti-Diet Health Coach Katherine says.
All good, in theory. How about in practice? Well, I tried it. The first time it was easy. I had my mission brief and knew the objective. I spent the whole meal hyper-conscious of each action - bite, set fork down, chew chew chew, pick fork up, another bite, chew chew chew, repeat. It took A LOT longer to finish my meal. This was almost too easy...but would it work when the conditions weren't primed for success?
I needed to test this out when I was starving and in a hurry. Not super difficult conditions to create. I'm usually on the verge on hanger at least once a day. I do it to myself, really.
The next day as I returned home from work I could feel my belly rumbling and my brain was telling me to hurry up and eat you idiot. The conditions were perfect for the experiment!
I made myself my go-to quick and tasty meal right now, 90-second pouch rice, sautéed peppers, and turkey sausage. Delicious and nutritious.
I sauté the peppers in one big batch at the beginning of the week so I have them ready to go at lunch time.
Despite knowing better I often eat lunch in front of the TV, but I knew that was a variable I wasn't quite ready to add in to the experiment so I stayed in the kitchen. I stood while I ate - which I also do often despite knowing better.
This was a little more challenging. I found the first couple bites were just as easy as the first time around, but somewhere in the middle I picked up my phone to film it for Tik Tok. I caught myself. Put the phone and my fork down, and focused on the chewing.
It's second nature for me to keep my fork in my hand so I found it easier to deliberately hold my hands up, like in the video at the top!
Again, it took way longer to get through the bowl! Not only did I chew way more, but my belly and my brain were satiated and content when I was done!
Will this help you lose a bunch of weight? Maybe - although that's not really my goal here. I just want to eat one meal at a time.
This might take a while for the constant fork holding muscle memory to wear off. I think I'll stick with holding my hands up for now, especially if I'm really hungry - but only if I'm at home. You will not catch me holding my hands up like this at a restaurant. Could you imagine???
Well would you try this?! If you do let me know how it goes for you! I'd love to compare notes!