Author: Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Translator: Azim Soleimanizadeh

Yes, it is natural, almost all over the world and even in the third world, people work hard to eat something and not die. A few years ago, the main articles in magazines were about cancer, but these days the most popular articles are about dieting.
Every day, the books related to dieting and the fans of this type of books are increasing more and more. At parties, the talk is mainly about getting in shape. Every day someone is found and claims to find a new method - an ideal and practical method - to lose weight, and some people sacrifice themselves like a deer to a new plan and method
They do Friends pass pamphlets about dieting and talk about calories and type of food before eating. But when they sit at the dinner table, they are so hungry that they unconsciously say: "Shut up today. I will start from Saturday." There are some people who not only count the number of calories in food, but also always weigh their food with a scale.
Phone conversations about dieting are getting longer day by day. The host is thinking about what kind of food to cook so as not to cause obesity to the guest, and the other hospitals are more obsessive about this.
But after years of dealing with these dieters, I have come to a definite conclusion, and that is that men, especially at a certain age, are much more concerned about their bodies than women. In fact, we are anxiously careful not to become uglier than when we were born.
Maybe the best solution is to live in India and be a rich person. Because in that country, anyone whose hand touches his mouth and whose belly is bigger is more respected.
These days, even the owners of the food industry and restaurants are starting to worry and I have heard that there is a wave of advertising in Italy to convince people that pasta, the main national food of the Italian people alone, has no effect on making them fat. In any case, they have been saying and confirming for years that Maria Callas, the world's heavyweight opera champion, who weighed more than a hundred kilos in her youth, got in shape by dieting, that is, by only eating spaghetti. Nowadays, most Italians believe that pasta alone does not make anyone fat. This belief is also reflected in Italian films, from which people learn how to live.
Nevertheless, I once saw Monica Vitti, who is one of the thinnest and most beautiful actresses in Italy, eat two plates full of spaghetti and a real rabbit in addition to salad and side dishes, and finally, as a good ending, she ate a large bowl of ice cream in one meal.
Naturally, along with the growth of various theories about dieting, theories about the dangers of dieting have also increased. Not long ago, a lady of acquaintances met a friend who seemed to have aged 30 in the six months since she had not seen him. Thinking that the man was suffering from a fatal disease, the lady had asked, "What's up with you?" And the gentleman answered: "Nothing, I am on a carbohydrate diet."
Of course, in the past years, this method of dieting has gained credibility because it was discovered by a Royal Canadian Air Force pilot, rightly or wrongly. But today they say that despite the fact that this method reduces people's weight, it also causes premature aging.
I like to eat more than anything else. Besides, fortunately, no problem can blind my appetite, in fact, even problems make me hungrier.
Even in bad working conditions, I can eat all day long, non-stop. What's worse is that I am caught in some kind of cycle or sequence. When my writing doesn't go well, I get very depressed and upset, which in turn leads to insatiable hunger. And then I overeat to satisfy myself and the result is nothing but uncontrollable obesity. And then the extra fat on my body ruins my mental state so that I can no longer write well.
Therefore, there are scientific and experimental reasons behind my concern about dieting. Although I don't have much faith in them because it seems like everything that goes into my mouth makes me fat, just as everything that comes out of it disappoints me.
What a fate! Half of my life I had nothing to eat and the other half I shouldn't eat because I get fat.

Kehan Cultural Cosmos Monthly December 1367