Chew 30 to 100 times of your food per bite – how easy is it for you?
I have tried many times in my life to make it my habit but no success so far. I am a fast eater to begin with. Raising children as a working mother didn’t help me change my habit at all. Even though I do well for a while, things happen, my day gets busy and eventually I go back to my old habit.
But never give up! I am now on another trial. Not every meal but I am doing well about half the time if not more. I chew every mouthful around 40 times. I cheat a bit with soup but overall, I am consistently chewing much better than before for about a month.
I still feel good chewing is more work than natural flow. If I am not consciously eating, I tend to gobble food without chewing so well. It seems gobbling is my nature instead of chewing. For the most time, this gobbling doesn’t come from the serious hunger. Rather I am just trying to fill up my stomach with food. I recognize this urge more when I am stressed out.
It is not fun. I am stuffing my stomach rather than nurturing my body thorough the activity of eating. My mind is not on the food I am about to eat but somewhere else. Where else? Probably it is not something fun but concern, worry and all sorts of negative things rather than positive.
I have read that human’s mind is more driven by a negative element than positive. For example, people pay for things that solve their problems more than those provide fun and pleasure. They don’t want the problem so that they look for the solution hard. Even something fun such as vacation and leisure is often the solution for people to escape from their stressful life. The negative motivation that they want to have a break from this hard life is the reason to look for the excitement and relaxation.
I enjoy watching my children’s eating. They don’t chew very well, either, but their ‘busy mind’ is occupied by fun thing such as playing with friends, watching movie and working on an art project after finishing the meal. I learn a lot from their moment-by-moment attitude.
So… I am not sure how long my chewing challenge lasts this time. But I found how I chew tells me my condition at that time. When my mind is busy, particularly with negative thoughts and emotions, I tend to gobble food up. When I am more relaxed and enjoy the world, I find the mentality to pay more attention on what’s in my mouth.
If I gobble food up, I would like to be like a child – there’s so much excitement await that I can’t help rushing to finish the meal. How fun it would be!