We are inundated by exhortations to lose weight - from the media, from our friends, from our family. As the richest, fattest, nation on earth, we idealize the impossibly thin supermodels who smile (or smirk?) at us from every magazine cover. We spend a fortune on trying to lose weight and despair when we don't.

Enough of the diet gurus, the nutritionists, and the weight loss experts (including me), let's enjoy ourselves for a while. The diabetes and clogged arteries will overtake us all too quickly. For today, let's feast freely at the banquet of life.

1.Ordering in a restaurant is incredible fun.

Your dining companions may be limiting their selections, counting carbs and fats and calories but you are free of all that. You can pick the creamiest, juiciest item on the menu without a single twinge of guilt. Go ahead, have the baked potato with extra butter and sour cream. Chew the divine crispy bread with your creamed soup or artichoke dip appetizer. Go exotic with beef Wellington in its flaky crust shell or dive into that impeccably marbled steak. And while your companions sip coffee, order peach pie - a la mode, no less. Now, weren't you the one who made the most of the evening?

2.Enjoy the company picnic.

Let your coworkers make fools of themselves running three-legged races and playing very bad touch football. They will have sore muscles and bruises for a week. While they are moaning and groaning on Monday morning, you'll be comfortable and serene, enjoying your memories of being the first, and the last, in line at the buffet table and how much fun it was to graze uninterrupted on those marvelous desserts.

3.Appreciate your daughter's school play.

All those skinny, active mothers have been working for weeks to get everything prepared. The benefits of obesity became crystal clear when you were not even asked to paint scenery, hang curtains, set up chairs, or walk the neighborhood to solicit contributions. You can limit your involvement to showing up for the performance, fresh and unstressed, gratefully eying the tasty snacks set out for afterwards.

4.Make the amusement park comfortable.

The wheelchairs provided for the disabled and the obese are a heavenly way to see the entire park. Every other adult becomes exhausted as the day wears on, tired of waiting in lines and walking miles to get to the rides the kids want. You are cool and comfortable as they wheel you around. As the others get grumpier, the kids flock to you and lament that their parents don't maintain your interest and encouragement of everything they want to do. And on the long drive home, when others are too tired to eat, you still have energy left for a burger and fries.

5.Make your vacation complete.

No one even considered suggesting a camping trip or a week at the beach, did they? No, they knew your idea of a treat was a short road trip with stays at deluxe hotels with soft beds, room service, and a concierge at your beck and call. Let the others take a walk around town while you lie down with a good book or television show. When they return and, over dinner, tell you of the sights they've seen, you can listen intently while mentally rating the local cuisine based on your vast gastronomic expertise.

Ah, life's good!

P. S. If you take this seriously, get yourself to a therapist, tout suite.

Virginia Bola is a licensed psychologist and an admitted diet fanatic. She specializes in therapeutic reframing and the effects of attitudes and motivation on individual goals. The author of The Wolf at the Door: An Unemployment Survival Manual, and a free ezine, The Worker's Edge, she recently published a psychologically-based weight control e-workbook, "Diet with an Attitude" which develops mental skills towards the goal of permanent weight control. She can be reached at http://www.DietWithAnAttitude.com. She provides support and guidance in use of the workbook through her regular blog, http://dietwithanattitude.blogspot.com