Too Fast For Our Own Good

We're all frequent multitaskers. Currently, I'm writing this blog post, jamming out to Snarky Puppy, and making banana bread. One of the biggest complaints people often have is that they don't have enough time to do everything like hanging out with friends, finishing assignments, exercising, etc. We have to prioritize our tasks and sacrifice some for others. Or better yet, if you're like me and  think you're a superhero, we try to do everything all at once. I can't remember the last time I ate dinner at home without my laptop beside me (I'm trying to cut back). We've gotten into the habit of eating on the go. On the rare occasions we find ourselves sitting at an actual dinner table, and not at a desk or in the car, it's often because we have company. 

In Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan describes two different eating scenarios that vary in both food preparation and food consumption. The first is a typical fast food meal that his family eats on the road. The second is a home-cooked meal served at a dinner party. This is the quote that stood out to me the most:

It's impossible to prepare and eat a meal quite so physically, intellectually and emotionally costly without thinking about the incalculably larger debts we incur when we eat industrially—which is to say, when we eat without a thought to what we're doing. To compare my transcendently slow meal tot eh fast-food meal I "served" my family at that McDonald's in Marin, the one that set me back fourteen bucks for the three of us and was consumed in ten minutes at sixty-five miles per hour, is to marvel at the multiplicity of a world that could produce two such different methods of accomplishing the same thing: feeding ourselves, I mean.

We have the choice to eat quickly or slowly. Unfortunately, most of us fall into the habit of eating out instead of eating in. "Eating out" does not necessarily have to mean going through a drive-thru. Whenever you heat up a TV dinner or order a pizza, you're still technically eating processed foods. Studies have shown that fast eating is a cause for overeating. The foods people tend to choose when they don't have time to cook can have more calories, fat, and sugar than most people think. We shouldn't be using the excuse "I don't have time" to overlook the fact that our fast eating is actually hurting us in the long run. Admit it, we're eating too fast for our own good.

Step one is admitting we have a problem. So what's next? Here's some additional resources on the topic of fast vs. slow eating:

9 Expert Tips For More Mindful Eating

5 Powerful Reasons to Eat Slower

Why Speed Eating is Bad for Your Health

New Study: Eating Speed Does Not Determine Satiety