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

Well, not eating after 6, aerobic exersize, and some light weightlifting seem to be getting me results. Cutting down on carbs, drinking lots of water. Oprah was right... it works!

Yankee-shoes

Not eating after 6? Does it work? Is it really necessary? The earliest I ever get home from work is 6.30!

Eating apricots, drinking cocktails, falling in love are some essential ingredients.
Avoiding hard work is another.

There's a bit of a myth going around that food eaten after a certain time of night will make you put on weight more than that eaten earlier in the day. Technically, that's not actually true, so it doesn't matter what time of night you eat - apart from scoffing huge roast dinners just before going to bed, as you'll get indigestion.

The *really* worthwhile thing about the 'not eating after 6' rule is that it prevents you from raiding the biscuit barrel/cookie jar or grabbing yourself a bar of chocolate or even a bag of chips (US or UK versions!) of an evening. Being someone who tends to graze when they're bored, I think that's an excellent rule!

In the case of not getting home until 6.30 - make a rule of not eating after 7.00 or perhaps 7.30. It'll still keep your hand out of the biscuit barrel - and that's what pays the dividends in the end!

As for the exercise (both aerobic and weights) that is the other golden secret of success when getting in trim. It doesn't have to mean joining a gym - just walking to places and lifting tins of beans will do! Hey - even cleaning the house is exercise!

Did you know that sponge-mopping the floor burns the most calories of any household chore?

And Megapuppy is right, eating after 6 is for those of us hard core snackers.

It's interesting to me, Owlatron sent me some sweets from Britain. On the nutritional information part, it said how much Energy was in things, where as here in America we would have called it Calories instead.

I think we use the term 'Energy' because Kilojoules/Joules/Calories are measurements of energy in the food when it's burned as fuel by the body. It looks dead scientific, even if it's only on the side of a tube of smarties.

Besides, comparing the KJ to the kcal (sorry KiloJoules to calories) is a fabulous exercise in self-deceit, as KJs are a much smaller measurement of energy than kcals, so it looks like there are far more of them in food, and so it doesn't look anything like as bad when you compare the two numbers in the shop!

Rather than stating the calorie content, I think they should be completely open and honest about the food they make. Something like:

'Why do you want this chocolate bar anyway? It's full of fat and sugar, so all it's going to do is give you a short sugar rush, make you put on weight and clog your arteries. Go get an apple instead!'

That way no-one would have any reason to sue for being obese!

Mmm... Smarties... ...

Yeah, see in America "energy" food and drink is all the rage, so seeing 100 Energy instead of 100 Calories gives you this positive look at it...


"OOh! 500 Energy? I will be able to run around for HOURS!"

"500 CALORIES?!?! You gotta be kidding. That'll go RIGHT to my thighs"