The problem, 11 days into the new year, is that I gained a significant amount of weight during the past year, and I am not one to make resolutions at the beginning of a new year, as obvious as those resolutions might be.

There are reasons for weight gain that are kind of out of my control, but for the most part, it is because I have been eating too much. And I should have picked up on that late last spring when the doctor who regularly inspects my colon said I was “obese.”

There are a lot of ways you can tell some that he or she is overweight and offer practical suggestions without having to engage in name-calling. My gut – rather large – reaction was to call him “shorty,” but manners got the better of me and I said nothing.