h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I think it would be helpful to mention in the "Eat when you need to eat" section the importance of how you eat. By that, I mean it's better to eat slowly by taking smaller mouthfuls, chewing them thoroughly, and taking longer between mouthfuls. It's not really necessary to do the "every mouthful should be chewed 72 times" thing, like Keith and Candice-Marie in 'Nuts in May', but making yourself think about each mouthful, and maybe doing something which distracts your attention from the food is a help. TV doesn't really work here because you can still keep your gaze fixed on the box whilst shovelling food into your gob - it needs to be something which involves some small amount of activity or diversion, like turning the pages of a book or the newspaper, or looking up words in the thesaurus to help you complete a crossword clue. It really does aid digestion too, because there are enzymes in saliva which begin the whole process, and if the food doesn't spend long enough in your mouth to get these juices working, you're missing an important digestive step. Also, I've heard it said that the brain doesn't register that the stomach is full until some time after it actually is, which is why it's so easy to eat to bloating point - you've got something like 10 or 15 minutes of extra eating time before your brain says "Fer cryin' out loud, knock it on the head will ya! We should have stopped a quarter of an hour ago".

Oh dear. I hoover my food up, then go to the gym to work off the effects. Stupid or what

Oops