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It's been nearly a year since we have checked in on Suzy to see how she is doing after reaching her goal and maintaining it. I recently caught up with her, still cheering others on at her favorite low carb newsgroup, and asked her to bring us up to date on how things are going.

I came up with the idea for this dish to please my 17-year-old son, who loves feta cheese, olives, and salads of all kinds. Of course, he's not really all that sophisticated; he also likes saltines spread with canned chocolate frosting. (Gag!)

Some of you, my dedicated fans, know that I recently lost my job, and that I'm pretty bitter about it. After all, when I asked why I was being let go, I was told that I obviously didn't like working there, and that I didn't really want to continue at that company.

SugarBane from St. Louis is 5’ 1" tall and 37 years old. She began her low carb journey weighing 225 pounds and wearing a size 28. By following the Atkins program SugarBane got down to 155 pounds and was wearing a size 12 prior to her first pregnancy and the birth of her son last summer. She is now pregnant with her second child, and is currently weighing in at 185 pounds and wearing a size 18. Her goal is to weigh 135 and be a size 12.

As a continuation of the Inner Slut conversation and my extant trouble with my Inner Slut, whom I have named Delilah, this is an update of my saga. Yesterday I had an odd thing happen. It was very not-out-of-the-ordinary for other women more in touch with their Inner Sluts, and probably would have been habit, but for me it was extraordinary and empowering and eye-opening.

In order to make low carbing a lifestyle and not just a "diet," I've learned to get creative in the kitchen. This is how I stock up my Low-Carb kitchen.

Last time we continued our discussion of the history of diets and dieting by talking about the first low calorie diet plan, and about the beginnings of counting calories. We also looked at diets that were based on 'magic pairs' and on special food combinations said to promote weight loss because of some supposedly long-forgotten-but-now-rediscovered chemical connection between the two foods. These connections were said to somehow fool the body into absorbing less nutrients than the individual foods, eaten separately, would provide.

Once you've been low carbing a while, you find that you get a bit bored with plain meat and vegetables. (Well, maybe not steak!) This is when the smart low carbers turn to their spice racks to jazz up their meals without adding a lot of empty carbohydrates. Tonight's meal will satisfy your bored taste buds with the zip of Italian seasonings.

Everybody is familiar with word search games where you must find words hidden in vast columns of primarily random letters. The words can be written vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. In addition, the words can be written left to right or right to left. I hate those kinds of word games! Unfortunately, the nutritional analysis labels of manufactured food products are a lot like word searches.

When it's hot out (and it's been HOT out!) I don't feel like cooking. I don't feel like cleaning up afterward, either. But I have to eat, and my family has to eat, so I have to do something. And since they refuse to eat off the floor and with their fingers (picky people that they are), I have to come up with new ways to minimize the cleanup.