I first met Maria in November, 2010 at a networking meeting.  As I listened to her I thought “she knows her stuff, and her stuff makes a lot of sense”.  My husband has fibromyalgia and I have MS and we both needed to lose a few pounds.  I told him about everything Maria had said and how what we eat affects the way we feel.  He was willing to jump on board with me so I gave Maria a call.  I asked her if we were setting ourselves up to fail by starting this new way of eating  just before Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I mean, who wants to give up all that yummy food?!?  Her response was “no, I think you will have 15 pounds less to lose after the holidays by starting now.”   And she promised us that she would help us find other yummy foods that are much healthier for us.  Sooooo - - we met with Maria and started our journey of eating healthier and making better choices.  I now weigh 20 pounds less and my husband has lost 23 pounds.  We both feel much better and, I must say, look better too.  About 5 weeks ago I had hopes of spring coming soon so I decided to try on some of the capris that had been camping out on the shelf in our spare bedroom for a few years.  Guess what!!! - - THEY FIT!!!  I was like a little kid at Christmas - -I was so excited.  Then last week I decided that spring really would arrive soon so I tried them on again.  And guess what !!!  THEY ARE TOO BIG!!!   Now I get to go shopping for some new clothes, and I am sure it is going to be a lot more fun than it used to be because now I can buy a size 6 or 8 instead of a 10 or 12.  The best part about this process is that my husband no longer lives in constant pain and I have a lot more energy.  Another good part is that he has been having a BLAST cooking new dishes from Maria’s cookbooks.  And I have been having a blast eating them.  THANK YOU, MARIA!!!