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Ed Levine's Serious Diet, Week 128: My Speed Eating Pizza Test

Posted by Ed Levine, July 16, 2010 at 10:00 AM

[Photographs: Ed Levine]

I eat fast. Really fast. Do you? And when I'm anxious or tense I kick it up a notch and eat so fast that I barely taste my food. A Shake Shack or Apple Pan burger can and will be gone in four or five bites depending on my anxiety level.

Speed eating has been an issue for me ever since I was a kid. When I was ten I could finish off a thick pastrami sandwich from Wilshire's, our local deli, in six or seven minutes. I could make a slice of Cairo's pizza disappear in less time than it took a track star to run a mile (less than four minutes).

Eating so fast is a lose-no lose proposition. I derive less satisfaction because I barely taste the food, I invariably eat more because I don't give my stomach the time it needs to signal to my brain that I (and it) are full.

I don't know why I started thinking about this issue this past week, because it has plagued me my entire life. Whatever the reason, I'm glad I'm starting to think about it, because, and I know this is fairly obvious, if I can slow myself down it will make it easier to lose these last 20 pounds while enjoying my food even more.

With this in mind, I decided to embark on an experiment last night. My test tube, my petri dish, was a slice of thin-crusted, super-light on the cheese pizza that I ordered from my T&R, my preferred delivery pizza of choice in my nabe.

I ordered a large pie well-done very light on the cheese. What arrived at my door was a crust half as thick as usual. The pie men at T&R must have known it was a Thursday, that I was going to be weighing myself the next morning for my Serious Diet post, because they have never made me a pizza like this before.

My Little Speed Eating Test

I was going to have one slice of pizza for dinner, and I was determined to make that one slice last a minimum of ten minutes. How would I do that? By taking a minimum of 15 bites. How was I going to do this? By photographing the slice after every bite. It was going to be my own version of stop-action animation (pizzanimation!).

I took the slice in my hands. I took one bite. Man, it was good. Crunchy and salty and sweet, in every bite, no less.

I took a picture. I took another bite, from another corner of the slice. I took another picture. I took my third bite, and just as I reached for my camera, I lost control.

I took another seven more bites in rapid succession, and then before I knew it the slice was gone, to the pizza graveyard known as my stomach.

My little slow pizza-eating experiment had failed. Or had it? Though I hadn't slowed down as much as I set out to, it still took me ten bites and ten minutes to finish my slice. The net result? I limited my dinner to that one slice. Success, sort of. Of course, if I had made myself a salad or a vegetable to go with the slice of pizza that would have been ideal. My new serious diet equation:

Pizza + salad + time = Serious Diet Success

The Weigh-In

Even before my little speed experiment I was having a decent diet week, though two dinners at two extremely serious restaurants, Maialino and Recette, tested my self-control. I did order salad as a starter at both places, which is a big step forward for me.

Interim Thinner readings had even gotten down to 219. All right, here we go: 221, up a pound from last week. This serious diet thing can certainly humble you, can't it. Next week will be better. I am feeling more in control than I have in awhile. I think if I just slow down I will be fine.

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