So, if I go back to my original schedule, then Wednesdays are for “My Writing”. However, all I really have to say about that is it’s going really, really well and I’m about half way through my revision and hope to finish by the 18th. So…that’s kind of boring, so I decided to talk about writing and junk food.

I’m a big fan of advice columns. I have been reading Dear Abby and Ann Landers since I was a kid (now I don’t read Dear Abby because I am not a fan of the daughter who took it over, but I do read Annie’s Mailbox, which is Ann Lander’s old column). Anyway, for some reason a bit in one of those columns, Dear Abby, I think, has always stuck with me. It had something to do with eating cake at the typewriter in the evenings and gaining a lot of weight. Because of that, when I became a writer, I was determined not to eat cake while I wrote. However, no one mentioned potato chips.

I have been a naturally thin person all my life and never had to think about what I ate, which meant that those nasty little potato chips were able to sneak up on me and grab me around the middle before I knew what was happening. Last year I got into the habit of a mid-morning writing snack that included a large handful of Kettle chips, a dollop of spicy ranch dressing for dipping, and four or five slices of Havarti cheese. The cheese provided calcium and the chips were loaded with potassium (creative label reading). After a few months of this snack, I started to notice that my pants were a little snug around the waist. Then snug was a nice way of putting it. So did I give up my snack? No way. I just bought bigger pants!

So, summer came and the remodel of this house happened, and the move took over my writing time and potato chips fell by the wayside and so did the pounds and now I’m back to my normal weight (although I’m swimming in all my new clothes).

The problem is…I’m back to writing now and all I can think about are potato chips! I just had an apple. Nice. Sweet. Crunchy. Yeah, whatever! One time, last winter when I was contemplating the possibility that potato chips were doing this to me (as opposed to me doing it to myself!), I had some carrot sticks with dip instead. I emailed my friend, Eileen, who had been listening to me lament my tight pants and said, “Guess what? I just had carrot sticks with dip instead of potato chips and it was just as tasty!” She emailed me right back and said, “If carrot sticks are just as tasty as your potato chips then you’re buying the wrong chips.”

What is your snack downfall?