“They forgot to give me my burger,” I said, peering into the bag from the fast food chain.

“You just ate it,” Paul said.

“I did?”  Maybe I did.  Here was an empty wrapper and Paul is not one to lie.  But I didn’t remember eating it.  My mind was on the tasks ahead of us and I must have just eaten it without noticing. What a waste.  Not only did I inhale hundreds of empty calories, but I didn’t even enjoy them.

Perhaps I’m an extreme case, but we all tend to eat mindlessly.  If it is in front of us, we put it in our mouths and swallow without really thinking about what we are eating, especially if we are reading or watching television.  A better plan would be to actually focus on what you are eating and enjoy it.  And stop when you get full — not when your food is gone.

Some ways to do that?  Try turning off the television, putting down your book or newspaper, and think about what you are eating — and the people with whom you are sharing the meal.  That’s good for family dynamics, as well as for your waistline.

Eat at the table.  If you carry your food around with you as you do other tasks, you will scarf it down without enjoying it. You will also scarf down much MORE of it, because it won’t seem like a real meal.  Having your meals at the table will help counteract that.

Use a fork.  Using utensils for everything you eat — including sandwiches, cookies, etc. that you normally would eat with your fingers — slows you down. It makes you concentrate more on what you are doing.

Take small bites.  We are so used to hurrying to get as much done as possible in a short amount of time.  When it’s dinner time we keep up that frantic pace and gulp our food.  Try making your bites smaller and chew them longer.

Put down your fork between bites. It will slow you down some more and will remind you to savor and actually enjoy your meal.

Doing these things will make a smaller amount of food seem like a bigger meal.  It will also allow you to eat less and enjoy it more — which will make it easier for you to stick with your plan for the rest of your life.

Eating to live and living for Christ,

Susan Jordan Brown