I can’t imagine life without Luci, my apricot toy poodle who comforts me when she lays across my lap and warms my body and soul like a cashmere blanket, who pulls the sock off my foot and then tries to put it back on, who knows just how to cock her tiny head and peer at me with her chocolate brown eyes to get whatever she wants, who rests her chin on the corner of the Monopoly game board without ever knocking over a hotel piece on Boardwalk. (more…)

I can’t think of a braver act, especially for a woman, than to step on a scale (without a blindfold) and get weighed on network television. If that’s not gutsy enough, imagine being videotaped as you sweat bullets on the treadmill and then posting your progress, pound by pound, on the World Wide Web for everyone and their mother to witness.

Perhaps the only thing more terrifying for me is to don a swimsuit in the dead of winter and stand before a live audience in a crowded lecture hall without a podium to hide behind. Then again, that’s just me. No wonder I’m in awe of the women on KSDK TV’s “Lose a Ton Challenge,” especially Carrie Zuhler, a 45-year-old Chesterfield mom, whose emotional rollercoaster ride to shed pounds is an inspiration to us all. (more…)