Poll: How long does it take you to eat lunch?

When I go out with friends for a lunch, I take as much as an hour to eat, and I always feel embarrassed because they finish in half an hour and wait for me to finish!  If I eat by myself, a normal, balanced meal of about 2 servings of grains, 2-3 vegetable, 1 dairy, and 4 oz protein takes about 20 minutes for me to finish (without distractions, just eating).  Am I eating too slowly?

I'm a super slow eater. I have a hiatal (sp?) hernia so when i eat I feel like I'm kind of choking. I have been known to take up to an hour to eat an entire meal. And to be honest with you, I rarely ever get full. I either just get bored of eating and stop or I'm having such a hard time swallowing that I get anxious and stop.

I'm not a pro at all this but I've always thought the slower you eat the better it is for you. My Mom always used to tell me that it takes 20 minutes for your stomach to let your brain know that you're full.

Good luck and I will be watching to see what everyone else says!

No way! You're fine. I've always felt that eating slower is better for you. You never end up eating as much if you take your time, and like anglsmom said, it gives you a chance to think about whether you're still hungry, or if you're eating just to "finish" the meal. Slow eating is definitely a very good habit in my book.

My lunch breaks at work are only 30 minutes, so I try to pace myself to that time. If I'm home, I can drag it out to an hour because I'm usually on the internet. I can't type and eat at the same time, so it slows me down.

About 10 seconds.  I think I should try to slow down a little.

It takes me between 15-20 minutes to eat a balanced meal, snacks take about 5 minutes. I eat faster than my husband he take about 30-45 minutes.

40 mins - lunch at home, on my own

60 mins - lunch at home with my wife

90-150 mins - lunch out

60-90 mins - dinner at home, with my wife

120-180 mins - dinner out

breakfast: 5-15 min

lunch: 10-20 min

dinner: 10-20 min

I eat all my meals alone right now.

dinner at home with family: 15-30 min

dinner out: 30-60 min

I eat fast but I kind of have to.  I have my school schedule and pill schedule to work around.

I've just thought of another way of looking at this - here are my (approximate) numbers:

25 kcal/minute - breakfast

15-20 kcal/min - lunch

8-12 kcal/min dinner

When you're eating with friends, there tends to be conversation, which usually slows down the eating process.  It's always better to slow down and take your time when it comes to eating.

I usually take 3 hours (yes, 3 hours) to eat my breakfast during the week.  Part of this is out of choice, the other part is that I eat while I work.  My lunches usually last around 1 to 1.5 hours for the main portion, then I have snacks later in the afternoon.  I've noticed that during the week when I eat slow, I'm not as hungry.  I feel more satisfied.  My dinners usually take me around 20 - 30 minutes, depending on if anyone's around or not to keep me company.  If I go out with a friend, it'll take much longer.

Weekends are usually a different story.  I'll give myself around 20 - 30 minutes for breakfast and lunch.  No work to help slow me down! :)