[Heather]

I agree with the above posters. Also, as you get smaller, your rate of weight loss will change. Maybe the percentage will stay the same, but now you're losing something like .5-1.5% of your body weight a week, right? Well, when you weigh less the percent might, on average, stay the same, but that means the number of pounds will likely be lower. Keep your eye on the long term goal, and work on the other things to make you stand out in your field!

[Lori Bell]

So I'm really happy that people are saying I'm losing and they can tell, but I just feel like I'm not losing fast enough. To be completely honest - I don't really exercise.

Maybe you should start moving more, it will help tone things and helps many of us with depressive issues. It will help.

I'm only eating good and counting my calories. I noticed that I was losing more slowly when I was taking in less calories. Past week or so I've increased the calories to about 1300-1400 cals. And had a whoosh.

The jury is still out on this one. It could be that it was just your body's time for it's "whoosh" and eating more had nothing to do with it. I ate 1200 calories a day for months and would have a "whoosh" about every 3 weeks.

I'm coming up on 3 months being on the diet, and have only really lost about 30 lbs (hoping to get there by the 7th). That's not enough. Any ideas of how to speed up the weight loss process? Thanks guys.

I can totally relate on why you want it gone NOW. Starting in the morbidly obese range has it's own set of issues that many people cannot relate to. For me it was a life/death issue in the beginning, and after a while it was a clothing issue. I didn't want to spend months in the same clothing size. I didn't want to have to buy multiple "seasons" in the same size when I knew I was going to get to goal. Some people are fine buying a complete wardrobe for each size and spend months there... but when you plan to drop 6-12 dress sizes, who can afford it??...or has the time to shop that much!!

THere is NO rock solid proof that slow and steady wins the race. It drives me nuts when people say you must lose it sllloooowwwwllllyyyy in order to keep it off. When you have 100+ pounds to lose, it IS SLOW. It takes a LOOOOOONG time, regardless of how fast each pound moves.

So anyway. I think things will move faster a long for you if you:

Stick totally 100% on plan. No cheat days, no licks, no samples, no empty calorie treats.

Get in a little excercise. Turn off the TV, shut down the computer and go mow the yard. Clean your house, just MOVE.

Try to limit carbs and eat a plentiful supply of lower carb vegetables.

The most important thing is to keep going. The almost 30 pounds is a good start, but at your starting weight you can safely lose a little faster at first.

[Nola Celeste]

I think that old chestnut about "if you lose it quickly, you'll regain it quickly" comes from people who'd tried unsustainable crash diets. If you lose weight quickly eating nothing but cabbage soup and grapefruit, then yeah, of course you're going to gain it back when you stop--because no one can live like that. A reasonable, sensible plan that features portion control and calorie- or carb-counting IS sustainable whether you lose quickly or slowly.

With that said, ten pounds a week is a pretty good clip. That's over two pounds a week. You don't want to shed weight too quickly, especially without exercise, because you'll be costing yourself muscle mass. One great way to prevent that is...well, with exercise. You probably won't gain much muscle, but you'll be able to keep more of the muscle you have.

You'll also likely drop sizes without losing pounds; exercise is awesome like that. I don't know about you, but I would be delighted to weigh 150 and fit in an 8 rather than having to get down to 125 to fit into that same size 8. I get looked at a lot more than I get carried around, so I don't care if I'm as dense as neutronium.