Do you wiggle your toes?

I do. And probably that is the reason I am reasonably trim except for that unhealthy paunch!!

"People who cannot sit still for more than a few minutes provide a clue to keeping slim and trim, a US study says."

A report in BBC entitled "Fidget off the fat, research says" says that fidgeters keep trimmer than those who do not fidget.

And it is not easy to learn how to fidget.

So if you see any of your kids or grandkids fidgeting - don't stop them!!

The reason I wiggle my toes is that I suffered from frostbite when my strong winter shoes cracked across the sole when I was on a long distance hike in the dead cold of a bad winter. It seemed to lead to a sort of dead sensation which I did not connect with that event. Tests at the local University Research Hospital did not reveal the reason for this strange sensation. (Which was strange as there are hundreds of cases of frostbite every year in our town.)

When I was in India a few years ago, as usual I went for my Executive Health Check-up at a hospital in Madras. I mentioned my strange sensation to the doctor.

The doctor narrated to me a sad tale of a leading Indian actor who was filming in the Himalayan snows and suffered a severe case of a frozen leg. Not knowing how to handle a frozen leg, his helpers dumped his leg into boiling hot water, leading to serious consequences.

The doctor mentioned that the sensation I described was sort of similar to what he had seen from that case. At that time I was able to put two and two together and I came to the conclusion that my sensation was due to frostbite. I had been scared that what I was feeling was a prelude to Parkinsons Disease as many members of my close family have suffered this fate.

So ever since then I have been wiggling my toes to keep the muscles on my feet loose. It has helped, except that my dear wife gets annoyed when I wiggle them for 15 minutes at 4 am when I wake up and before I get out of bed, and she is trying to get to sleep!!

Now I have a good excuse to keep wiggling my toes.

And finally, many many thanks to all those who emailed me yesterday on our celebrating our wedding anniversary. We had a great day (including quality time at the flea market and with the grandkids and an extended call from ourgranddaughter in Lincoln, England) followed by an absolutely heavenly Greek Cypriot meal at my Cypriot friend's restaurant, so large in portions that Annikki could not get through all of hers. Obviously fidgeting had increased my appetite as I had no problem with finishing mine!!