It's often hard to completely avoid the kitchen after dinner. I've tried closing the kitchen doors but I'm not the only one in this house, and the dog hasn't yet learned how to open doors.

Also, sometimes I'm just plain hungry at 9 p.m. Not ravenous or anything but (let's go British here) ... peckish.

So instead of gritting my teeth and pouring a big delicious glass of water, the Weight Shrink and I devised a plan to have 3 or 4 Weight Watchers Points (100-ish calories) left for an evening snack. Knowing that I'm going to have a "thing" has been quelling the nocturnal cottage cheese spoonfuls, plus the "thing" is more interesting than that. So I enjoy my 3-Pointer, the buzzer goes off and it's game over.

One fave is a half-cup of plain Greek yogurt mixed with a tablespoon of chopped walnuts and a couple teaspoons of honey. (Ever have that combo at a Greek restaurant? Heavenly -- but I'm guessing their yogurt isn't fat free or even lowfat.)

Other favorite 3-Pointers:

• A few tablespoons of hummus with carrots and celery
• A fruit-on-the-bottom Greek yogurt
• A packet of apple-cinnamon oatmeal
• A serving of Honey Kix (that's 1 1/4 cups -- pretty substantial)
• A rice cake (one of those "good ones" from Lundberg) with a slice of lowfat Swiss cheese
• 1/2 cup of cottage cheese mixed with 1/2 cup of natural applesauce and sprinkled with cinnamon (nevermind how gross it looks, it tastes yummy)

Of course this involves planning on the back end, so I try and plan my day during breakfast. I've mentioned before that this had been hard for me because I tend to eat by whim.

But I whimmed myself into a size 22, so eating on a whim doesn't work for weight loss. I have planned myself into a 16-and-falling.

That old Weight Watchers chestnut still applies: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

SafSlim update

Back in September, I started using SafSlim, a supplement made from high-linoleic safflower oil that is supposed to target belly fat. I'm about halfway through the 12-week plan and while I haven't lost a lot of weight (5 pounds), I am definitely down a jeans size and my abdominal area does seem flatter. I don't know whether it's the supplement or the 5 pounds but there's definitely an improvement and no muffin tops to be seen. I'll check back at the end of the 12-week period and let you know how it all turns out. The next half of the trial will be a barrel of fun, what with Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, parties, New Year's and general merriment. Best time ever to lose weight, though -- seriously! NOT throwing caution to the wind is the best prescription to avoiding holiday pounds.

How 'bout a HealthBuzz?

This week's video discusses American Diabetes Month and features Sam Talbot of Top Chef.