It was a day of overeating, to be sure. Breakfast at Walker Brothers Pancake House. A lavish lunch in a good friend’s home. Afternoon coffee and treats at Starbucks. A dinner party with women friends. And after it was all over, three Tums tablets.

I spent the day in the Chicago area and was so glad to be back that I scheduled one event after another. It was satisfying to reconnect with many friends. What I hadn’t figured on was the monstrous amount of eating that would go along with being with girlfriends.

I already know how to eat big. The challenge is to choose moderation, which translates to eating much less and is especially difficult during the holidays. All of us make our special dishes hoping everyone at the get-togethers will enjoy them by eating them up. We rationalize larger portions and second helpings because, after all, it’s the holidays. Besides, it’s only right to taste a little bit of everything.

The wall of antacid choices at Walgreens testifies to the existence of a massive industry counting on us experiencing indigestion. And even when we succeed in getting that under control, in January we have to pay the piper anyway. At the end of today, I wished I could have started over. I would have felt much better, and trying to fall asleep on a full stomach wouldn’t have been a midnight chore.

“When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony. Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.” (Proverbs 23:1-3)