

Eating Mindfully: How to Pay Attention to What You Eat and Stop Just Before You're Full - dpapathanasiou
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121062985377986351.html?mod=rss_Today

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sethg
One of the most useful diet-related facts I've learned is that it takes about
15 minutes for the "I'm full" signal to propagate from your stomach to your
brain. Of course, I'm not so consistent at putting this knowledge into
practice....

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DaniFong
That's one of the reasons it's great to eat with others. You'll have great
conversations, and if you're as talkative as me, the latency is more than kept
at bay. :-)

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mhb
Eating is kind of funny. A big reason to eat something is because you like the
taste of it. So you would think you would want to eat slowly and keep it in
your mouth for as long as possible since that's where you taste it.

Instead, the instinct (presumably evolution based) is to eat a lot of it
quickly. So besides the nice taste, we are also wired to derive satisfaction
from swallowing the food. If this link between tasting and swallowing as the
atomic satisfaction producer could be broken, it seems like it could be
helpful for people who eat too much.

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ilamont
I have two kids, one who is definitely a fast eater, and the other who eats at
a glacial pace. It's not hard to figure out who has the potential for weight
problems. At least he's into outdoor activities ... and I've limited TV, and
put off getting a Wii.

But I have to say, for Ms. Glacial, I do have to push her sometimes to eat
faster, especially in the morning. I feel terrible about it, but the bus and
school can't wait for her 45-minute breakfasts ... unless I start making
everyone get up 30 minutes earlier.

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josefresco
I literally 'inhale' Zebra Cakes much to my wife's dismay.

I'm skinny as a rail though (I worry more about sugar intake than weight) so
feel free to hate me.

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dgabriel
My brother used to live on Zebra Cakes and Mountain Dew, and he was always
super thin. Alas, as he approaches thirty, the Zebra Cakes are starting to
show. :)

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wallflower
When I was recovering from elective gum surgery, I could only safely chew with
the teeth on one side of my mouth. And for the first time, I had to chew and
eat slow. It's harder now that I no longer need to do that but chewing using
one side of your mouth can dramatically slow your intake rate.

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rshao
I've always just been a slow eater. In effect, it's the same thing. I feel
full "sooner" since the food has time to reach my stomach and most of the
time, I don't even finish out the entire meal.

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redorb
I need to learn this; so when I have kids it can be taught from early on
although in public school its constantly under attack with 30 min lunches (25
of those being in line).

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edw519
This is great advice, but I've never been able to do anything like this while
working.

I know, I know, you're supposed to get away from your terminal and eat in the
other room. But I never do.

I either a. eat a meal while surfing or b. munch on something while coding.
It's the munching while coding that I've never been able to do "mindfully".

The best coding munchies are almost always the worst things to eat, like
microwave popcorn, chips, cookies, and soda. When you're 4 levels deep into a
nested routine, who notices that the munchies are gone? I suppose I could eat
fresh fruit or something like that, but honestly, has anyone ever gotten into
the "coding zone" eating grapes?

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justindz
Grapes, bags of spinach, you name it. The trick is to not stock munchies that
you don't want yourself to code on. If you don't have it, you can't eat it.
The other trick is to not cut out all snacking but stock up on snacks that
fill the void without expanding the void, so to speak.

And drink a tall glass of water three minutes before you feel like snacking.
It'll keep you hydrated, which is good, and you'll snack less on average. A
lot of the munchies is actually dehydration (like late night snacking).

Also, if you have peanuts or something and you're just watching TV rather than
coding try eating them with chopsticks to slow you down so you notice when
you're full. Once you get good at that, try peanuts with a fork or do the toss
and catch or something ;-)

