Dear LPG,

I don’t know if this works for everyone but I have a little tip for the weight conscious. 

I suppose that I am a young pensioner at the age of 66 and I still get up and do my bit of running on the spot and getting on the floor for a few press ups as soon as I get up in the mornings with the help of an exercise video that I bought some years ago.  Even though it is not recommended, I get on the scales every morning before and after my exercise routine and, the difference is a lb or two on the encouraging side.   I am left with the thought that I could be lighter, but I could be a lot heavier too so I am quite content with the readings.  The problem is that, after my little exercise and fitness campaign, I eat all the wrong things over the course of the rest of the day.  Every one of my mornings start with a check of my fit bit, blood pressure and weight and the perfect resolve to  improve my health until I get to the kitchen where I nearly always contemplate a completely unsuitable breakfast.

But I have noticed something that makes the scales work in my favour and I don’t think that my body is unique.  I have read that showers are supposed to make you a bit lighter but something must be wrong with me because Sunday is my day of rest and starts with the usual weighing and measuring regime after which I forget the exercise and shower routine and have an extended wallow in the bath.  This lasts on average for about an hour with regular hot water top ups, lots of bubbles and bath salts, and some music which transports me into an extended day dream.  I don’t think I am unique here because a long relaxing bath does wonders for those aches and pains that are beginning to make themselves apparent at this age stage of my life.

The interesting thing though is that when I weigh myself after the bath I am always lighter then I was before I got in.  I can be half a kilo lighter without all the effort of doing the exercise that I indulge in every other morning of the week.   I have tried and tested this on many an occasion and, even though online information says that showers make you lighter while baths work adversely,  I hope it is a tip that at least some of my fellow LPG readers can take advantage of because there is something very special about being a couple of lbs lighter without any effort.   

I suggest an experiment if you can still get all the way down into the tub because whichever way the scale marker travels, it is a good excuse for a wallow.

DH, Lewisham