The 20/20/20 rules of eating (2024)

Eating quickly can rapidly dull your body's natural signals of feeling full and satisfied which risks you falling out of touch with your natural hunger and fullness signals. We often talk about the 20:20:20 rule and this really is just a form of mindful eating which can be applied to everyone, with, or without Bariatric surgery.

Eating slowly and chewing your food well is vital as this will help you lose weight, avoid long term health conditions, tolerate food better and will also help you feel satisfied for longer. It can also help you to learn when to stop eating by helping you recognise the feeling of fullness.

The rules are fairly simple:

1. Take a small amount of food onto your fork or teaspoon but ensure it is no bigger than the size of a 20 pence piece
2. Chew each mouthful thoroughly until it is a pureed consistency (at least 20 times, but can be more for fibrous foods) before swallowing
3. Stop eating after 20 minutes. Try not to eat within 5-10 minutes as it takes your brain approximately 20 minutes to know it is full. Eating quicker than this will result in youeating a lot more food than your body really needs