The Average Person

While listening to Woman’s Hour on BBC Radio 4 this morning I discovered this mind blowing titbit. ‘The average person spends 31 years dieting’. That is more than half the time I have spent on this earth. I would hate to be restricted to say – cabbage for one week and pineapple the next. I am far too fond of my food for all that rubbish. My mother believed that we should clear our plates and with the food she cooked we had no bother complying.

I remember one school day as lunchtime approached and our thoughts turned to hot food and going home (mind you in those far off days we called it dinnertime) my chum asked me what day it was. She knew by the day of the week what was on the menu at home. I thought that this was crazy because we never knew until we reached the front door and a ‘Bisto Kid’ style aroma met us and made us drool! Friday was the only exception when we had fish. This varied with the season and it was still a surprise for us. The only things we knew for certain were that Terry Wogan graced the airways of RTE on a Wednesday with Hospitals Requests or that the Kennedys of Castle Ross had a twice weekly spot.

During my early working life I discovered a colleague who lived with her parents and her mother dished up steak one day and chops the next. They were all she knew how to cook. My friend was the youngest of four and at least in her middle thirties. So her mother had only ever cooked two dishes for over forty years!

Back on the topic of diets then… Recently I read where a lady was Slimmer of the Year’, not sure whether it was Weight Watchers or Uni-Slim. This woman had lost NINE STONE (126lbs). That is as much as I weigh! Imagine losing a whole person!! I am only 130lbs now even after gravity, child birth, and the ravages of time have taken their toll. Dairy products do not agree with me but apart from that I eat everything put in front of me, especially when at The Cellar Restaurant, in Ballycastle. Just ask my Sin-in-Law if you don’t believe me.

So I am not average. Mind you I never was. I was a size ‘0’ long before it was thought of. Unlike today I was rather ridiculed for being so thin, sorry skinny was the word used. I was called drip-dry, drink of water and much worse as I grew up. Later after I married my husband told me many times that my muscles were like sparrows kneecaps! This he did with a twinkle in his eye and never meant any harm. We were able to laugh both with and at each other on many an occasion.

I feel sorry for young girls today where TV, cinema and magazines all portray the skeletal figure as beautiful. There is nothing beautiful about it at all. A few curves are so much better, more cuddle-able, make clothes hang well and I can tell you keep you warmer in this very cold weather.

Right middle age spread I am ready and waiting…