I was watching my grandchildren eat their 4th breakfast of the morning when it dawned on me that they might actually be Hobbits. If you aren’t familiar with these friendly, heroic, diminutive folks, you’re out of luck because this is a geek blog and I expect certain standards from my readers.
Anyway, as I thought about it, I realized something. *I* might be a Hobbit too.
“Aragorn: Gentlemen, we do not stop till nightfall.
Pippin: What about breakfast?
Aragorn: You’ve already had it.
Pippin: We’ve had one, yes. What about second breakfast?
Merry: I don’t think he knows about second breakfast, Pip.
Pippin: What about elevenses? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper? He knows about them, doesn’t he?
Merry: I wouldn’t count on it.”
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
In their natural habitat, Hobbits are accustomed to 7 meals a day. Which is about what I’m doing now, on this diet (Sorry, Jeff, I mean “healthy lifestyle choice”). I eat every 2 to 3 hours. Granted, they’re not all feasts that would become the stuff of legend in The Shire, but they’re enough that I’m not hungry during the day. In fact, my schedule matches up pretty closely with the traditional Hobbit meal times:
7:00am – Breakfast
9:00am – Second Breakfast
11:00am – Elevenses
1:00pm – Luncheon
4:00pm – Afternoon Tea
6:00pm – Dinner
8:00pm – Supper
There is much capital-T Truth to be found in the old literature classics, and perhaps none moreso than The Lord of the Rings. Wisdom like “Deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised.” or “It’s the job that’s never started as takes longest to finish.” and especially “Never laugh at live dragons, Bilbo you fool!”
But I never thought (though I should have known) that wisdom and the path to a happy life would lead through a Hobbit’s dining room.
So how does that translate into numbers? Here in week 4, I’m at:
- 5′ 8″ tall
- 51 yrs old (that’s still teenager, in hobbit years)
- 174 lbs
- 38″ belly
- 37″ waist