My fiancé thinks that I have gone off the rocker.

I was just explaining to him my theory on weight gain - slow eaters vs. fast eaters. And the little crazy experiment I had set out to prove my point.

Sometime in November, I had lunch with an old high school buddy of mine. Let's call him Dave.

Now, Dave is probably the slowest eater you will ever find on the face of this planet. When we have dinner parties at a restaurant, there's always that contemplation whether to invite Dave or not because if he was invited, dinner could pretty much last about 2 hours longer. It's not that he plays with his food, it's just he talks more during the dinner than he chews or eats.

During lunch I told him that old age "is catching up on me" and my body "doesn't metabolize that quickly anymore". Dave looks at me and tells me that he will never have that problem because he's read somewhere that slow eaters rarely gain weight. I thought that was a very interesting theory so I set out to do some internet research on it on the subject.

Popular fitness trainer Denise Austin discussed a new study on her website that finds "women who eat slowly consume significantly lower calories per meal (70 calories average) than their quick-chewing peers".

The Diet Channel encourages dieters to "Slow Down - Did you ever notice that thin people take an awfully long time to eat their food? Eating slowly is one method that can help take off pounds. That's because from the time you begin eating it takes the brain 20 minutes to start signalling feelings of fullness. Fast eaters often eat beyond their true level of fullness before the 20-minute signal has had a chance to set in. The amount of calories consumed before you begin to feel full can vary significantly depending on how quickly you eat. So slow down, take smaller bites and enjoy and savor every tasty morsel."

Just to put this theory to test, I devised a list of friends that I have not seen for at least one year. I divided them into two groups - slow eaters and fast eaters. For the next two months, I had lunch with every single one of them.

The first group - slow eaters - did not show any weight gain since I last saw them. I also noticed that they chewed their food at least twice longer before swallowing it. At the same time, I followed their chewing pace and discovered that the food inside my mouth has turned to complete mush before I swallowed it. I felt full and satisfied halfway through my meal.

Trying to keep pace with the chewing methods of the fast eaters was kind of interesting. It was so hard not to "give up the game" because I thought I was going to choke on my food. In one instance, I have come to a conclusion that a friend, let's call her Jaz, does not chew her food, and just completely swallows it whole. And at the same time whining that she's gained so much weight. I didn't even know it was possible to swallow and talk at the same time. With this group, I did see signs of the yo-yo weight gain pattern.

Tonight my fiance asks me when did I become such a slow eater. And I replied, "Well, honey, I have to chew my food."


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