Journalism makes you fat

Lawrence Toppman:

The physical labor I do wouldn't tax an embryo. The little exercise I get in this profession, which now does most of its business by phone, benefits me only from the forearms on down. (Though I'd match wrists with Mike Tyson.)

I realize other sedentary professions create middle-aged spread. But journalism offers an astonishing number of opportunities to eat. People want you to interview them over lunch. Office parties abound. Opening nights of plays are often accompanied by free food before or after -- good food, too, home cooked or catered by restaurants who sponsor theater companies.

I covered a panel discussion at the Mint Museum of Art yesterday, and it ended in cheese plates and glasses of wine. (I skipped those, because I was on deadline -- and because this blog is usually somewhere in the back of my mind.)

I haven't been exercising this week, because I've been recovering from a cold, though this is probably the last day I can hang that tattered shred of an excuse on my conscience. So, of course, the free food beckons everywhere. Give me strength!