Jane Brody's column in the NY Times today is on obesity and may be of interest to you to read:

Brody's Column

Lately I've developed something of an old guy type beer belly and am considering going on a marijuana diet to bring out my lost abs.

Anybody have any experience with this? All I know is that back when I was toking regularly, I was in much better shape than I am now. Of course, that was 20/30 years ago.

I thought marijuana was supposed to give you the munchies, and make you

lethargic? Not good diet methods.

However, I have to say that I do not know any obese potheads!

Quite a perceptive observation, Lucky.

In search of further enlightenment, I found this 2005 abstract which confirms the somewhat counterintuitive negative correlation between weight and weed. However, this study looks at the cause-and-effect relationship from the other direction and leads the researchers to conclude that the more folks indulge in eating for pleasure, the less likely they are to smoke marijuana. It turns out that overeating and getting buzzed are competing methods for stimulating the brain's 'reward sites'. The women in the study found their pleasure in food rather than herb, and the more Rubenesque they were, the less likely they were to get baked.

While compelling, the research is a bit disheartening too, as it predicts a paucity of zaftig stoners, and I doubt you'd find a more convivial group of folks on God's green earth.

On the plus side of the ledger, of course, is that the return of MsGuy's six-pack may well lead to the rekindling of an old relationship from days gone by.

And perhaps a few new ones as well.

lookin, that has to be one of the most deliciously well-written comedic posts I've ever had the delight of reading.

I begin to suspect you wrote professionally in some prior incarnation.

----

oh, by the way:

zaftig

"alluringly plump, curvaceous, buxom," 1937, from Yiddish zaftik, lit. "juicy," from zaft "juice," from M.H.G. saft "juice".

You make me blush, MsGuy, which, I've just learned, turns my liver spots a rather fetching aubergine hue. Much obliged.

Sadly, my writing opportunities have been limited to the fields of engineering, business, and the odd political screed. Oh, and a handful of limericks at the local bus station. That's why it's so much fun to infest this Board from time to time, in the pleasurable company of like-minded fellows.

If it's comedic writing you're after, I recommend heading directly to P. G. Wodehouse. For half a century, I've been able to get a laugh from any random page of any one of his hundred-plus works. Here's a snippet from "Uncle Fred Flits By", in which Pongo Twistleton is accompanying his uncle, Lord Ickenham, on a reminiscent tour of the latter's childhood haunts:

It began to seem to Pongo that with any luck he might be able to keep the old blister pottering harmlessly about here till nightfall, when he could shoot a bit of dinner into him and put him to bed. And as Lord Ickenharn had specifically stated that his wife, Pongo's Aunt Jane, had expressed her intention of scalping him with a blunt knife if he wasn't back at the Hall by lunch time on the morrow, it really looked as if he might get through this visit without perpetrating a single major outrage on the public weal. It is rather interesting to note that as he thought this Pongo smiled, because it was the last time he smiled that day.

All this while, I should mention, Lord Ickenham had been stopping at intervals like a pointing dog and saying that it must have been just about here that he plugged the gardener in the trousers seat with his bow and arrow and that over there he had been sick after his first cigar, and he now paused in front of a villa which for some unknown reason called itself The Cedars. His face was tender and wistful.

"On this very spot, if I am not mistaken," he said, heaving a bit of a sigh, "on this very spot, fifty years ago come Lammas Eve, I . . . Oh, blast it!"

The concluding remark had been caused by the fact that the rain, which had held off until now, suddenly began to buzz down like a shower-bath. With no further words, they leaped into the porch of the villa and there took shelter, exchanging glances with a grey parrot which hung in a cage in the window.

Not that you could really call it shelter. They were protected from above all right, but the moisture was now falling with a sort of swivel action, whipping in through the sides of the porch and tickling them up properly. And it was just after Pongo had turned up his collar and was huddling against the door that the door gave way. From the fact that a female of general-servant aspect was standing there he gathered that his uncle must have rung the bell. This female wore a long mackintosh, and Lord Ickenham beamed upon her with a fairish spot of suavity.

Many thanks for the indulgence. I'm afraid poor Lucky will need a crowbar to bring his thread back on topic. Still, I'll never bet against him.

Speaking of ways to lose weight:

(My thread may be toasted too!)

I think it all comes down to 3 things:

1. Exercise - moving as much of the day as possible.

2. Portion control - we are eating way too much per meal and inbetween

3. Too much sugar and saturated fat in our diet.

I think the two easiest to tackle is moving every day as much as possible and portion control.

I think it all comes down to 3 things:

1. Exercise - moving as much of the day as possible.

2. Portion control - we are eating way too much per meal and inbetween

3. Too much sugar and saturated fat in our diet.

I think the two easiest to tackle is moving every day as much as possible and portion control.

And drink enough WATER. Don't forget to hydrate!