Sep 4, 2008

How to Eat Less and Lose Weight by Chewing More



from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Chewing your food thoroughly is great for your health. Not only does it aid digestion, but it helps you limit your portion size. It takes awhile for the brain to realize that you are full. Chewing more can give it that extra time to account for the food you are eating. The following steps explain a rather simple and effective way to lose weight and aid digestion and thereby energy.

Steps


  1. Buy a chronometer (stopwatch). You will need this to measure how long you chew your food. This will also keep some of your attention off of the food as you're eating. You can omit this step if you wish to count in your head.
  2. Eat whatever you were eating before, but create a rule for how many seconds you will chew every bite of food before you swallow. Pick a multiple of ten such as 20 seconds, 30 seconds, or 40 seconds.
  3. Put food in your mouth, turn on your chronometer from 0 seconds. Keep watching your meter as you chew and, when you reach the time you designated earlier, swallow. Reset your chronometer and repeat. Or, while you chew, count in your head by one second intervals until you reach the designated amount of time.


Tips


  • Buy a chronometer which is easy to handle with one hand.
  • A more advanced technique would involve designating different second intervals for different types of foods.
  • If you find it too tedious to watch the clock, just concentrate on chewing your food until it becomes a liquid in your mouth before swallowing. This ensures that you to take your time eating, allowing your body time to tell you it feels full, and reducing solid food to its most digestible form.
  • Alternatively, you can count to 100 while chewing each mouthful. If this is boring, start to memorize poems, monologues, or Bible verses that take "100 chews" to repeat in your head.


Warnings


  • Don't eat too many unhealthy foods. Since you are eating less, it's important to get enough nutrients.
  • Don't starve yourself, either. You still need to eat!


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