What’s your eating speed?

[TastyReuben]

How fast or slow do you tend to eat? Are you a “get in there and get the job done,” or are you a lingerer? Does your speed adjust given the circumstance? Do you have a preference, fast or slow?

Where’s this all coming from? Well, MrsT has observed/complained that, left to my own devices, I eat too fast, in her opinion…so she timed me yesterday, without my knowledge.

For breakfast yesterday, I had a fried egg, a hash brown puck a little smaller than my hand, two bacon strips, and a piece of toast.

According to her timer, I ate that in… 1 minute, 53 seconds.



She, OTOH, took many, many, many minutes to eat hers.

In her criticism of my eating speed, she was quick to point out that I’m neither sloppy nor noisy - I’m just quietly efficient. I was actually finished before she’d taken her third bite, she said.

I’ve always been a fast eater, as is/was my dad. My mom was always a lingerer, and she used to get quite angry with him at times over it. Maybe some of that is genetic.

My feeling is that I want to eat my food, assuming it’s a hot dish, as hot as possible, so I’ve evolved into eating everything quickly.

Secondly, I’m always thinking ahead to “the next thing,” always thinking about what I’ve got to do next, whether it’s shopping or yard work or prepping the next meal.

So…how about you all? Where do you fall on the spectrum?

 

[Morning Glory]

I honestly don't know. I think probably medium slow. I like to eek if out a bit. I have a habit of reading a book when eating (unless eating with others).

 

[karadekoolaid]

Slow. Extraordinarily slow. I like to chew and savour every single mouthful, and meal times are sacred. I'm not interested in rushing through my food because there's something mor urgent to do.
When I was at school, I always ended up cleaning the dinner table - last one to finish, cleans the table.
My BIL, however, eats at the speed of light. He'll finish the plate before I've even got halfway through.

 

[medtran49]

Probably medium to medium slow depending on where I'm eating. At home, I'm often reading while eating, so that definitely slows me down. Out, I'd say medium unless I really, really like it, and then I'll speed up.

 

[TastyReuben]

I honestly don't know. I think probably medium slow. I like to eek if out a bit. I have a habit of reading a book when eating (unless eating with others).

MrsT is usually doing something with her phone while she eats. Phone, phone, phone, bite, phone, phone, phone, bite…

I can’t do that. I usually need both hands to eat, and once I’ve got utensils in my hands, that’s it. I’m focused on eating.

Eating out and/or eating with others, I do slow down, though, because there’s usually some sort of conversation going on.

 

[Morning Glory]

MrsT is usually doing something with her phone while she eats. Phone, phone, phone, bite, phone, phone, phone, bite…

I could never do that. Too choppy. A book is a slower thing.

But I don't know how you can enjoy eating if you are thinking about what's next. If you are alone, is it any different?

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

Slow. Very slow. I’m always last to finish and often don’t actually finish
I was brought up with “eat what you want, leave what you don’t want” and it’s common that I’ll leave food on the plate.

The only time I eat quickly is when I have a gluten free chinese. For me the hormones that tell me I’m full are pretty quick to release and I’ll be damned if I’m not going to eat some of every dish so I eat as fast as I can before my body insists I stop.
Then I usually need to lie down in a food coma for about 4 or 5 hours

 

[TastyReuben]

When I was a small child, my family didn’t have enough money to eat out, save for a trip to McDonald’s every couple of months (which is a story in itself), but by the time I was 13, it was pretty much just me and my folks, Dad had moved up at work, so we had a little discretionary income, and we’d usually go out to eat (at very modest diners) every Saturday afternoon, mainly as a treat for my mom.

We’d get our food, and of course my dad and I would dive in and very quickly dispatch with the meal, then sit back and stare at my mom, who’d barely gotten started (neither my dad nor I are great conversationalists over the dinner table).

My poor mom. She’d take a bite of this, a little sip of her pop, a little bite of her roll…then the food would catch in her throat a little and she’d cough and take another sip, and then it would start all over again, getting progressively worse, until she’d burst into tears, gagging and choking, crying, “I can’t eat with you starin’ at me like that, rushin’ me! I want tah enjoy my food, and yer sittin’ there jus’ glarin’ holes through me! I can’t eat now! I hope yer happy!” - then she’d push her plate away and sit there wiping her eyes and crying, while my dad and I would look at each other, thinking, “What in the world is wrong with you?!”

She’d usually box up whatever she could and would eat it when we got home, off by herself. Next Saturday, same thing, again and again.

I remember once, we were out with my grandparents, and everyone had finished before my mom (honestly, to this day, I’ve never known anyone to eat as slow as my mom would), and my grandad (her FIL), he was more forceful than my dad, and after a while, he flat out told her, “C’mon an’ finish that or leave it, Jean, we can’t be sittin’ here all day!”

She’d usually box looked down and replied, “I can’t eat, he makes me nervous,” indicating my dad.

My dad’s response, “Good lord, after six kids, she says I make ‘er ‘nervous.’ Well, ain’t that somethin’!”

 

[TastyReuben]

If you are alone, is it any different?

Do you mean my eating speed? No, if I’m by myself, it’s definitely fast. I also don’t bounce around from one thing to another and back again. I eat all of this first, then all of that next, and so on, and unless it’s something like a peanut butter sandwich, I don’t drink anything while I’m eating. I have my drink immediately after.

