Good Vibrations. . . Fork it Over, or Not

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Jennifer Lilley

It, um, vibrates in your mouth and you can use it alone, with friends or (gasp!) family.

Mind out of the gutter, people!  We’re talking about a fork, of course.

In today’s world of apps and claps, buzzes and blinks, enter the $99 electronic HAPI Fork – a weight loss marketplace newbie.  Based on the premise that our wolf-it-down eating habits are contributing to our widening waist bands, it works by synchronizing with other commonly-owned technologies to monitor our eating habits, including our in-between bites.    Less than 10 seconds between bites and yikes (or wheee! whatever floats your boat), Pavlov mode kicks in with vibrations to remind us to slow it down.

Savor that quinoa, baby.

Having lost 70 pounds six years ago, I’m quite familiar with shoveling food down like no tomorrow.  The fact that it takes approximately 20 minutes for the brain to register the feeling of fullness meant nothing, when tearing into the second Chips Ahoy sleeve after 10 minutes was the norm for me.   Now that I’ve maintained my weight loss for over 2,190 days (but who’s counting), I’m more mindful of what’s good.

And I’m not so sure a vibrating fork is it.

Is a Vibrating Fork Really What we Need?

It’s a cool concept, absolutely.  It’s smart, in line with this bleeping world of ours and its existence is a wonderful testimony to society’s increased awareness about addressing obesity issues.

However, I’d like to think we wouldn’t need the vibrating fork if what we put on our plate in the first plate was healthy – portion appropriate and nutrient dense.  The fork may be good if we’re scarfing mass quantities of scrapple (please don’t), but is it necessary when we’re consuming kale?  An egg white omelette?  By now, we know what’s good for us:  three seconds in between bites of salmon beats 11 seconds in between bites of an ice-cream sundae, anytime.

Could it allow those inclined to still eat the bad stuff, just at a slower pace?  Is it an insult to our self-control, our intelligence?  (“Really? A vibrating fork to tell me I’m eating wrong?)  Is it just annoying?  (“C’mon.  Is there anything in the world we can do without feeling monitored)?

Seems the fork may be taking away from the need for increased health education, reducing the concept to a mere learn-by-vibration technique.  Neat as this fork sort of is, it bypasses the knowledge we need to acquire (or already have) about our food and health, and instead, tends to speak to our collective hunger for gadget acquisition and hurriedness.  Sure, this is a busy world we live in, but are we really incapable of pausing between bites, to savor and hence, slow down our journey to Muffin-top Ville . . . without the aid of a trembling fork?  Chances are, most of us dine by the glow of our Smart Phone (whatever happened to candles?  But I digress) and scroll while we swallow . . . so will more of the same really reduce our pants size along with our stress levels?

Somehow, I’m not so sure this fork will, um, move the masses.

Besides, owning one might throw a kink in your perfectly-matched table setting. Get ready to fork over some Benjamins to make it right: at $99 a pop, you might want to take some names off that dinner party list.

And let’s not forget how many night stands could get jealous.

-JL-

©Copyright 2011-2013,  Jennifer Lilley, FlabbyRoad.com and Flabby Road: Moving on & Leaving the Elastic Waistbands Behind.   Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jennifer Lilley and Flabby Road with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

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