The days have grown colder, the nights have grown longer, and I've remembered just how difficult it is to diet come the dog days of winter. Of course, it's tough to lose weight in any season, but at least salads seem vaguely relevant in summer, and the fear of baring your flesh is a spur to that dread concept: moderation. Once early winter arrives, only carbohydrates seem attractive, consumed while swaddled in duvet.

It's not just losing weight that's difficult. Keeping it off is a trial too. US studies show that people gain an average of a pound each winter, which doesn't seem too horrendous, until you reach the devil's punchline - you're very unlikely to lose this weight. Winter after winter those pounds creep on, until one day you notice your chins cascading towards the vast hillock that is your stomach.

In a bid to buck this trend, I have read up on what causes winter weight gain, and the answers are multitudinous. There is the theory that we are biologically programmed to build up an extra layer of insulation; the notion that, psychologically, this extra fat doesn't bother us too much because it is hidden beneath extra layers of clothes; the fact that it's often too cold or wet to exercise outside, making us less likely to run, walk or cycle.

Then there is the moveable feast which is Christmas. Just as the shops seem to display their Christmas goods earlier and earlier, the temptation to use the season as an excuse to feast arrives sooner and sooner. The first chorus of, "Well, it is nearly Christmas!" went up in the office last week, as we tucked into a box of chocolates; the first mince pies arrived in my kitchen this weekend. There are also Christmas parties on the horizon, awash with canapes and calorific cocktails, and in the face of all this I sadly have just one word of comfort: soup. It's water-based, warming and unlikely to make you put on weight unless you tuck into the creamy varieties. Soup, my friends, is all we have to cling to.

SŁOWNICZEK

come the dog days of winter - gdy przyjdą paskudne zimowe dni

salads seem vaguely relevant in summer - w lecie sałatki wydają sie bardziej na miejscu

the fear of baring your flesh - strach przed odsłonięciem swego ciała

is a spur to that dread concept: moderation - stanowi motywację do tego okropieństwa: umiarkowania

consumed while swaddled in duvet - konsumowane w kokonie z kołdry

keeping it off is a trial too - utrzymanie tej samej wagi również jest wyzwaniem

which doesn't seem too horrendous - co nie wydaje się aż tak fatalne

devil's punchline - przewrotna konkluzja

hillock - pagórek

in a bid to buck this trend - podejmując próbę przeciwstawienia się temu trendowi

we tucked into a box of chocolates - rzuciliśmy sie na bombonierkę

mince pies - rodzaj świątecznych ciasteczek

all we have to cling to - wszystko, co nam pozostało