I decided to try a new tactic while eating. I can’t really remember where I heard about it, maybe on Spark, maybe on TV, maybe a magazine. Or maybe I just made it up in my head, who knows?

Anyway, the origin doesn’t matter. The tactic is to drink water between every single bite you take during a meal.

The result being that you are much less likely to over eat. I don’t really over eat because I plan what I’m going to eat and track it at the beginning of the day. There’s always a little wiggle room for the little bit of this here, the little nibble of that there, but those are rarities.

Aside from the over eating thing I thought that this would also really help with water consumption for the day.

I decided to try this out today to see if my little experiment helps anyone out there who may be over eating at meals or not able to figure out how to drink all that water. When I first started Spark People I had some real trouble drinking all that water. Now I feel dehydrated if I don’t get at LEAST 64 oz in but it took me a while to get to that point.

So, I’m sitting here at my desk eating a really yummy salad from Parera that I would normally just devour in 3.27 seconds but that is not the case today at all. It’s taking me FOREVER to eat this salad! This is a good thing though because I eat REALLY fast. Like, I shovel food in my mouth. My husband jokes with me that I don’t even taste my food when I eat.

One point for drinks between bites!

Remembering to take a drink every time that you take a bite is kind of hard though. You have to really be conscious about what you’re doing. At some points during this meal I have taken a bite of salad and gone to take another bite without drinking and had to stop, take the fork away from my mouth (that REALLY wants to take another bite) and take a drink of water. This is another good thing though. I have read numerous posts from Spark People experts that say that we have got to be conscious about what we’re putting in out bodies. When you have to stop to take a drink before each bite, you are 100% conscious about what you’re eating.

Two points for drinks between bites!

Now because I ordered a salad from a restaurant, it’s already portion controlled (kind of, not all restaurants are!!!) so there’s not going to be the over eating aspect that the extra drinks are going to divert me from in this scenario however, I’m getting kind of full and I don’t think that even if there were more options for me to eat that I would have them.

Three points for drinks between bites!
Lastly, I thought that drinking water between every bite would help to get all of your recommended water into your day and boy oh boy was I right. I started this meal with a 1.5 liter bottle of Aquafina and it’s 2/3 of the way gone. That’s about a liter of water already gone in just one meal. That’s half of the water you are required to drink for the entire day. And I just consumed it with one meal.

Four points for drinks between bites!

Over all I would have to say that drinking between bites of food is a very good idea. So at your next meal try it out and let me know what you think.

Cheers!!