Are you eating lunch? What else are you doing? If you're like us, you probably have one hand on a sandwich and the other on a keyboard. Or a remote control. Or in between pages of a newspaper.
It's easy to miss what you're eating if you're constantly multitasking during meals...
Even during dinner, when we try to wind down and tune out the background noise, we're making sure everyone is served, scurrying back to the kitchen for napkins or salt, or focusing on conversation — all at the expense of tasting the food on the plate.
We've all heard that eating slowly allows our bodies to realize they're full before we've sucked up an entire pan of lasagna, making it less likely that we'll overeat. But concentrating on chewing and paying attention to what's in our mouths also helps us appreciate the hard work we've put in to the meal. There's also a very simple pleasure in watching a crust crumble or hearing a spoon scrape the bottom of a bowl.
So, let us encourage you, in this busy hour in the middle of the day, to pause, taste, and savor. What do you notice? What are you eating and doing right now?
Related: Weekend Meditation: Mornings, with Breakfast
(Image: Flickr member BrittneyBush, licensed for use under Creative Commons)
Copyright © 2008 Apartment Therapy
i just finished a bowl (ok, plastic pint container) of hot & sour soup while reading through AT. now it's back to work!
view 2T's profile
i just wrote a little bit on this very thing!
http://sweeetheartfever.blogspot.com/2008/08/best-in-show.html
I think about these very things all the time, but especially since I've been getting a lot of ribbing about my eating habits lately. :\ I think it's great to savor food!
view sweeetheartfever's profile
I am the SLOWEST. EATER. EVER. No joke. Whenever I eat with friends or family, I get the ubiquitous "How are you not finished yet?!" comment. But I'll never change my ways! I enjoy food way too much to rush it. I appreciate every bite more.
Exception - If I sit down in front of the TV with chips. I try to avoid that as much as possible.
view crazy_betty's profile
I always remember a meal more vividly when we make a point to set the table and turn off the harsh overhead flourescent light in the kitchen and turn on the lamp instead.
Sometimes we eat in the living room in front of the tv, but I always find I eat too much and feel blah all evening. When we eat at the dining room table, we enjoy, talk, and taste more. It makes a huge difference for sure.
view revolution9's profile
crazy_betty, no I'm the slowest eater ever! The funny thing is I am *never* able to eat unless reading/be in front of computer/chatting (I mean real life chat). Never. I have a hard time at fast-foods, I sometimes have to read the menu while eating. I think this originated in the first years of my life when I got used to be read children books to during lunch, so now I cannot enjoy food, or eat at all, without collateral activity! When I concentrate only on the taste I do so for small intervals of a couple of seconds. Strange, huh?
Oh and I just finished a bowl of milk cereals :)
view tulpoeid's profile
Thank you! My friends always said I was crazy for eating so slow. I'd take a bite, close my eyes and breathe in through my nose, and they would just stare at me like I was a lunatic.
I've always said food tastes better when you eat it slowly and if it's not good enough that you want to take your time, then you shouldn't be eating it anyway.
view Cupajo's profile