Saturday 27 February 2010

Why cream tea diet?


Dear Gentile reader,

As you may have guessed by the title: I’m not one of those people who can eat and not suffer the consequences! Like many, I’ve tried a multitude of diets and I have to say that I have absolutely no will power when food is available. This is especially true if I have embarked on some sort of diet. Food has a hypnotic effect.... It commands me to walk towards any supply and consume what is readily available. The ideal diet for me should involve some sybaritic pleasure such as consuming a cream tea. How then to combine this with weight loss?

To be honest the only time I successfully lost weight was when I was when exercise was a daily event. Exercise should be pleasurable. Fortunately I live in the Thames Valley and there are some pleasant walks nearby. One is from Henley to Marlow. It is a mere 11 miles and on a sunny or indeed non cold, non rainy day, the river meanders and the wild life hops, scampers or flies by in most idilic fashion. A bonus is when my mobile phone is elsewhere. It is a pleasant stroll that takes me about 3 hours. As I said exercise should be pleasant: rewarding even. If that reward is immediate: so much the better. Here, the reward comes half way through.

When I get to Marlow, I find, a discovery can be made. At the bottom of Marlow high street is a confectioner: Burgers of Marlow. What is more, they provide very pleasant cream teas in their tea room at the back of the shop. May be it's the way they make the teas or possibly it’s the walk which has stimulated both thirst and my appetite. The cream tea goes down a treat. Feet are rested. There are absolutely no regrets about breaking any current diet regime. It sets me up splendidly for the walk back.

So, the secret of the cream tea diet? Find a cream shop, preferably a good walking distance away, walk there, consume the tea and walk back! The proof: I lost half a stone in a couple of months when I started doing this.

If you would like more information, then there are some good sites to browse:

Walking and Cycling the Thames
Walking the river Thames
The Thames path national trail
National trails

There are one or two  rubbish sites as well!
Try Googling  "Thames valley river walks"

Unfortunately when I’m at work I’m sitting at a desk developing Agency software.

Cheers

Ian