by Kevin Burton
Our cat Ronnie is “food-motivated.” The manager of Save The Kitties in Derby said so and she wasn’t lying.
Ronnie was obviously supplied with people food in large quantity by her previous owners because she clung to our feet when we opened the refrigerator. She knew exactly what the apparatus was and the wonders it contained.
We don’t give our cats people food. But even now, from the moment she sees that I am awake in the morning, she begins lobbying for her favorite wet food. This, whether or not the other bowl is full of the dry Purina Cat Chow Gentle.
There is a noise Ronnie makes that closely approximates the sound of a human baby crying. I have put two and two together and concluded that she makes this noise when she has eaten her Fancy Feast too fast, gotten air in her stomach and she is hurting.
“You’d think she would learn,” my wife Jeannette says, as the subject comes up from time to time.
True enough, but am I any better?
When we were kids at the Ohio State School for the Blind, just about everything was a race, including eating. We had a half hour for meals, but I don’t remember bumping up against that time limit too often.
So from that point forward, most of the time I have eaten quickly, probably too quickly. And I am not alone, according to Kathleen M. Zelman, writing on webmd.com.
“Most Americans eat too fast, and, as a result, they take in too many calories before they realize they’ve eaten enough, Zelman writes. “It takes approximately 20 minutes from the time you start eating for your brain to send out signals of fullness. Leisurely eating allows ample time to trigger the signal from you brain that you are full. And feeling full translates into eating less.”
There is a thing I do when having dinner out with friends and family. I eat left-handed and thus I eat more slowly. But that has everything to do with opting out of the usual small-talk, and nothing, per se, to do with the eating.
If I’m not chit-chatting it’s just because I am still eating, right?
So maybe I should eat left-handed all the time?
“Recent research presented at a meeting of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity showed that overweight men and women took in fewer calories when they slowed their normal eating pace,” Zelner writes. “And a recent Japanese study involving 1,700 young women concluded that eating more slowly resulted in feeling full sooner, and thus eating fewer calories at mealtime.”
“My sister was always the last one to finish her meal, and it drove the rest of the family crazy,” Zelman recalls. “We were sure it was her ploy to get out of clearing the table or doing the dishes! It was not until years later that I realized her slow eating is the secret to her trim figure.”
Zelman says there are other reasons to eat slowly.
“Not only does eating slowly and mindfully help you eat less, it enhances the pleasure of the dining experience,” Zelman writes.
“To master the art of slow eating, put on some music, light a few candles, turn off the TV and any other distractions, and concentrate on your meal.”
“A perfect place to start is with dessert. Let’s be honest, who is still hungry when dessert arrives? But our innate desire for sweets nonetheless makes desserts very tempting,”
“You can have your cake and eat it, too — as long as you only take a few bites. Take a bite, eat it slowly, savor it, and do nothing but enjoy the flavor, texture, and experience of the delicious dessert. You will find that one or two bites give you the sweet indulgence without a lot of extra calories.”
I read that and it makes me want to invite Ms. slow eater over for dinner and watch her resist that double chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream.
Two bites of dessert? Really?
She’s probably one of these people who puts the serving size as “about 11 chips” on a bag of Spicy Nacho Doritos, when we all know the bag is the serving size.
“It’s true that eating slowly and taking smaller bites can be very difficult to do, especially when you are busy and famished. But you’ll find it easier to slow the pace if you eat regular meals, and never allow more than four hours to pass between meals,” Zelman writes.
“At times when you’re very busy, schedule “nourishment breaks” into your day. Take 15 minutes to relax, recharge, and refuel. These minibreaks will help you relieve stress, too.”
“Still can’t slow down the pace? Try a few other tricks to help you recognize a full belly: Push away from the table, leave the second helpings on the stove, and drink a large glass of water.”
“Regardless of how you go about it, slowing down your eating is a great resolution to make. So take a page from the Europeans, who love to linger over their meals,” Zelman writes. “It can’t hurt, after all. And with any luck, you’ll learn to eat less while you take more pleasure in the taste of your nutritious and delicious meals.”
Also keep in mind, some of those Europeans eat snails. No wonder they eat so slowly. That would stop me from eating altogether.
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