If we’re not careful, this blasted recession could make us fat.

Myriad health professionals report that all too many of us mere mortals tend to seek out fatty comfort foods and isolate ourselves when we’re under extreme stress. And here’s where I start to get ticked off.

It’s not as if this recession wasn’t already insulting enough with its layoffs, its foreclosures and its capacity for inducing stress and sleepless nights. But now it wants to make us go up a size, too? Clearly the time has come to fight back! Consider these tips for staying slim, trim, happy and healthy, no matter how bad the economy gets: