Hi Leana, I love cats - and dogs...and all animals really. Although I was talking to my sorta step kids this morning about how little compassion I have for mosquitos and ticks. More info than you needed...but there you have it! I too am trying to lose some weight. I did successfully a couple years ago with by eating low on the glycemic index...I have never felt better than when I was fully itno that. I am going to try to get a group of people together to do a weight loss fundraising "game" called Pounds for Primates. I am a co-founder of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest (www.chimpsanctuarynw.org) and we did it one other time as a fundraiser and it was pretty successful. It's where a group of folks who want to drop weight and be motivated invite people to sponsor us a certain amount per pound lost. I think 3 months would be a good amount of time to lose 15 pounds. If someone sponsors you $2/pound - they donate $30 to the sanctuary. If you're at all interested in a little external motivation, let me know and I can let you know when we're getting ready to start. My Dad had adult onset diabetes and I'm a sure candidate if I don't keep my weight down. Have you ever read the South Beach book? A lot of people think it's like Atkins but it's not at all. It's one of the most common sense books written by a doctor whose primary patient had horrible blood chemistry, borderline diabetes and heart attack risk. It was very inspriting...not whacko at all. Sounds like you're on the right track though - avoiding sugar and fatty foods. Thanks for writing! Lauren