Dear Lee,

Seems like everyone hands out diet advice after the holidays, so here’s our “Collectors Diet Advisory.” Studies show we eat less if food is served on blue dishes. Red, yellow, and orange stimulate the appetite. So to get thinner, choose dark blue Fiesta, Wedgwood, or Liberty Blue dinnerware. Flow blue plates look good on the wall, but if you use them on the table they should also discourage eating large portions.

New glassware is bigger than the typical everyday pieces made before 1950. Collect and use old decorated tumblers. Buy 8-ounce beverage glasses and 6-ounce juice glasses. Swankyswigs, the 5-ounce Kraft cheese-spread glasses, are even better for your morning orange juice. Using today’s large 8-ounce juice glass every day could mean you gain an extra 8 pounds a year.

Eat on small plates. Dinner plates in the 1930s were about 9 1/2 to 10 inches in diameter. Today they are 10 to 12 inches. To lose weight, put your food on luncheon plates that measure 8 1/2 to 9 inches or salad plates that are 7 inches. The smaller the plate, the less you serve yourself. 1930s dinnerware sets had 6-ounce coffee cups. Today we use mugs that hold at least 10 ounces of coffee. That means double doses of cream, sugar, and caffeine.

Hang an antique mirror across from the dining room table. Looking at yourself while eating has been proven to lower the amount of fat you eat. Turn off the TV. If you eat while it’s on, you eat more. Display awards from your past, like swimming medals or county fair prizes, in the kitchen where you’ll see them. They’re reminders that you are an achiever, a person who can meet goals-and that losing weight can’t be as hard as winning a dance contest or scoring a winning run. Go out to a flea market, walk several miles, and burn extra calories. Just watch out for flea-market food. It’s usually ample and high in calories.

Don’t do what we just did. We bought the cookie jar that went with our Holt Howard collection and filled it with cookies. Then, of course, we ate them. We’re moving the Pixie jar to a high shelf.