Hi,

I'm here too. I am very depressed today and I really wasn't going to post, but here I am. I found out today that my 10 yr old Golden Retriever (Bandit) is dying from skin cancer. He has the worst kind of skin cancer and it is not treatable. The vet has given him 6 months to 1 year to live. For the past two months, we have been taking him to different vets trying to figure out what is wrong with him because he had gotten sores and flaky skin and he was losing his hair. They originally thought it was an allergy. I've known Bandit for 3 years and I am devastated. My fiance had him for 10 yrs and he was like his only child. It's a very sad day for us. Anyhow, I will try and stay focused and deal with this pain through exercise and prayer.

I have Open House for my daughter so I will not be able to exercise tonight. Last night, it was pouring rain, so I had to take it inside the garage (AKA the hot box) I walked for 10 and ran for 20 and cooled down for 5 on the treadmill. Followed by 15 minutes of kickboxing and then I did upper and lower weights.
Ate seeds, cheese and Pork loin and a salad for today.

Starting weight for this challenge: 160 My goal is to lose 5 lbs this month and attain a weight of 155

Annie: Your ideas are just fine with me. Thanks for being our leader.

Maureen: Congratulations to you on your exercise program. You are doing great. Keep up the good work.

Susan: Thanks for all your nice words. You are too sweet. Those cream cheese pancakes sounded good. Let me know how they turned out. It looks like you are going to be in the 140's soon.

Thenewme: Wow, losing 70 lbs since Jan '03 puts you on the top of the list as far as success stories goes. Did you post it under the success story thread? Thanks for all your words of wisdom.

Alex: It's great that you don't gain weight when you go off plan. That worked out well for you. As long as you get right back on track you should be okay. However, it may take longer for the pounds to disappear. I heard somewhere that if you go back to eating regular carbs and then back to low carb, your body becomes more resistant to losing weight. I was doing that for months where I would eat regular carbs on the weekends and then go back to low carb during the week. I didn't gain any weight doing that, but I sure couldn't lose. Now that I came back to the boards, I have had one month where I did not cheat once and I only lost a couple of pounds. UGH! I think though this month will be different as long as I don't ever cheat. I think the longer you go without cheating, the faster the weightloss becomes. That's just my opinion on this subject. I try and think that if I eat regular carbs, how long will it take low carbing before my body will lose weight again and burn fat efficiently.

Welcome to Fishburg and TerryLynne. I look forward to getting to know you too.

Take care and talk to you all soon.