Every week, in some magazine or the other, there are enthusiastic pieces on some new miracle diet promising to transform us into our dream figures in a matter of weeks, or days even! There are dramatic pictures of 'before and after' and promises of a gorgeous new shape if we eat only bananas, or green peas, or whatever the latest studies claim will have said magical results.

In our never-ending quest for the body that fashion magazines tell us we should have, both men and women try all sorts of things — sugar-free, carb-free, meat-free; the list goes on. What's truly frustrating is the moment you turn the page, colourful pictures of delectable desserts adorn the article right after the pages of advice on how to lose unwanted ounces!

I do not want to turn this into a tale of gloom and doom, but as most people already know, unplanned dieting can be harmful for the human body. From what I have observed, carb-free diets can lead to digestive problems and clogged systems which then need to be cleared with laxatives.

Someone who tried the Atkins diet said it was effective, but hard. So hard in fact, that at one stage, when she saw an orange, her desire to eat it was so overwhelming that she had to leave the room. As she spoke, I could almost picture the glowing orange floating in the air above me.

Every day we are offered, or are tempted by, bowls of nuts or sweets, plates of sandwiches, trays of pastries, and a myriad other gastronomic delights. There is a certain indescribable joy in a big dish of rum raisin ice cream while watching a movie, or paratha and aloo bhaji (stir fry potatoes) on a Friday morning, or bakarkhani and Dhaka cheese with guava jelly at tea time.

Treats make life worth living, and we all feel we deserve to eat the things we love because we work hard, or we are sad, or happy, or just want to eat a big fat beef burger.

In the end, it is all a matter of choice and balance. If we want a reasonable shape, good knees, and a healthy heart after the age of forty, we have to accept the fact that we must exercise and eat sensibly most of the time. Every week though, it is good, or in fact vital, to indulge. There's more to life than sugar-free, fat-free, joy-free eating!

The human body is a miraculous, magnificent machine and it can take us up to the age of ninety if we treat it with respect, and it will absorb our sinful little desserts and junk food as long as we do not flood our engines with too much sugar or grease.

People like to see smiling, contented faces around them. There is nothing sadder than having dinner with glum, gaunt-faced, hollow-eyed folk and to hear their mournful cries of "No Carbs!"