scribblings

Yesterday morning i was sipping my coffee and reading through the newspaper when this news item struck me. A research study at Cornell University has found that people eat less if they are given smaller plates and spoons. And hence, they also reduce weight.

On the first glance when i told this to my father, he said he will start eating in a smaller plate from immediate effect. my mom recollected as to how one of her mom's uncles would eat in a small plate but heep it up so much that he would find it very difficult to mix rice with any of the gravies and also have multiple servings of each dish. and hence she concluded that such studies arent valid for the indian society.

We in the indian society have always had the tradition of lavish, yet planned meals over the years. The concept of eating in plates was brought into the system by the muslim invaders. The traditional indian way of eating food was on leaves. They were plaintain leaves, predominantly though a variety of other leaves were also used.

A good old saying on a rough translation says "one who eats one a day is a yogi (a man of mental strenght and maturity and who has attained a level beyond the material world) , one who eats twice is bhOgi (a man who is more interested in material comforts) and one who eats thrice is a rogi (a physically unfit, unhealthy man)." If one has to follow today's doctor who say eat less but at frequent intervals, then what does one call a man who eats many times a day.

All the above being random thoughts which might have some connection, my actual idea about the write-up was to find out the original research publication if possible and read through what they have surveyed. The article on the newspaper said a survey was conducted at the canteen with smaller cups being given for desserts and smaller plates for the main course. People who came back for a second serving were less and hence they all ate less and hence over time lost weight.

Though such measures at canteens might work, the quality of food is very important. If one were to think of our hostel mess as a place to study, then the quality of food has anyway brought down the size of many a person giving visible differences. And for the amount of laziness infested in most students, a second serving is just out of question unless you are dead hungry. At home however, when somebody is going to serve you the food, assuming quality of food is good, the size of the plate is going to make no difference. Even if u r full to the brim you might want to have another cup of some dessert because u cant resist.

So, how do i loose weight?