Enjoying a Meal

How many meals a day do you eat by yourself? Including snacking? If you’re like the average American, then it’s probably close to all of your meals. When you do enjoy a meal in the company of friends, family or loved ones, the experience is generally more enjoyable than cramming food when you get the chance throughout your hectic day. The benefits of sitting down to a home cooked meal with company range from social to physiological. There was some point in our history when Americans decided to make eating a chore rather than an experience.

When we sit down for a meal and “break bread” with our friends and family, we engage in conversation, laugh, drink wine, and eat at a slow and pleasurable pace. This is one aspect of the popular Mediterranean Diet: social eating. Eating is supposed to be enjoyable, not a constant competition of counting calories and fat. I’m not saying that everyone should eat whatever they want and simply enjoy the experience. What I’m saying, is that we have to be reminded of the importance of sharing a meal.

When we share a meal, we engage in conversation which helps us build social skills from a young age. Recently, I saw a little boy at a dinner table playing with his Gameboy through out the entire meal. He was missing out on learning experiences such as what is acceptable to discuss at dinner, how to joke around or what his culture is. Another plus about eating in groups is slower eating. When we eat meals with others, we are chatting which gives us the opportunity to put down the fork between bites and let our metabolism do some work. This helps combat overeating because it takes a while after you are full for your stomach to let your brain know to stop eating.

Recently, I have been making an effort to eat more meals with my family at a table. During our dinners, my family debates over nutrition and politics, discuss our futures and reminisce our childhood. Overall, the experience has been more than enjoyable and I strongly recommend everyone try taking some time out of your day to share a meal with the ones you love. 

                                                                 *Preparing the table for a dinner with my parents*

Challenge: Try having a sit down dinner three times a week with the ones you love and attempt to eat and converse for an hour.