You’ve got five minutes to get to work on time, you’re already late, and you haven’t eaten anything yet so you scarf down your breakfast.
Sound familiar?
Some would say being busy is a choice others would say it’s a product of a full life. Regardless of your perspective on the glass you will face the same annoying results. Stuffing your face as fast as you can at each meal leads to over-eating, lack of digestion, weight gain, the list goes on.
What if I made you a 100% guarantee?
Chew your food slowly at each meal, take smaller bites, and eat until you feel roughly 80% full. I GUARANTEE you will feel much better and you will most definitely lose weight. If you do not lose at least 1-2 pounds in one month following this protocol I will coach you for free for a year.
Disclaimer: you must be eating 3-4 whole food meals on the daily.
Why do I care so much about eating slowly? From the second you lock eyes with your grub your body begins priming itself for party time. Try this, picture your favourite dish, think about the aroma and the sensation of the flavours overwhelming your taste buds. Your mouth is watering, right? This is the first critical step in digestion! The main digestive enzyme, amylase, begins breaking your food down the minute Grandma’s pasta touches your tongue. This process is critical for proper digestion.
My friend Daniel had a Martial Arts Sensei who instructed him to “chew your food until it’s like a cows cud”. When he shared that with me quite honestly I thought it was gross and a little weird BUT I still practiced. It freaking works people. I enjoyed eating immensely, I ate mindfully, and I didn’t feel stuffed to the brim. Good lesson.
Why would you want to miss out on savouring your meal? Why do we line up another bite before the food in our mouth is gone? Why do I swallow my food before I’ve had a chance to chew it?
This all comes back to slowing down, enjoying, and chewing.
By slowing down you will reduce the risk of over-eating, meals will become far more satisfying, and the systems in your body will be given the chance to effectively do their job.
Think about fueling your car. Would you dump crude oil into your gas tank? We refine the crude oil into products that our cars can effectively use as fuel. Do the same with food, don’t dump crude unprocessed food into your gut and expect to run like a Ferrari.
The Nutritional field is completely overwhelming and offers a million and one ways for you to change. It can be discouraging trying to find a starting point. The best course of action is to start with the absolute basics.
Eat whole foods most of the time.
Slow down when you eat by cutting out unnecessary distractions. Be in the moment.
Chew your food and enjoy each bite.
Eat until you are 80% full.
That’s it! Practice these principles and when you have mastered them we can look at making small additional changes.
Stay tuned this weekend for a great tasting and easy to whip up breakfast bowl recipe!
All the best,
Anchored Athletics Team
Hi Tyler, some sage advice on slowing down. I have to catch myself everyday and remind myself to eat slowly and enjoy the flavour! There is an island in Japan where residents practise eating to 80% full and there life span is incredible. Thx
Hi Dad, thank you! Those are great reminders. I have heard about that! Super fascinating. They also farm and caught all of their own food late into their lives = being active.