GRATITUDE! That's the word that best expresses my feelings on the completion of this contest! Thanks to the News-Herald, especially Laura Kessel for sponsoring again and for all the time and effort that Laura puts into Lighten Up. My sincere thanks also goes out to the following individuals. To Cori Kitaura of Lake County General Health District for her monthly counseling sessions and for eating tips and encouragement. To Jaime Brenkus and his staff and L.E.A.N. Living for hosting the monthly weigh in sessions and his positive encouragement. To Mike Goode at the staff at Cabana's Restaurant for providing a free, scrumptious meal from the Lighten Up menu every week.

 

Congratulations to fellow participants who worked hard to accomplish their goals.

 

Our sponsors gave us the road map and now we have to follow it on our own. As I said in the counseling meetings with Cori, if this program is treated as a diet, it will fail in the long run. It has to be treated as a lifestyle change. If I want to continue to succeed and keep my weight down, I need to continue the same eating habits. Here's hoping that I listen to my own sermon.

 

Thanks again and best wishes to all!

Hello everyone. Only 2 weeks left on our journey. Thanks again to Laura, Kori, Jayme, Cabana's and all the other sponsors for their help and encouragement along the way. Speaking of Cabana's, we had a great evening there last Tuesday. In addition to the fabulous Lighten Up menu, the had some great live entertainment on the patio. We sat there for quite a while and really enjoyed it.

Hello everyone. Congratulations to all fellow participants for your hard work and positive results. That was a great article in Sunday's News-Herald. I let my guard down a bit over the July 4th holiday but appear to be back on track. Hope I didn't do too much damage.

 

We went to dinner at Cabana's last week after having missed the prior couple of weeks. They had a singer/guitarist on the patio and it was very enjoyable. We finished just before the rains started.

 

Keep up the good work everybody!

Five months down and one to go. Congratulations to fellow participants for sticking it out. I lost a few pounds since last month. Saw Jim at the weigh in. He's a shadow of his former self. Let's all work hard this last month to reach our goals!