It isn't what I eat that causes my weight problem! Oh no, contrary to popular opinion, it is not what I do eat that gets me in trouble with the scale - it is what I DO NOT eat that ends up being my nemesis - day after day after day after day. You see, here's my confession: I am a snacker and hardly ever treat myself to a "sit-down" meal. That means that I really don't know when I'm actually hungry, and so I go for very long stretches at a time without offering my poor body any decent food and then when my eyes see something that looks really good (usually a junk food snack of some kind), my stomach says, "send it on down - I'm starving!!"

This isn't a new habit with me. Oh no, it is something that I've worked at, and apparently become really good at, for a very long time. I'm short (5'3") and plump (154 lbs) - well I call it "plump" only because I don't want to embarrass myself by facing the truth that I'm not really plump - I'm FAT. Sorry to digress - now back to the problem at hand. My skin is olive and my hair is dark. I'm short and plump while my siblings are all medium to tall and skinny - not even just average weight and build - they are skinny! And they are all blond and fair-skinned. And yes, we all have the same biological parents. Now how does that seem fair?

I recently went on a trip with my brother and sister. We were gone for over a week and it seemed a good time to carry out an experiment, which I did without them realizing what I was doing. I kept track of how many times we each ate "snacks" during the day as we were traveling and seeing the sites in another state. I also made note of the amount of food each of us ate when we did sit down for a meal. Without being really scientific and measuring everything that each of us ate, and using only my eyeballs to judge, it became clear to me that when we sat down to eat, my brother and sister both ate more than I did. But when it came to snacks, I had them beat - hands down! They both came home from our trip exactly the weight they were when they left. Me? I gained 4 or 5 pounds. Does that seem fair?

So, I've decided that my challenge is to learn to eat when I'm supposed to eat. I don't expect my car to run all day without any fuel, or my body to function properly day after day without any sleep - so why do I expect so much more from my body? A snack here, and another snack there is apparently not working for me. Oh no, not working now and hasn't worked for many, many years. I'm beating a dead horse!

Oh no, it isn't what I eat ... It is what and when I DON"T eat that gets me into trouble. But now that I'm ready to admit that I'm really my own worst enemy and responsible for the problem of being plump, I think I'm ready to also be the solution. So stomach, here's my pledge to you: From now on, three squares a day, and then if you are really cooperative and use all of that good food up, you may get a REAL snack occasionally.

Here's to our combined success - and maybe in a few weeks we'll both be pleased with the results.