There’s a point that comes in every Christmas season where I can’t imagine eating another thing.  I’ve sampled the cookies, munched on Christmas candy, supped on cioppino, lavished over cheesecake and even enjoyed a cocktail or two, but there comes a time when I have to say it, out loud so it counts, “Enough is enough.  I’m done.  I can’t eat another thing, as good as it may be.  I just can’t do it.”

If only it were that easy.

Somehow I always manage to squeeze in one more thing.  Just one more cookie, popover or slice of prime rib.  Another piece of Christmas “moose munch” or toffee covered almond or glass of Que Syrah.  Despite feeling uncomfortable even in my “roomy” fat pants designed for moments just like these, I am unable to take my own advice.  Just stop eating.

January is the month where diets sell magazines.  There is no shortage of programs to follow.  The Grapefruit Diet, the Hollywood Diet, You on a Diet (notice it’s not Me on a Diet) all grace the covers of the latest rags in the checkout line at the grocery store.  (Who ever thought of that placement, by the way?) Standing in line with an assortment of Cheetos, hot chocolate and peanut butter, I flip through the latest “how to lose the weight you gained over the holidays.”  Surely the answer must be in here somewhere.

But of course, it’s not.  The key to maintaining a reasonable weight doesn’t lie in a magazine or best selling book or Hollywood tell all.  It doesn’t come from a can or a pill or a weekly regimen of food that would only be suitable for a rabbit.  The key to maintaining a healthy weight, the doctors will tell you (and me, more recently) is to exercise more and eat less.   In other words, take what you need and leave the rest. 

And yet in this world of excess, the wisdom of those simple words is difficult to follow.  We live in a culture of all or nothing, where we must constantly fight the temptation to go bigger, faster, grander.  In the land of black and white, shades of gray do not exist. 

Whatever happened to moderation? 

I’m not waiting until New Years to make my resolution.  In a moment of clarity, I made it last night, right after the last bite of my friend Mel’s most delicious ginger cake (which by the way was truly exceptional, Mel).  I’m taking my doctor’s advice.  I’m eating less and exercising more.  Starting today.  But don’t expect me to toss out the rest of that ginger cake.

All things in moderation, the saying goes, including moderation itself.