This morning, we had waffles. My waffle maker makes one big circular waffle at a time. I made hers and immediately poured in my batter…3 minutes and 45 seconds per waffle.

So she got hers first, I made mine, plated it up, syrup and butter…and I still had my first bite before she’d barely cut into here, and I was completely done before she’d finished a quarter of hers.

My “next thing” that was on my mind:

1. Check the forum
2. Clean up the kitchen
3. Make brunch drinks

 

[TastyReuben]

I was brought up with “eat what you want, leave what you don’t want” and it’s common that I’ll leave food on the plate.

We were brought up exactly the opposite - clean your plate or get a whipping.

For me the hormones that tell me I’m full are pretty quick to release and I’ll be damned if I’m not going to eat some of every dish so I eat as fast as I can before my body insists I stop.

When I was (mis)diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, I had to attend a nutrition class, all day every day for something like a week or 10 days. It was a very good class, very in-depth.

Early on, the dietitian teaching the class talked about how long it takes the stomach to tell the brain that it’s full, and knowing that, asked us how that should inform our eating habits.

I seriously replied, “It means you should eat as much as possible before your body tries to shut that down.”

Everybody (including the dietitian) laughed, because they thought I was making a joke, but I was serious. I naturally knew how long it took my body to feel full because whenever we’d have pizza, I knew exactly how much I could eat before I’d start to get full, so I’d eat that as quickly as possible, and then push it a little further, until I’d feel sick…but it was delicious while eating it!

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

We were brought up exactly the opposite - clean your plate or get a whipping.

My parents were in a lot of ways very progressive in their child rearing views and had experienced not being allowed to leave the table until you finished which neither of them much liked.
They also felt that you should only eat when you were hungry and not just for the sake of it. They never forced us to eat anything we didn’t like either. Overall I think it was a good strategy because we all grew up eventually eating everything on offer with very few food dislikes. I did the same with my sons and allergies aside they now eat everything too.

My mum however was extremely sharp about table manners (and pronunciation) because the Hyacinth Bucket in her felt poor table manners classed you.
As a consequence I have trouble sitting at a table with people with bad table manners. I’m happy for the formality to be dropped (just want to use a fork or spoon, fine, going to turn your fork tines facing up and use it like a shovel, ok) but people holding their cutlery like a pen NOPE, people eating with their mouth open or talking with their mouth full YUCK and people piling up their plates from a serving dish with no regard for how many people it’s supposed to feed JUST NO!

Eating fast is ok in my book so long as it doesn’t turn into messy eating.
Mr SSOAP’s family’s table manners are not good which is common in boarding school kids because at those long school hall benches theres no adult to tell you any other way. I always assumed he ate fast because of boarding school, getting back up to be first in line for pudding was always an aim but now I think it’s genetic because I have one son who eats incredibly fast and one who is as slow as me!

The two fast eaters don’t take the time to make sure the food is properly loaded onto the cutlery so it’s common for them to spill food on themselves.
I usually hear “Oh bl**dy hell” from one of them over the course of meal
We actually have a set of ‘curry shirts’ hanging in the utility for the sole purpose of protecting clothing because takeaway (curry and chinese) seems to cause a feeding frenzy and a fair amount of swearing as food flies about the place

 

[Barriehie]

Slow. Very slow. I’m always last to finish and often don’t actually finish
I was brought up with “eat what you want, leave what you don’t want” and it’s common that I’ll leave food on the plate.
...

If we didn't clean the plate then you weren't fed at the next meal.

I eat slow due to the number of teeth I don't have. This is a good thing since it means I'm very meticulous about chewing my food thoroughly and it aids the ease of digestion. I'm always last to finish.

 

[Gone Hiking]

Mrs. GH and I are pretty average, I guess. When I have a nice dinner, I tend to eat slower so I can enjoy it, but if if I'm the middle of something and just need something to fill me up, I'll woof it down and get back to what I was doing. Our sons have always inhaled their food for whatever reason.

 

[badjak]

Slowish....
Dinner was the time to sit down together and talk about your day and other things.
I'm still slow, esp with other people around. Maybe I just talk too much

If I am by myself, I tend to read my kindle and eat. And I am still slow

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

My husband wolfs his food down, not only at extraordinary speed but also in quantity. What he eats in one mouthful, takes me 4 mouthfuls. He can also eat food that is incredibly hot (temperature wise) whilst I'll get blisters in my mouth and on my tongue. Needless to say, he's finished long before me. But I have found a use for it. When dieting, I finish reading when he does. The weight comes off easily that way

We have a no gadgets at the table policy at home except for that photo for here, or to answer a dedicated question like tomorrow's weather to decide what's happening or being eaten next etc.

He's one of four boys so it was always a case of any chance of seconds meant clearing your plate fast (also stopped theft from the plate as well!)

One of the many issues I have eating is that i have difficultly swallowing due to damage to my trachea, so I have to eat small mouthfuls, drink plenty and swallow carefully. Certain foods are now causing me problems causing coughing fits and triggering an allergic reaction where everything streams and I cough until I either throw up or pass out (done both, the former is more common). Another issue is that i don't get that you're full feeling. I also don't often get that hungry feeling either, part of my cortisol problems.

And i grew up with the clear you plate policy else no food tomorrow...