I have a friend who’s something of a diet junky, rolling with every new plan that travels up the turnpike.  The ultimate yo-yo dieter, she enjoys dramatic early success with each new regimen, but ultimately loses the battle to lack of both interest and willpower, expanding and contracting throughout the year.

Jenny Craig?  Too expensive.  Atkins?  Too constipating.  Sonoma?  Yawn.

I made an interesting observation, though, the other day.  Coach Stacy’s dog, Baxter, had become quite the porker in recent months.  Seriously, Coach dressed him up as a pumpkin for Halloween and he totally owned the look.  Despite his daily walks and the two flights of household stairs he was doomed to routinely navigate – not to mention the thyroid medication prescribed by his vet – the little guy seemed destined to forevermore shop in the “Big & Tall” doggie sweater department.

Until one day recently when an alarming discovery was made.  Seems somewhere along the way Baxter had figured how to open the large bin that contains his dog food, and he’d been helping himself to it – evidently quite frequently – when left unobserved.  Well of course, that signaled the end of free grazing in the Coach Stacy cabana.  Baxter’s food is now locked up securely, and like the rest of us, he’s currently enjoying only three squares a day.

And it shows.  While Baxter will likely never be especially lean, he has dropped a few pounds.  So here’s a diet breakthrough:  If you want to lose weight, simply place your pantry under lock and key.  And then lose the key.

It works for Baxter.  Though, of course, he still likes to scarf down a Red Rope now and again…