A Simple Diet Hack to Make Dieting Easier

The best diet plan won’t work if you can’t stick to it. As a coach, one of the most valuable things I can offer is bridging the gap between knowing what’s best for you and actually doing it. Sometimes, small behavioural tweaks can make all the difference when it comes to reaching your goals.

One effective tweak? Slowing down how you eat.

Why Fast Eating Is a Problem

Eating quickly doesn’t just leave you feeling rushed—it’s tied to several health and dietary issues:

Faster eaters tend to consume more calories than those who eat at a slower pace
Issues like gastritis are more common among fast eaters .
Fast eating doubles your risk of type 2 diabetes (by 2 fold) and increases your likelihood of developing metabolic syndrome .

Research backs the idea that eating more slowly can help with weight control and overall health:

Increased satiety: A study showed that eating the same meal over 24 minutes, instead of 6, led to greater feelings of fullness and less snacking later .
Reduced calorie intake: People con calories when eating minimally processed or harder foods (e.g., apples instead of bananas, raw vegetables instead of cooked) .

Slowing down doesn’t just make you feel fuller—it naturally limits how much you eat and reduce the temptation to snack unnecessarily.

Practical Tips to Slow Down

Here are some methods I’ve used successfully with clients:

Set a meal timer: Aim to spend at least 20 minutes eating your meal. Stay seated until the timer goes off.
Pre-meal relaxation: Spend a few minutes doing breathwork or meditation before you eat. This can help you slow down mentally and physically.
Choose harder foods: Opt for raw or less-processed options whenever possible. Harder foods take longer to chew, naturally slowing your eating speed.
Chew counts: While setting a target number of chews per bite works for some, I find it too distracting and unnecessary in most cases.

Small changes in how you eat can lead to big improvements in fullness, calorie control, and overall health. Slowing down isn’t a magic bullet, but it’s a straightforward hack that can make sticking to your diet easier.

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