Chopsticks

Last night was great: Dinner with great friends in an Asian restaurant, a chance to celebrate a milestone, a telling of one of the funniest true stories I have ever heard AND a huge aha moment: I should only eat with chopsticks. They are a dieter's dream utensil:

• They force you to take small bites, because that's what you can grab with the sticks;
• They force you to eat slowly;
• They force you to pick your food carefully;
• And because chopsticks are not particularly comfortable for me to hold (carpal tunnel perhaps), I put them down between bites. My fork never leaves my hand.

Granted, I cannot imagine bringing chopsticks to my favorite neighborhood Italian restaurant, but I certainly can use them at home. And because my coordination is not terrific, even if I used them daily, I would never be as chopstick-proficient as Asians are. There is no chance of eating my food quickly with chopsticks.

When I started this blog, one of my stated goals was to undo decades of too-fast eating. Like every other diet tip, it's hard to change habits, especially ones you have done for years. There are meals when I remember to space my bites, and to chew each bite 20 times, and then there are months when I forget to chew at all. I can't even count the number of times I finish my meal and look around at my meal companions only to discover they just began eating.

So chopsticks it is. I already had breakfast, eaten with a spoon because it was yogurt. But I am already excited thinking about lunch. My noon salad is going to take me a long time to devour.

I cannot wait for the look on my husband's face at dinner tonight.