Orange Ice

What do you think this is? Orange sorbet and jelly? The answer may surprise you. It’s a bowl of meat gravy with an inch of fat on top. When the sauce has cooled a thick layer of fat comes to the surface and hardens. It can then be easily removed.

The healthy eating police are always telling us to remove fat. One of the most dismal bits of advice is to ‘cut the skin off roast chicken’.  Breast of chicken is dry without the skin and unless you have a rich sauce, who wants to eat poultry with the crunchy skin removed? Pools of fat in a meat sauce are different. By skimming it off, you improve the taste of something, rather than spoil it.

Scroll down to see my thoughts on the tastiest ever bolognaise sauce.

Magic and persuasion

Would you trust a man looking like this to manipulate your mind into making you thin? Look at the glitzy watch, the cool black shirt and designer suit and glasses.  This is a hypnotist. He wants to reprogram your brain to help you ‘change your behaviour, eat better, speed up your metabolism’.

Paul McKenna starts by revealing the secrets of naturally thin people. He then tells you some Golden Rules:

When you think you’re full - stop eating
When you are hungry - eat
Eat what you want - not what you think you should

How brilliant is that? Don’t we all know this?  And if all the diet and lifestyle books worked, wouldn’t we all be thin and contented?

McKenna doesn’t talk about exercising, but he offers a ‘powerful exercise to train your unconscious mind to help you lose weight’: You have to imagine you’re watching a movie of a thin, happy, confident YOU. Make any changes you need and then step into that person.

To stop cravings he suggests a mumbo jumbo of tapping various body parts and humming while you try to forget about the food.
 
Need I go on? the book is a con. If it really worked there would be no fat people out there.  Everyone would be training their mind and watching their inner video.

Most of us are eager to get a grip on our lives. My first step towards achieving this is to keep away from the areas in bookstores devoted to self-help. Go and read a novel instead.

Salad or chocs?

You’d imagine the choice was a no-brainer, but diet foods are not always the best idea.  Low-fat products are often full of sweeteners and you have to eat a vast amount of salad to fill you up and stop you snacking before the next meal.

Of course 2% yogurt is deemed healthier than single cream, but here’s the question: would you rather have a pot of artificially flavoured, so-called ‘fruit’ yogurt, than a fresh peach and a few tablespoons of luscious cream? Both of these probably have a similar number of calories.

Stop making yourself feel bad. Allow yourself occasional treats. I wouldn’t recommend eating all five chocolates in one go, but having one with a cup of coffee might stop you reaching for the biscuit tin and eating five shortbreads before you realize what you’re doing.

The newspapers are full of articles about daily life and health:

“Brisk walkers are less likely to suffer dementia”

“Twitter is more addictive than cigarettes”

“People overeat at parties to avoid upsetting their hosts”

My thoughts? Keep active, eat real food (not too much), don’t have second helpings and try not to eat between meals. You may not lose pounds like this, but you’ll certainly live a happier life.

Large is lovely

The more you eat, the more you grow.  This may be true, but it’s also a fact that some thin people can eat anything they want and not put on a pound.

We’re surrounded by images of thin people and the message is clear: young equals thin, equals pretty, equals successful.

If you’re happy with how you look (take the award-winning singer Adele for example) you won’t be interested in losing weight.  But if you’ve ever thought about changing your shape you might enjoy some of the posts coming up over the next week or so.

As everyone knows and none of us find it easy to admit, putting on weight comes from eating too much.  My mother was big - she told herself she had  ‘large bones’. I was fatter when I was young. I ate huge amounts of ..well, almost everything.

Now I cook a lot, never eat while I’m doing it, but I’m tempted to snack when I’m relaxing in the evenings. So here are a few thoughts which might make it easier to stay out of the kitchen:

1. Brush your teeth after dinner - you’ll be less likely to peek in the fridge for something to eat while you’re watching television

2. Bellringing.  A friend who has taken up church bellringing says that the arm action and general exercise has helped her lose pounds

3. Be generous - give away cake, muffins or chocolates that you happen to have around

4. Read a book on a Kindle - you’ll be less likely to eat while you’re doing it because you can’t click to turn the pages if your hands are sticky with chocolate or cake crumbs.

Compensation for being too heavy

An obese council worker has been awarded £1750 ($2759) compensation because of an ‘accident’ at work.  The overweight man sued Birmingham City Council because a lavatory seat buckled under his weight.  A spokesman for the council said ‘the health, safety and welfare of employees is a paramount consideration and we pride ourselves on the way that safety is actively managed.’

Perhaps they should try handing out diet advice at their tea breaks.

(The design above is in the bathroom of the Smith College Museum of Art in Northampton, Mass. To find out more about the artist-designed restrooms, please click on the photo.)

Coffee cake

This is cake to go with a cup of coffee. It’s a home-made Danish pastry with apples and a topping of dark brown sugar and pecan nuts.

Did you know that the Kindle helps you diet?  You simply can’t be eating sticky things like this and pressing the forward button!

Just finished reading a rip-roaring tale of mutiny and South Sea islands. More details coming up soon.