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ToughDiamond
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14 Apr 2025, 6:29 pm

TwilightPrincess wrote:

ToughDiamond wrote:

Today I learned that you can't get a good gobful with chopsticks.

I can certainly get a good mouthful. I’m somewhat out of practice, though.

I suppose if it was big chunks of food you could just spear one and pop it in, but according to Mr. Internet the whole point of them is to make you take smaller mouthfuls. Usually I like these Zenny spiritual things, but I already appreciate and enjoy my food, and chew it properly, and if I want to cut down on my intake I just prepare smaller portions and keep the biscuits (cookies to Americans) at a safe distance.

https://saigonmalta.com/why-you-should- ... chopsticks

TwilightPrincess
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14 Apr 2025, 6:32 pm

You don’t use them to spear food. :lol: You pick it up with either side and/or sort of scoop smaller stuff. It’s totally possible to take big bites. I’ve done it lots of times. It’s not in any way an issue.

Americans could theoretically see weight loss if they used chopsticks because there’d be an adjustment period as they got used to them, I think.

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ToughDiamond
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14 Apr 2025, 6:41 pm

I bet I could spear food with them. It would undermine the whole philosophy of the thing, and might be seen as rude in some cultures, but what the hell. I'm a very practical person.

TwilightPrincess
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14 Apr 2025, 6:49 pm

It would be harder to go that route because you’d have to move the position of the chopstick from what it would naturally be. There’s a lot of sense in the philosophy.

ToughDiamond
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14 Apr 2025, 7:05 pm

Well, different strokes for different folks y'know. Apparently I abuse knife and fork etiquette every time I eat.

funeralxempire
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14 Apr 2025, 9:06 pm

I've never noticed chopsticks slowing me down when I use them to eat, personally.

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babybird
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15 Apr 2025, 1:32 am

My daughter uses them but I always ask for a fork when I go to wagamamas

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MatchboxVagabond
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15 Apr 2025, 11:41 am

TwilightPrincess wrote:

You don’t use them to spear food. :lol:

You pick it up with either side and/or sort of scoop smaller stuff. It’s totally possible to take big bites. I’ve done it lots of times. It’s not in any way an issue.

Americans could theoretically see weight loss if they used chopsticks because there’d be an adjustment period as they got used to them, I think.

You can authentically spear corn on the cob with chopsticks.

And yeah, unless you've got coordination issues, it doesn't necessarily take that long to learn to use them properly. It mostly just takes patience and practice. It's been a while, but I used to be able to remove fish bones and grasp single grains of rice with mine.

ToughDiamond
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15 Apr 2025, 12:43 pm

MatchboxVagabond wrote:

TwilightPrincess wrote:

You don’t use them to spear food. :lol:

I read that the trick with rice is to cook it sticky. I wonder whether that would make rice-cooking more exacting or difficult?

In many ways I'm a very patient man, but I draw the line when it comes to getting food down the hatch when I'm hungry. Even if I knew I could master the skill of using the sticks, I'd not be happy in the meantime. And what would I gain?

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15 Apr 2025, 6:45 pm

I learned that masking can only go so far

funeralxempire
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15 Apr 2025, 11:45 pm

ToughDiamond wrote:

In many ways I'm a very patient man, but I draw the line when it comes to getting food down the hatch when I'm hungry. Even if I knew I could master the skill of using the sticks, I'd not be happy in the meantime. And what would I gain?

You make it sound like it's on par with learning to read and write (in terms of time and effort one needs to invest), when it's a lot more like learning to write one's name.

Practice when you're having a snack, instead of when you're ravenous. That might change the equation, you'll be less concerned about maximum caloric efficiency and more able to derive joy from learning something new.

blitzkrieg
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16 Apr 2025, 5:53 am

I have tried using chopsticks before and it didn't go well. I was trying to use them as though both sticks were a knife and fork. :oops:

ToughDiamond
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16 Apr 2025, 9:54 am

funeralxempire wrote:

ToughDiamond wrote:

Shan't!

As Selvarajan Yesudian put it in his book "Yoga And Health":

Hunger is natural. It is nature’s signal that the body needs
food. Appetite is unnatural; for it only represents a wish to
satisfy the overstimulated palate. And as this wish does not
arise from a healthy need for food, we overburden our organs
and make our bodies sick.

That's the philosophy behind my practice of only eating when I'm hungry. So I don't do snacking. It dovetails beautifully with my autistic hyperfocus - usually I'm locked into something fascinating until I reach a natural break, when I realise I'm very hungry, and then I eat. I have no need for more joy. I already have plenty of that from living life my way.

I never said learning chopsticks was like learning to read and write. I said that learning to use chopsticks when I'm hungry would be too much for my patience. Let those who want to do chopsticks go for it, but in my case I'd drudder not.

funeralxempire
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18 Apr 2025, 9:00 pm

TIL: Eastern coyotes are on average larger than several of the smaller subspecies of wolf.

babybird
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22 Apr 2025, 12:40 pm

Today we learned that it's really hard to chew spaghetti

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blitzkrieg
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22 Apr 2025, 12:55 pm

babybird wrote:

Today we learned that it's really hard to chew spaghetti

Is it?

When cooked right, it should be soft. Although there is the issue of the not having the spaghetti dangling out of one's mouth. :lol:

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