This diet that isn’t a diet isn’t working out all that well. The food pyramid looked so easy and so enticing, but I think now that I couldn’t see the green leafy vegetables for the bagels and tortillas and bran muffins. Plus, there just aren’t enough portions of ice cream and apple pie allowed to suit me. I’m not sure being the perfect picture of health is worth all the deprivation.

I need cookies to be happy. They don’t have to be Oreos or Chips Ahoy; Fig Newtons or coconut macaroons will do. I didn’t realize how much this mattered until I went without the good things in life for a couple of months.

This doesn’t mean I’m going to go back to slamming a whole bag of Lay’s Salt and Vinegar potato chips just to pass the time in the afternoon. I’ve actually developed a fondness for the four-bean salad I’ve been making, and I think between that and canned fruit cocktail and the occasional apple or banana (or plum), I’ve got the fruit and vegetable section of the pyramid covered.

But I’m going to back off on the hard line for a while. I’m not going to obsess over what I can’t eat or what I must eat, at least not as much as I’ve been doing lately. The one thing I’ll use to keep me from slipping into a slough of decadence and debauchery is the same mantra I’ve been using since the pyramid was revealed to me: “Small portions.”

My other recent project, this deal I started a couple of days ago about leaving the TV off all day, hasn’t been as difficult (mostly because I didn’t watch TV much during the day in the first place). It’s been an effective way to keep me focused so that I get more work done, which in turn keeps me from feeling guilty during those times when I’m eating coconut macaroons instead of working.