"Do I have enough flex points for a Snickers bar?" I teased a friend.

She laughed.

I was referring to her new weight-loss plan.

Seems like everywhere you turn, there's a plan or advice on how to lose weight.

It's on television and in every woman's magazine.

We see celebrities who have lost weight on the Jenny Craig plan or Weight Watchers plan.

Advice is conflicting.

We are told to eat all we want and still lose weight. We are told that dark chocolate is good for you. We are told that if we don't lose weight we are apt to have all kinds of cancers.

We are told to stop eating pizza and fast foods.

We are told that too many diet Cokes aren't good for us. Tomato juice is.

On one hand, we hear that coffee is not good for us. Then we hear that it is.

I was thinking this morning that with the high cost of food and fuel, some citizens will be forced to lose weight They may not have a choice.

That is, with gasoline at all time highs, more people will be parking their vehicles and walking or riding bikes or staying home. And with grocery prices rising, some will have to cut back on certain foods they used to buy. And they may be dining in instead of out.

Just last week .I decided to make a pot of deer stew, so I went to a local grocery store to buy some Hunt's tomato sauce. I planned to add one can of sauce to the stew. Normally, the sauce sells for 39 cents for an 8 ounce can. On sale, I sometimes buy it four for a dollar. I was shocked to see that the price has risen to 62 cents per can.

At a Walmart store the current price is 42 cents per can, regular price. That's an increase of seven cents.

Those increases are indicative of the rising cost of groceries.

Pet food, detergent and coffee have risen in price in recent weeks too.

A local man who has a lawn mowing business, said last week that high gas prices "are killing me." He said he has had to go up on his prices this season to help defray the high cost of gasoline to run his John Deere

Just this week, I spent over $50 at the gas pump to fill my Buick. That's a first for me. I can only imagine what it's like for farmers and truckers these days.

It's a standoff. Do we want to eat, drive, or buy medicine?.

It's a choice some will make when ends don't meet.

Some may have to cut back on sauce too.