I'm struggling with eating slower, just lost my turkey meatloaf. How, oh how do I learn to eat slower, faster??? Working in medicine, there have been days when lunch is eaten on the fly so I have always been a speed eater. I can not do this anymore...help.

I  have to use a kitchen timer. I started by splitting my food into thirds - with the timer set for 10 minutes. I would eat 1/3 over ten minutes and then reset it for another 10 minutes. Now I just set it for 30 minutes. I don't think I will need it much longer.

 the pain of over eating/eating to fast one time after surgery made me stop. but i guess its not that simple for everyone :) good luck !! 

Eat like we English do ...

Knife in right hand, upside down fork in left - you should be seated at a table.  Cut off a piece of food with the knife and place it on the back end of the fork (needs to be smaller piece to do this).   Place it in your mouth, put your knife and fork down and chew your food until it is a consistency you can swallow.    Once your mouth is completely empty, wait a moment, talk to your companions.  Repeat ...

NEVER use just a fork (it's tempting to shovel)  and only use a spoon for liquids ...   I guarantee you won't be able to gobble down scrambled eggs LOL!

It really works ...

In the beginning I used ****tail forks & spoons. It can't help but slow u down since the utensils are so small. Plus it was a nice visual reminder since they are not what I normally used. Good luck

I know better and have barfed too many times because I love to talk to my wife at meals and I get carried away and forget that I am supposed to be eating very slow and chewing. I have a timer, but forget to use it sometimes. I think my pouch punishes me so I know I am not going to get away with it. I guess some of us like me are just slow learners.     

 put your fork down in between bites.. I do the same thing.  I barrel through it then feel like I ate a whole turkey and I get very uncomfortable.  The only thing that slows me down is to put down the dish, fork, spoon... wait a minute then take another bite.  It's a constant struggle because I'm always in a hurry.

Get a clock with a second hand.

Watch the second hand and when you put food in your mouth, chew it for a full minute, with your focus on that second hand.

It's great practice, especially if you dont' chew well and get stuff stuck.

When I was a child I used to challenge myself to chew my food for a long time, and I got in the habit, so it wasn't hard for me since it was simply my habit. But I had to work at teaching myself to do it.

 Baby spoons and forks. 

I'm still struggling with this one.  I'm 5 weeks out and I just have a hard time slowing down.  The eyes see a very small portion and my mind just wants to get it over with and move on to something else.

I posted this same question awhile ago and I was given the suggestion of reciting the ABC's between bites. That works when I remember but sometimes I forget.

Good luck to you!!!

I use the stopwatch on my phone. I take a bite, wait 1 minute(after finishing chewing), take a bite, wait a minute, and so on. It helps me a lot. 

This is going to sound totally silly but after my first foamie attack I knew I had to get a handle on it. I took a bite put my fork down chewed and counted to 25-30 swallowed. Said the alphabet. Picked up the fork and repeated. lol I told you it was silly... but it worked. After about 3 days of this I could do it without the alphabet and counting. I have eaten too fast only one other time since then and it's cuz I was soooo hungry it was 2 hours past my normal lunch time due to work obligations. I got sick then too so it was a quick reminder.

You may want to open a magazine or a book you are reading and after every bite read 3 sentences or something then take another bite etc til you create the habit of eating slower.

Thanks everyone! Great ideas! I'll keep working on it...

Oh wow that is so hard to do! As a life long scarfer (not a word?) I struggled so much with slowing down and chewing my food it is still hard for me now . There have been many, many meals where I thought I was going to absolutly DIE afterwards because I ate so fast and at that point there is nothing you can do except go lay down and wait for it to pass.
good luck, and thanks for the post some of those answers are really helpful!

 Once you throw up or choke a few times you will learn.