untitled no. 1

O hai there! We're back! Let's blame... OMG, lookit over there! ::ducks and runs::

Anyhoo. Before we get into some trend predictions and credit-crunch-a-riffic fashion (and I mean thrifty - screw Vogue et al with their "a £2,000 shoe is an investment item! Buy two, stimulate the economy!" so-called thriftiness), let's have a quick post and run, and a call to arms for our little TFFF community.

Every week in the G2 section of The Grauniad is a feature called Private Lives, which is essentially a Dear Deidre problem page type jobby, only you, the middle-class bearded lentil-eating sandal-wearing composting hippie do-gooder reader, provide the solutions! Linda Blair (the psychologist, not Regan the devil child) then gives the profesh view.

Take a look at the archives, if you will, to see what sort of probs and answers come up, then ponder next week's question:

My 23-year-old sister is seriously overweight. It's not a matter of education or lack of knowledge about nutrition - she knows what good, healthy food looks like - and would naturally opt for a salad rather than a plate of chips. However, her portion sizes are very big and she eats more often than she needs to. It is a habit she has got into over the years - she says she still feels hungry if she eats the same amount as I do. I think she has come to associate food with love; she seems to feel that eating to excess generates good feelings, even if the results have the opposite effect on her self-esteem. As a family, we are passionate about food; we all enjoy cooking and regularly have great family meals together.

My sister doesn't complain about her weight, she dresses well and looks good.

However, she sometimes mentions that she is larger than she would like to be. The rest of my family are naturally fairly thin, which makes it harder to say anything. I have broached the subject as subtly as possible in the past and she got very upset. I believe she would prefer to be thinner and doesn't like the fact that I'm reminding her of that. Despite this, as far as I'm aware, she's never been on a diet. Our family is close and my sister has a supportive partner, who also likes his food.

How do I get through to her, without damaging our relationship, that she will be happier if she eats less and exercises more?

If you've got a view or a response, you can email private.lives@guardian.co.uk by Tuesday morning (UK time); or just have at it in the comments section here and we'll have our own discussion.

Then I promise soon we'll have some proper fashion content and try to once more be a bit more frequent with posting. It's not my fault that UFO abducted me.