Do you have a pressing problem, annoying anxiety or community conundrum? Jasminda Featherlight, our resident roving Agony Aunt, is here to help. Jasminda will be responding to questions from our News Of The Area papers on a rotating basis. Send your concerns to Jasminda care of edit@mcnota.com.au and include your title, initials and suburb.

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Dear Jasminda,
Is it okay to put on a bit of weight over winter? I’m sure I’ll lose it again in spring.
Mr AB, Salt Ash

Dear Mr AB,
What are you talking about when you say ‘a bit’ of weight? Do you mean that your jeans are tight, or do you have to get dressed horizontally so you can squeeze into your tracky-dacks? There’s a world of difference between these two stages and only you will know how far you’ve let yourself go.

There are a few positives to your dilemma, so I’m going to try to make you feel a bit better. Firstly, you are not alone. Most people put on weight over winter, unless they are those annoying types who jog roadside and wave when you’re on your way to the shop to buy a family block of chocolate. If you like to feel part of the community, it is probably a good idea to commiserate with fellow weight gainers, rather than join that patronising group of body mass index sustainers. Killjoys, the lot of them.

Secondly, your weight gain goes back to times of food scarcity when long winters meant a store of fat came in quite handy.

Think of gophers. Now there’s an animal that knows a thing or two about storing weight over winter. Who could argue with a gopher? They are adorable. They must be doing something right, because they are under no threat of extinction, apart from a couple of obscure gophers like the big pocket gopher who must store contraband items in his big pockets that he goes and snorts in dodgy places with his fellow big pocket gopher mates to keep his weight down (I digress, Mr AB).

Finally, in the cold winter months, it is quite nice to cuddle up to someone who is carrying an extra kilo or two. I mean, at this time of year would you rather be snuggling up to washboard abs and protruding hip bones or a stomach as soft as a feather and down pillow?

I hope this eases your mind. Carpe diem, Jasminda.