September 22, 2011 (Updated March 21, 2023)

Do You Multitask at Meal Times?

by Anne Mauney, MPH, RD

33 comments

Good afternoon!

Class was cancelled this morning so I decided to have a little “me” time — slept in until 8 (gasp!), went to yoga at 9:15 with my friend Lauren, and then hit up Harris Teeter for an enormous grocery shopping trip.

First up — fruit & dairy!

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Organic raspberries, blueberries, bananas, oranges, lemons, a couple Chobani yogurts, and some Stonyfield milk. Plus craisins, just for fun 🙂

Followed by veggies:

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Celery, butternut squash (first of the season!), yellow pepper, mushrooms, bok choy, kale, and snap peas. Plus some organic eggs.

I also picked up some pasta, whole wheat English muffins, sandwich thins, frozen cherries (for this smoothie!), sharp cheddar cheese, baybel cheese, laughing cow cheese, organic chicken, frozen peas, and quinoa. I <3 cheese.

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I also picked up all sorts of pantry items. I usually shop at the co-op grocery store near me on a regular basis and then hit up Harris Teeter whenever I need a lot of pantry staples, since it’s so much cheaper to buy canned goods there.

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Kidney beans, black beans, 90 second brown rice (perfect for my 5 minute packable lunches), tomato sauce and diced tomatoes, pasta sauce, butternut squash and pumpkin, beets (yes, I buy canned beets and they are amazing), cannellini beans, garbanzo beans, and some chunk light tuna.

Hooray! So nice to have a packed fridge and pantry.

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In other news, the grad school girls took me out to dinner last night for my birthday. 🙂

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It was cooler and rainy so I busted out my cowboy-ish boots for the occasion:

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I requested pizza for my birthday dinner and the girls were happy to oblige. We went to one of my favorites — Pazzo.

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First things first — a bottle of wine was clearly necessary. 🙂

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We all started with some sort of appetizer — I had the arugula, peach, and goat cheese salad. YUM!

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And Elle and I shared an enormous pizza topped with pepperoni, tomatoes, spinach, and mushrooms.

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I love pizza so much. Especially when pepperoni is involved.

Considering how enormous the pizza was, we had lots of leftovers to take home, so I busted out a piece for lunch today.

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Isn’t leftover pizza the best? I swear it’s even better than it is fresh.

With my pizza, I had a huge salad using some of the groceries I bought this morning.

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Baby spinach, chopped romaine, green and yellow peppers, snap peas, and avocado, topped with cracked pepper and balsamic vinaigrette.

Perfect! With some Mighty Leaf iced green tea on the side.

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I’ve been trying to work lately on not multitasking when I’m eating — i.e. JUST eating, not eating and writing a blog post, or eating and checking email, etc. I’ve been getting really bad about that lately, especially since I’ve been so busy. So today I made myself enjoy my pizza and salad outside with no interruptions. Win!

I’m getting ready to head off to school for a meeting and then spending the rest of the day doing some serious studying — next week we have not one, not two, but THREE tests — one in Biochemistry and two (one open book and one closed book) in Medical Nutrition Therapy, our two hardest classes. Yikes! But post-studying, Matt is taking me out to a belated birthday dinner tonight when he gets back in town, so I’m excited. 🙂 I was sad I didn’t get to see him yesterday!

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When you eat, do you usually multitask? Or do you JUST eat? If I’m eating alone, I seriously feel like half the time I eat my whole meal without even realizing it because I’m so distracted by my computer or the TV. Not good.

