[gardener]

Thia really fits as a side note in the thread Quercus started about Atkins back in October, but that thread is now formatting line widths of about 5 yards.

Tomorrow it starts: the effort over a couple of months to undo the virtually mandatory feasting that marks the last couple of months of the calendar year. I've got to ditch a bit over 7 pounds and an inch and a half around the midsection , all added from Halloween through New Years.

The extra flesh didn't come from proteins and unsaturated fats, but from refined carbohydrates. And by far the worst thing about these is that they are almost addictive. Consume these carbs and the next thing you know you want more of them and more and more. One cookie leads to two cookies, to three, and so on. Pile mashed potatoes on your plate and by the time they're gone, a second helping seems natural. And then, the next thing you know, you've got to wear your jeans a little lower because their waist is noticeably smaller than yours. And if you keep on with the cookies and the mashed potatoes and the ice cream with chocolate syrup, you'll be looking in the closet to see if you still have any jeans left over from early January a year ago, when you went to the mall to pick out a pair that would so as stopgap during your last period of dietary reform.

But a couple of boiled eggs for breakfast, sans toast, sans marmelade will keep you satisfied, with no cravings, until time for lunch.