January 1 is here and you’re stressing about the weight you’ve just vowed to lose, right? Well, stop. Turns out the 5 to 10 pounds many of us gained between Thanksgiving and New Year’s may be the greatest gift we could give ourselves. This pertains especially to women over 35, like me and Heidi Klum.

In a recent Self interview, Klum revealed this tip for aging gracefully: “The ultimate beauty secret for a woman getting older is, Don’t be too thin! It is always better to have a little meat on your bones.”

My best friend Sophie Patitz, another German top model who is both stunning and sensible, gave me the same advice a few years ago. At the time I was thrilled to have reached my old modeling fighting weight, only to be advised by her that my thin face made me look older.

After the initial sting, I launched into a hearty meal and have been grateful ever since. Heidi concurs, “When you are just muscle, you end up being gaunt in the face, and that makes you look older by 5 or 10 years.”

Which is why I’ve vowed to gain weight.

If you don’t believe it, check out these before and after celebrity pics:

Calista Flockhart seemed borderline anorexic a decade ago. While still svelte, she weighs more than a feather now and has a fuller face. As a result, it hardly looks like these two photos span 11 years.

Ten years ago, Nicole Kidman went through a thin phase. Now she’s looking more robust and, like Flockhart, possibly younger, not ten years older. Without the extra pounds, we would be talking gaunt or we wouldn’t be talking at all-Hollywood may have written her off as too old.

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Could it be Gwyneth Paltrow looks better now than in 2000? A touch of chipmunk, not chisel, suits her better.

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On the flipside…

How can it be that Angelina aged five to ten years in a little over a year? She lost weight. A bit of post-baby fat is a good thing.

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Demi Moore must think thinner makes her look closer to her hubby’s age. Not so. A year ago she looked not a day over 40. With a slimmer, more severe look 12 months later, she could pass for her actual age of 48.

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Happy New Year ladies. Go forth and gorge!

Jill Johnson is a former model who loves to eat. She founded Tear Sheet magazine and now works as a freelance writer. Her site, modelingmentor.com, offers insider advice and a sneak peek at her book about life in the world of fashion.