I Chewed My Food 20 Times and Lost Weight

by Wellory team

Chewing my food has never been something I thought about. In fact, I used to be a fast eater and would try to shove food down pretty quickly - try under 10 minutes per meal. But then something happened...Insert: Health hack obsession. Shocking, I know.

So, I became obsessed with wanting to know every nutrition tip and trick and starting hearing people talk about chewing. Chew slower. Chew more times. Count your chews. Take smaller bites. I figured, like everything else, I’d give it a try and see what happens.

Step 1: CHANGE YOUR UTENSILS

Well, if I was going to try to chew slower and take smaller bites, a fork just wasn’t going to cut it. I turned to the Chinese diet and decided to go with chopsticks. Chopsticks don’t allow you to hold as much food and are a quick and easy solve for smaller bites. Smaller bites that I could focus on chewing more.

STEP 2: CHEW 20 TIMES

Clueless vegan celeb Alicia Silverstone told Institute for Integrative Nutrition students that she tries to chew 20 times before swallowing. This technique helps you to savor your food, break open digestive enzymes, and gives your body more time to decide if it’s still hungry or not. If Beverly Hills Cher does it, then so can you and I.

STEP 3: JOIN THE BUDDY SYSTEM

So, there I am with chopsticks in hand and my goal of 20 chews set. But I wasn’t eating alone. Instead, sitting across from a friend at lunch, I decided to let him know the challenge at hand. Intrigued, he agreed to join in the fun and the two of us held each other accountable throughout the meal. Conversation was better and the atmosphere was calmer. No need to rush through the meal experience!

And then, as rumor had it - the slower I chewed, the more I enjoyed my food and was full by the time I finished my lunch. This is changing the digestion game. Count me in.