"Instead of Eating to Diet, They're Eating to Enjoy" is the headline of Tara Parker-Pope's article in this morning's New York Times. "The more time people spend on tasks like food shopping, cooking and kitchen cleanup," she notes, "the more likely they are to be of average weight. The Economic Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture found that people of normal weight spend more time on meal-related tasks than people who are overweight or underweight."
This observation goes well with Richard Watson's advice in The Philosopher's Diet: How to Lose Weight & Change the World
: Remodel your kitchen! Knock out a few walls! Add a fireplace! Buy a lot of kitchen tools! Here's his reason:An obsession with food is a love affair. I'd much rather work with lovers of food than haters of fat. If you love food, you'll respond to kitchen dreams. But if you hate fat--something you can grab hold of and feel it being grabbed--then you hate yourself. And kitchens.
(By the way, did you borrow my copy of The Philosopher's Diet? I can't find it anywhere. [Thank goodness Amazon has a search feature.] You can leave it on my front porch between the doors. No questions will be asked.)
I confess! I have your book! I started reading it when I was unpacking cookware boxes in my new home - but weight loss from kitchen-oriented tasks isn't evident yet. It is nonetheless a good read and I'll return it in exchange for, say, a small glass of house wine. Or for the pleasure of retaining your friendship and continued book-borrowing privileges.
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