Another Theory

[june13sleever 223]

I am on this site a lot. I lost a lot! I am pretty thin now. A lot of people struggle. At first I thought maybe those people who were struggling didn't make the first six months count because they were told to eat 1200 calories. I DO NOT advocate eating that many calories!!!! But besides the fact that I did not eat that many I looked at what other people say and in another way I differ from some people is that I would never sit around eating for an hour in order to get all my food down. I literally eat 10 bites of food...pretty quickly, and I stop. I feel satisfied and in two to three hours I am eating again, but again I eat a couple bites, quickly and then stop as soon as the hunger is gone. I also remember my nutritionist telling me to eat slowly, chew my food and that a meal might take a long time to get down. Just a theory that maybe you shouldn't eat for so long just to get your meal down. You can eat again later.

[Dooter 1,457]

Ya, I've been told to aim for 800 calories and stay there until i'm done losing. If I go over that for more than a few days, the train pulls right into the station. Doesn't take me long to eat, either. I have to be careful.

[milkD 37]

I've never been told to take an hour to eat. That's too long. About 15-20 mins is recommended because it takes 15 mins for your stomach to tell your brain that you're full.

If you're keeping careful track of your portions I don't see a problem with you eating faster.

[Izuri 428]

I don't see why it matters really how long you take to eat. As long as you are eating the correct portion of food, it seems like it would still have the same loss, and possibly reduce issues if someone is having trouble eating. I am on liquids right now and I do take a long time to get them all down. It doesn't matter really though because liquid phase you're pretty much supposed to be doing some kind of liquid all day to stay hydrated. My stomach is still somewhat swollen and going slow helps decrease gas and is helping teach me to be better at small sips. I probably will take much less time to eat once I am on actual foods, but it has been a good experience with learning to enjoy the full liquids slowly.

I think what your NUT was getting at is making sure that you are chewing foods thoroughly and that if you're having trouble getting/keeping things down, that eating slower can be a tool to make it more comfortable to eat. That's just what it sounds like to me.

And off topic but, congratulations on your loss =) You look great.

[Catracks 865]

I measure and weigh my food. I also eat VERY SLOWLY - often with meal blurring into Snacks or other meals. I hate the full feeling. When hiking or biking I also eat less often and less food. Weird huh? I'm also under 800 calories and plan to stay their until goal. At goal I might be able to eat 1300 calories a day -- Maybe.