Dear Group:

Yesterday I went to a family function at my cousin's house. I took a look at my relatives and we all look similar - round! Everybody brought a dish. The food was good, but sooo much of it. We devoured the whole thing.

I got this insight: Isn't stuffing yourself an abuse of food? Isn't it as deadly as drugs in the long run? Would any good doctor prescribe overeating as a remedy for anything?

Yet I do it all the time, and sometimes with foods which are no-no on anyone's diet. I am medicating myself via the fridge. This is dangerous territory.

I don't mean to sound morose, but with what the rise in morbid obesity, with it's related heart disease and diabetes, it's good reason for concern. I read somewhere that it's like digging your grave with a knife and fork.

So I came up with this new idea. I pretend there's a doctor in the house (no, not Doctor Chiqui). Every doctor has to take the Hypocratic Oath which begins with "Do No Harm". I've written this on the board at the entrance to my room.

I am listening to "The Invisible Doctor" and she's telling me "Do not harm". I am trying to unburden not only my spare tire, but the very heavy mental notes I carry around all day regarding crucial things I didn't feel like doing.

Procrastination is doing me a lot of harm. For me, and I suspect for most of us, NOT doing it is more painful and time consuming than just doing the darn thing and getting it over with.

So today, I started doing them. I went thru a pile of mail that previously I just didn't want to deal with. Found some surprises and important papers I'd been looking for.

How do I usually deal with undone tasks? By eating the emotional fallout. And that's really dumb. How can a donut renew your prescription? Will a hamburger take those pants to the tailor for alteration? No way. And isn't that doing harm to one's soul?

So I am listening to the Invisible Doctor today. And she's telling me to get off line and take those clothes to the tailor right now.

I know this is not low-carb stuff but if anyone else is overeating when they should be doing other things, you might recognize these feelings.

Chiqui