Start Date: Aug 6, 2006 Lost to date: 42 lbs.

As I struggle to whittle off my overnight six-pound Thanksgiving gain, which isn't happening overnight, by the way, I look toward the next social challenge. I figure I'll have recovered from the turkey-day binge by the end of the week, when I have to face brunch at Commander's Palace.

I love Commander's, its antebellum charm, its history, its innovative cuisine, its bread pudding souffle with whiskey sauce--extra sauce on the side, please. The old building on Washington Ave. in New Orleans' Garden District was badly damaged by the winds and rains of Hurricane Katrina. It didn't flood but might as well have, for all the damage it incurred. It took just over a year for it to be renovated and reopened, and this Saturday for the famous jazz brunch will be my first time back since the levees broke and life as we know it changed.

I'm working on my strategy. Turtle soup, thick with cream and a touch of sherry, should be fairly low carb. Salad should be fine. Pick whichever entree has the lowest-carb side dishes attached to it--pork medallions, perhaps, or a blackened fish. Then go ahead and have the bread pudding souffle and be done with it.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.