It's all about blowing bubbles

So, I thought that I would update you on my little control experiment. Has my eating been any better? Well, yes and no. No, because I have not stopped binge eating. Yes, because I have been able, just a few times, to rethink and stop a binge session. But now that I think about it, any amount of success is still success! Yeah for me! The experiment continues.

Now for the interesting stuff. I have run across some research that has allowed me to develop a new coping skill. The first part of the research has to do with how highly refined our food is. Modern food (and I use that term loosely) is so highly refined that we no longer need to chew our food to the same degree that we once did. Previously, we had to chew our food about 20 times per mouthful. Now we only chew our food about 5 times before we swallow. Interestingly enough, there is a small muscle that attaches the lower jaw to the upper jaw, and it is the repetitive chewing motion of that small muscle that sends signals to the brain that tells us that we are full. So, (are you following me here) the more refined our food is, the less we chew, the less our jaw muscle has opportunity to send signals to the brain, the more hungry we feel, the more we eat. Conversely, the less refined our food is, the more we chew, the more our little jaw muscle works, the more full we feel, the less we eat.

Okay, so how does that help me? Gum, baby, gum! So now when I have the urge to binge, I chew bubble gum. I blow bubbles and crack it until my jaw hurts. It is usually by that point that I forget that I want to binge.

A good plan but, boy am I every pissing off my husband and friends, as I seem to be chewing gum all the time. Oh well. Suck it up buttercups. Anybody seen my gum?