How much would you say a bag containing $13 worth of Taco Bell weighs? My guess is that they couldn't fit it all in one bag - but that the 2 to 3 bags you got were about 5 lbs - 95% of that being refried beans.

I wish you a successful May but I don't think 20 lbs in 35 days is realistic - at least not with your track record. But if you don't blow the diet up between now and June 1 and you hit the gym like it's your job I think you could put a serious dent in the remaining weight you want to loose.

But you have to realize that a month or 2 months is not a lot of time. And the less time you have the less margin there is for error. Especially with where you're at in the process. You probably have a plateau in front of you. At the very least this weight isn't going to come off nearly as easily as the first 30 lbs did.

I'm sure you've done the diet thing leading up to big events- and as the dealine grew nearer your expectations got smaller.

The point is there's really no point in looking at a dealine. You just need to make it through the current day doing as much good and avoiding as much bad as you can. If you follow that then all the work you do adds up quickly. Whereas if you're looking at a deadline you're more apt to say- I can relax this for tonight, I mean I have a whole month left. And that's where you end up short changing yourself.

Put in the work - otherwise you're just a would be champ, the way the Pistons look right now.

Talk to you later

Dan-
This is a process. Good days (or weeks) and bad ones. You need to realize that this shift in eating is forever. You never want to be where you started the 1st 100 days at. Yes, you can have off days, but as long as the on days outnumber the off you will win in the long run. Check out this site, she has a lot of off days and still loses weight. This is a LIFELONG thing now if you want to stay healthy and the idea of perfect eating months are NEVER possible. I personally go by calories for the week-If I go over one day I make it up on the others. As long as I make it "on budget" for the week I will lose a pound. It helps me on days I blow it- to know i can wake up tomorrow and "fix" it.

Welcome back. You ever leave me hanging like that again I'm going to find your fat ass and kick it to Cleveland. Yes, Cleveland.

I'm glad you're alive. Glad you stopped the b.s. - well, almost. I'm with Guy. Unreasonable goal to lose that much weight that soon, track record or no.

We could be twins with our issues. I don't even need to know any more about you to know that. You have an issue with control, I'm guessing. As long as it was your idea and your goal, you were mostly totally in control. Also, the first part of the fortress was relatively easy and so you felt more in control. Now it's harder to see results with the same eating/gym habits and the pure frustration of not seeing great results when you've eaten "normal" portions and have gone to the gym. Doesn't feel like you have that much control when you hit a plateau.

Then you probably have a bit of fear of success. What if you get to 240 and life sucks just as much as when you were 299? Or you can't get laid by the hot chick you want? Then what will you blame it on? Not being toned enough? Or, God forbid, something in your personality? Fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of success. They all have the same elements. It's scary.

And if you've been overweight most of your adult life, your fat has been a nice buffer between you and getting closer to yourself, your goals or other people. Fat has its uses and is comforting.

This was not to be a psychobabble post, just a reminder that you don't have to be perfect, or insightful or motivational for us out here. A lot of us have similar issues/concerns. Just hearing from you is motivational...good/bad or ugly days, you're motivational because you are you.

So don't feel like we're pressuring you. We aren't. We're cheering you on, successful days and Taco Bell days. Frankly, I get a vicarious thrill imagining what you're eating from TB and fantasizing about that In N Out Burger thing. I need to hear it! It's like hard core porn to me. (OK, maybe my issues are different from yours). It's like a former smoker asking a smoker to blow smoke in their face. (Shall I stop before you think I'm insane?)

OK, I'm stopping. But please don't leave me hanging when you're having a rough time. I worry. Thanks.