Dear LPG

I read with interest your article about downsizing our dinner plates, and I know that I have to do something about making sure that I don’t get any heavier.  So with my newly-bought breakfast-sized dinner plate I wanted to remind readers of something else to consider which could be of help here.

I have been retired for a few years now and I have to admit to having had many plans for my retirement when it began.  It is interesting that the friends that I have made since retiring have all told very similar stories about how relaxed they thought life would become after the toing and froing of getting to work five days a week, but we have all got stories to tell about how all that time seems to have got swallowed up in the things that we have found to do, and the things that have found us to do them. 

In my case there are my grandchildren to be delivered to, and picked up from school which is much more time-consuming than I thought it would be.  I have great plans for reinventing my house, not to mention a few places in the world that I want to see before it is too late.  There are my group of friends who have promised ourselves at least one day out per week and the exercise class that I have enrolled in.  There seems to be something to keep me busy every hour of the day although I do give myself permission to get up a little later in the mornings.  The problem with that is that I find myself rushing to get through all those everyday things that we all do including eating. 

I live alone so there is no one to join at the table when I have finished cooking.  When eating I tend to have my plate on the side and ready to grab a mouthful from between washing up, preparing to be in front of the telly for my favourite programme on time, talking to someone on the phone or getting ready to leave the house, but I remembered something that I was always told as a child and we just don’t bother with these days.   We were always made to sit and eat as a family which was time consuming but forced us to slow down for just a while. 

I took a look at the advantages on the internet and though the reasons were different they were quite enlightening. 

The internet informs that taking time to eat properly could improve digestion resulting in a lighter you even if you don’t change the food on your plate.  I also found some evidence about the value of 32 chews per mouthful, drinking while you eat and the benefits of making some time in your day to relax while you are busy feeding your face.

I hope that LPG can add the results of my browsings on the subject at the end of this post. 

WH, Southwark

LPG thanks WH for the information shared and looks forward to learning the consequences of any of our readers who take this advice on board, although we would again remind readers that the information we have found on the subject appears to focus on those a little younger than us.

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