We all know the drill. The holidays are serious diet killers in so many ways. Let's count them. Pie. Gravy. Sweet Potatoes. Mashed Potatoes. Stuffing. Ham. Cookies. Egg Nog. Potato Latkes. Brisket. That's ten, so I consider this list to be the diet equivalent of the ten Passover Plagues. These are the ten plagues of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Chanukkah.

And if you've been reading Serious Eats you know that down at World HQ we've been taste-testing up a storm, which definitely does not help. In fact, taste tests can be the eleventh holiday food plague. How do you taste almost 20 NYC pumpkin pies one day, six store-bought pie crusts the next, and gravies the day after that and still lose weight? It's not easy, but I'm trying to keep it together. I really am.

The NYC pumpkin pie taste test I only tasted the four semi-finalists. Damn, it turns out I really do like pumpkin pie. Storebought pie crusts and pumpkin pie mixes [Ed. note: Stay tuned for those results next week!] were also a problem. Again I limited myself to the finalists.

But I've definitely made some mistakes as well. Reviewing Riverpark was tough, as there is a lot of good and fattening food there. So I'm on hiatus review-wise for a few weeks.

What can I do besides stay vigilant and stay under control. That's what it really comes down to, whether or not it's holiday time. If I stay aware and never say screw it, it's the holidays. I'm not going to worry about what I eat, then I may not be totally screwed.

So I'm going to stay on my serious diet all through the holidays That's all I can do. I may have some bad moments, when I give in to the siren call of stuffing or pie or latkes, but hopefully I will come to my diet senses before it's too late. Two or three latkes is okay, ten isn't. One small piece of pie I can live with myself eating, a half a pumpkin pie is nothing but out of control gluttony. Everything in moderation, I have to say to myself over and over again. That's my serious diet mantra.

The Weigh-In

Lots of taste tests, lots of goodies in the office and out, and a couple of review meals thrown in for good measure. These are the times that try men's diet souls. But I have been trying to eat everything in moderation, so here we go. 223. Same as last week. I survived all the taste test. I live to eat moderately another week.