Fast eating

I can scarf down a sandwich in 2.5 minutes and I can clean a whole plate faster than you can say jack rabbit. I am a fast eater. It all started when I was a kid. If you didn't eat fast enough in this family you would see a fork coming in from the side and spear the most coveted thing on your plate. So it was survival of the fittest or fattest. Whoever ate fastest wouldn't have to worry about their food being eaten by someone else. My mom learned to eat with one hand around her plate to keep thieving eaters away. She refused to eat fast. She was on the defensive.

It's been a long hard road to learning how to eat slow and savor your food. Even now I finish supper way before J. I have to sit and salivate and try as hard as I can to not go back for seconds.

Last night as I ate dinner with the LB (J was out for work) and realize that the pattern will not be broken and that I would have to go on the defensive like my mom. W wanted to eat dinner at his little table. So I sat him down and then made my omelet and went in to join him at the little table. Pman had already eaten and was crawling around seeing what caught his interest. and then up popped his head at the little table. Then the hand came up and over my plate and the pattern began again. He went to town on my omelet. He stopped eating eggs a few weeks ago but for some reason he seemed interested again. I started eating faster and faster. Trying to get all the bites with the cheese and potatoes (my favorite bites) before he ate it all.

So I tried. I tried to break the pattern. I tried to savor my food. I try to chew my food well and I tried taking deep breaths and relaxing my shoulders. I tried eating like J eats. Slowly. But it's all for naught because the cycle is starting again. Maybe I will try and shift positions. I'll keep trying to eat slowly but keep one hand around my plate like my mom. I'm not sure how it will all turn out. Maybe this was a one time thing but I have a feeling it's not.