Dear Jewish Fairy Godmother:

I feel like a loser. Or maybe I should say a gainer. I was doing really
well on my diet program until I hurt my knee (trying to keep my dog
from running after a squirrel). First I couldn’t exercise. Then I started
to eat less well. Then I started to eat much less well. Did I mention I
wasn’t exercising at all during this period? Things were going badly, so
I went into freefall and started eating chips, popcorn, brownies, and
pretty much anything I wanted, which was mostly carbs, sugar, and
salt and almost never salads or veggies. On Thanksgiving I lay
groaning on the sofa after pigging out on stuffing and pie. I cannot
imagine being good for the next month. But my pants are already tight
and I know I don’t want to feel like I did on Thanksgiving during the
whole holiday season. But the:

Latkes are Calling

 
Dear Latkes are Calling:

You cannot afford to write off another month. Or even another week.
The truth is you shouldn’t write off even any more meals. Instead, you
need to put yourself on a pretty tight leash and try and get a firm grip
not just between now and January but well into the new year. But
that’s my mother talking. The latkes call me too, and it is nigh onto
impossible to make it from now until 2013 without having any treats.
The trick, and the imperative, is to pace yourself, to make rational
rather than impulsive choices, and to make them just that: choices.

You need to approach life one meal at a time. Do not write off a whole
day just because you blew it at breakfast. If you have waffles at 7:00,
then compensate with a salad at 12:00. Each meal is a new decision
and new chance to get things right. Do the math: three meals a day
for a month plus snacks is well over a hundred chances to eat well
instead of poorly. As we heard in the recent election, this is arithmetic.
Fewer calories in means fewer pounds gained and more pounds lost.
Try counting to ten before you put anything into your mouth and see if
you can tell a difference in your pants, your mood, and your habits.