Slow and steady gains the least
To maintain your weight as you enter the new year -- or any time -- slow down and savor your food.
That’s the message from a new study that suggests slow eaters are less likely to add weight than those who quickly gobble their meals.
Researchers have long suspected that eating fast might play a role in weight gain. But few studies have systematically examined the effects of eating quickly in healthy adults, and those results were mixed.
To determine the role that speed of eating might play in adding weight, Japanese researchers studied nearly 4,400 healthy, middle-aged adults. Participants rated their eating habits in five categories: very slow, relatively slow, medium, relatively fast and very fast.
Researchers assessed each participant’s food consumption and physical activity for one month and took into account age, smoking habits and alcohol intake. They used body mass index measurements to compare participants’ current weight with their weight at age 20.
The study found a direct correlation between speed of eating and BMI. The slowest eaters showed the smallest rise in BMI from age 20, while the quickest eaters showed the largest increase in BMI.
The findings suggest that “eating fast may lead to obesity independent of energy intake or other lifestyle factors in middle-aged, non-diabetic men and women,” the team reported recently at the annual meeting of the North American Assn. for the Study of Obesity.
Here are other simple ways to help keep your weight in check:
* Alternate bites and sips. That’s one strategy recommended by Barbara Rolls, professor of nutrition at Pennsylvania State University. Rolls, author of “The Volumetrics Eating Plan,” suggests taking a sip of water or another beverage in between each bite of food.
But skip drinking water before a meal unless you’re just thirsty. A recent study by scientists at Virginia Tech and the University of Colorado found no reduction in calories from drinking water 30 minutes before a meal.
* Drop the fork. Putting down utensils in between bites is a commonly used behavioral strategy to help slow food consumption. As for the familiar advice to chew each bite 30 times or more, doing so may slow food consumption, but there’s little scientific evidence to suggest that it helps with fullness or feelings of satiety.
* Look at your bottom line. Numerous studies now show that food records, portion control, regular weigh-ins, daily physical activity and finding caloric balance are what consistently separate “successful losers” -- people who maintain their weight loss -- from those who regain it. Two other key habits: eating breakfast daily and having regular, healthful meals.
* Have a backup plan. Life rarely goes as expected, particularly during the holidays. Studies of habit-change show that people who plan ahead but then are flexible enough to have alternative strategies for when things go awry are more likely to succeed.
* Walk faster. It will help burn some of the added calories that you’re likely consuming this holiday season. Brisk walking and other moderate aerobic activity appear to rev metabolism for nearly a day afterward, according to a recent study of women conducted by U.S. and Australian researchers. The team, led by Gary Hunter at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, compared the metabolism-revving effects of 40 minutes of moderate activity against weight training. Moderate aerobic activity, but not weight lifting, boosted calorie burning for the next 20 hours. So speed walk to errands. Or just give yourself the gift of regular 40-minute walks to burn calories.
* Enjoy a progressive meal. It’s one way to attend multiple parties the same day or night without overeating. So have hors d’oeuvres at the first party, salad at the next, the main course at the following party and dessert or coffee at your last stop.
