By Barbara Florio Graham
From McCall's, June, 1983
I read every diet I can get my hands on. I even follow their suggestions. But eventually, inevitably, I always get fat again. Now, at last, I've found The Answer. After living for almost 14 years with a man who never gains an ounce no matter what I serve him, I've found out what it is that keeps him thin: He thinks differently. The real difference between fat and thin people is that thin people:
- avoid eating popcorn in the movies because it gets their hands greasy;
- split a large combination pizza with three friends;
- think Oreo cookies are for kids;
- nibble cashews one at a time;
- think that doughnuts are indigestible;
- read books they have to hold with both hands;
- become so absorbed in a weekend project they forget to have lunch;
- fill the candy dish on their desks with paper clips;
- counteract the mid-afternoon slump with a nap instead of a cinnamon Danish;
- exchange the deep-fryer they received for Christmas for a clock-radio;
- lose their appetites when they're depressed;
- think chocolate Easter bunnies are for kids;
- save leftovers that are too skimpy to use for another meal in order to make interesting soups;
- throw out stale potato chips;
- will eat only Swiss or Dutch chocolate, which cannot be found except in a special store;
- think it's too much trouble to stop at a special store just to buy chocolate;
- don't celebrate with a hot-fudge sundae every time they lose a pound;
- warm up after skiing with black coffee instead of hot chocolate and whipped cream;
- try all the salads at the buffet, leaving room for only one dessert;
- find iced tea more refreshing than an ice-cream soda;
- get into such interesting conversations at cocktail parties that they never quite work their way over to the hors-d'oeuvre table;
- have no compulsion to keep the candy dish symmetrical by reducing the jelly beans to an equal number of each color;
- think that topping brownies with ice cream makes too rich a dessert;
- bring four cookies into the TV room instead of a box;
- think banana splits are for kids.