- anne

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33 comments
  • Tricia K
    When I eat alone, I totally play on my iPhone the entire time - facebook, twitter, reading blogs, etc.
    Reply
  • Ashley
    I always watch TV while I eat. I know, I know, not good!! When you're eating by yourself, it's kind of boring to just sit there and eat, even though it can lead to distracted eating. It's a hard habit to break. :)
    Reply
    • Anne P
      I know, it really is!
      Reply
  • Casey @ Pocket Full of Sunshine
    I definitely multitask when I'm eating. Usually reading blogs or a book. But it doesn't bother me, b/c I get bored if I don't! I enjoy meals with my BF sans TV or any other interruption, so I feel ok interrupting my meals with myself. :) I
    Reply
  • Cate
    I am also really bad about multitasking during meals! I'm terrible about standing up at the counter while eating (though that's partly so my toddler can't ambush me), puttering around on the computer while eating, etc. And usually I don't notice the food. :-( The one multitasking exception is reading. And not reading on the internet, but reading a book or maybe a magazine. Something about that always feels very calm and focused to me...maybe because I don't get to do it very often (see aforementioned toddler). Of course, when eating meals together at our house, they're always media-free. With the rare exception of special dinners after our daughter's in bed, when we sometimes watch a movie.
    Reply
    • Anne P
      I agree re: reading a book while eating. I like doing that! Glad to hear meals eaten together are media-free. Same here!
      Reply
  • Katie @ Peace Love and Oats
    Ahh good luck on those tests! I have a hard time just sitting there when I eat - I need entertainment! I'll either read blogs or watch a video on hulu. But nothing that requires too much thought or then I get frustrated because i'm not enjoying my food.
    Reply
  • Emily
    At lunch I totally multitask! I usually eat lunch at my desk so I am always on the computer while I am eating during the week. Bummer. I justify it with the fact that I use my actual lunch time to hit the gym. I am not sure that makes it any better.
    Reply
    • Anne P
      Well, at least you're getting out for a break! The worst is when people work through lunch at their comp and don't use that time at all. When I was working full time I would eat at my desk sometimes, but then I would use my break to take a walk.
      Reply
  • Kathryn
    You accomplished more before 10am than I have all day! I guess that's the difference between graduate school and undergrad?
    Reply
  • Ashley @ My Food 'N' Fitness Diaries
    That looks like a FABULOUS birthday dinner! Hope you enjoy another great one this evening! I love stretching out birthdays for as long as possible. P.S. I love canned beets too! ;)
    Reply
    • Anne P
      Canned beet lovers unite!
      Reply
  • Sami
    SWEET boots! i think i have the same pair...are they from target?! :)
    Reply
  • Sami
    ps....HAPPPY BIRTHDAYYY!
    Reply
    • Anne P
      Thanks :) And yes - the boots are from Target! Target is the best.
      Reply
  • Lindsey
    Funny as I am reading this, I am eating lunch at the same time! At lunch and breaky I usually eat in front of the computer which isn't ideal, I know. But at supper TV is off, phones aren't at the table and me and my husband eat and catch up with each other. I really enjoy this time and hope I can start doing it for other meals too!
    Reply
  • Johanna B
    Am seriously working on not doing anything else while I am eating. I do enjoy the food more and feel more satisfied. Ask again in about a month.
    Reply
  • Lauren @ What Lauren Likes
    Being a blogger, I am always on my laptop during mealtimes, and anytime! Haha (when I am alone only though). I love the dress with those boots btw! So cute :)
    Reply
  • Lindsay @ biking before bed
    I am in love with your dress and boot combo. It's so cute. I am awful at multiple tasking while I eat. I actually think it makes me eat slower!
    Reply
  • Jill @ Jill is Active
    I completely agree - it's definitley hard to JUST eat and not get distracted by something else. When I'm at work, I always try to take the time to step away from my cubicle, go up to the outdoor cafe upstairs, sit at one of the tables and eat in silence. I usually look forward to lunch all morning, so why rush through it?! Your birthday celebration looked like so much fun. And to be continued with Matt!
    Reply
    • Anne P
      Exactly - why rush?! Need to keep reminding myself of this too :)
      Reply
  • Heather @ Get Healthy with Heather
    I definitely need to work on not multitasking as much when I eat. Lunch is multi tasking a lot of the time and maybe a quarter of breakfasts too. Ummm some dinners and most snacks. Yikes I REALLY need to work on that. Hooray for extra you time this morning!
    Reply
  • Abby @ Abz 'n' Oats
    Leftover pizza is definitely much better! I always reheat it in the oven so it can get nice and crispy! :) Before school started again I was really good about just eating and paying attention to that but now many times I feel like that downtime is one of my only chances to catch up on blogs or tv. Need to pay attention to the food and not everything else! lol
    Reply
  • Renie
    No. Meal time at our house means no TV, radio, nothing of distraction is on. That is strictly family time. That is when we find out what's going on in the kids life. We laugh and have fun at meal time too. Now, when I am alone, that is a different story. That is when I pull up "fannetasticfood.com".
    Reply
  • Anna
    I go through phases of multitasking when I eat! I live alone so its easy to want to have something else to do. Sometimes I watch tv, other times check my email, listen to music, or read a magazine. I know what you mean though about just eating mindlessly and before you know it, your food is gone! This will be a good reminder for me to check out and zone in on just eating...I'll try tomorrow!
    Reply
  • Jessica @ Jess Go Bananas
    When I eat alone, I am always eating with my laptop in front of me open to the blog world! Today, I did try to eat my sandwich, and just eat my sandwich alone, but it was SO hard! I find that it helps when you count your chews...but I guess that that could be another form of distraction! Tomorrow I am going to try and taste it! Great post!
    Reply
  • Katy (The Singing Runner)
    Love that dress...probably because I have it as well. ;) I multi-task at meals. I am so incredibly busy during the day that I'm usually responding to e-mails/ blog comments during lunch or dinner because it is the only time that I have to do it.
    Reply
  • Nicole @ Geek Turned Athlete
    Happy belated birthday!! You look great!! You will be 30 before you know it, girly! Love the boots. ;) I'm always multitasking, but I've been making a conscious effort lately to stop doing that. I want to be in the now!
    Reply
  • Nicole
    Italian food is always better the next day! The spices tend to marinate and the flavor is amazing. :) Glad you had a great birthday!
    Reply