I understand where you are coming from. But, I do agree, You may not be getting enough calories in. I hit a MAJOR plateau over a month ago and the scale just would not move. I spoke with my dietician because I was thinking that I should start drinking protien shakes and skipping a meal. She NIXED that idea. My Doctors office would rather you eat your meals instead of drinking them. After keeping a food journal for 2 weeks and reviewing it with her, we found that I was not eating enough calories for the amount of activity I was doing daily. After a couple of revisions and concentrating on protien and more water I FINALLY broke the plateau. The way it was explained to me was that your body goes into a "protection" mode and saves fat and calories if it thinks it is being starved. It may be something to look into. Good luck and keep us posted. Carolyn

I will try that thanks I will let you know my progress.

It sounds like you are doing so much so maybe you aren't eating enough. My average is 8-10lbs. a month but things are slowing for me, too. I'm worried I won't make the 10 lbs. for this month by June 12th. It's scary that I might not be able to continue to lose 10lbs. a month. I still want to lose 30 more and on top of that.... I'm worried that my excess skin will hamper that 30 lbs. desire.... It's too, too, scary. -Sheri

Well...after 8 months...I finally made it! I FINALLY have lost over 100 lbs! I NEVER thought that this day would come! I have really been discouraged the past couple of months. I have tried to stay positive, but it is hard as heck. Finally, I gave up watching the scale and I concentrated on eating, drinking water and exercising and ....WOW!!! FINALLY. Only about 60 more pounds to goal... I know that I can do this!!! I just need to keep my eye on my goal. Thank you all for your support!!! Without all of you there is no way I could have made it this far you are all angels!!! susie

Although Sheri's and my surgeon has a BMR machine in his office -- and it's a great tool -- you can get estimates of your basal/resting metabolic rate at a number of websites. Of course, this is only an estimate, and even the best estimates can be off. My BMR, when measured by my doc, was a good 100 calories/day less than the estimate for my height, age and weight at the time. And, the resting metabolic rate is just that -- a rate at a resting status. If you're more active, your daily calorie expenditure naturally will increase. And, as you lose weight and your body mass decreases, your RMR/BMR typically will as well. Theoretically, you can compensate for this -- to some degree -- by increasing muscle mass. Here are some sites with RMR (aka BMR) calculators. The most accurate calculations come when your age, weight, height, gender and body fat percentage are part of the formula. If you have access to a scale that measures your body fat percentage (Tanita makes the BMR machine and scale used by my doc; I have a Tanita scale at home), that number will come in handy. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/calrmr.htm http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.html http://www.virtualfitnesstrainer.com/cooltools/What_is_Your_Resting_Metabolic_Rate.htm http://www.hussman.org/fitness/bmrcalc.htm (I happen to think the hussman.org one is the best, largely because it also includes your body fat percentage is part of the calculation. It's a little less intuitive to use, but the info it spits back at you post-calculation is pretty handy. And, unlike some of the other calculators out there, this doesn't way inflate my BMR). http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/