Hello everybody!!! It's been a long time since I've been here. I am just feeling down.....had my surgery on 8/14/07. Did really great that first week, lost 12-13lbs. Since then I've only lost 7-8lbs more for a total of about 20lbs. My goal is between 60-70. I don't know what to do!?!?!?! Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!!!

Well, my first thought is that you are losing about a pound a week and that is a healthy amount to lose. Otherwise, are you holding yourself accountable for everything you are eating and drinking? Food logs and journals are helpful for keeping tabs on problems. Also, sometimes I dont lose weight if I am getting too few calories.

Do you have good restriction right now? Do you exercise? How many calories do you have a day?

I know how you feel, I've been a little down too lately. Yesterday I started tracking my calories again at The Daily Plate and I started exercising again and I feel so much better. Sometimes we don't realize how many calories we are consuming until we write it down. They add up pretty fast. Don't be too hard on yourself. Let's figure out what the problem is and we'll go from there.

Okay, so here's some questions for you:

Do you drink with your meals--and I mean even sip?? 45 minutes is not too long to wait until after the meal to drink.

Do you keep yourself to 1/2 cup of food for each meal? I just put out 1/4 or 1/2 cup of food and when it's done, I'm done...

Have you been exercising? Curves is one of the easiest programs to do but you can even do exercise at home, 20 - 30 minutes a day.

Have you kept a Food Log? It's a great idea--because it shows you where you may be having problems. Be sure you are keeping your carbs down, your Proteins up, and your calories down.

Are you doing junk food? Yes, I know from personal experience that chocolate goes down easily--as well as other sweets--but that is something we all have to stay away from.

The reason I'm asking YOU these questions is that I gained 2 # over Thanksgiving and went through all of these on myself. It took me a week to lose those two pounds, and so over Christmas I just gained .6 pounds--I certainly didn't want to go through that again.

Just find your weak points and try to correct them, girlfriend--

He he Jackie, obviously we are having the same kind of day!! YES WE CAN DO THIS!! Do you have a place where you record your food and exercise? I am hoping to look in my one to find any clues to why its taking so long! He he or maybe there is some August curse!!??