Hi Sally,

I'm in the same boat you are! I've been on a diet for the last several months and have lost around 35 pounds--but I have 60 more pounds to go because I want to finally get thin. The problem is, everyone's metabolism is different. A lot of people can lose weight on 1,200 or 1,000 calories a day, but I can't. Added to that, I can't exercise much because of the MS.

You won't want to hear this, but I stay on a diet of 600 calories a day. This is extremely low, but it was approved by my doctors down here because I was at a point last summer where I absolutely had to get the weight off; I was having heart palpitations. I wouldn't recommend a diet this low in calories for most people; it works for me because, with Lupus, Crohn's and MS, my metabolism is completely out of whack.

My food intake consists of a bit of healthy cereal or oatmeal for breakfast, veggies or a cup of low-cal soup for lunch and a chicken breast and veggies for dinner. For a snack at night, I eat about 25 grapes. I lose weight faster if I don't eat at night, so you might consider shutting down the food intake past eight pm--unless you want a few grapes or carrot sticks...

I don't know how mobile you are; I have mobility issues but on good days I make myself walk two miles. It's easy here in Key West because the weather cooperates, even if my legs don't!

It ain't easy, but it's worth it! I totally blew the diet over the holidays and gained about three pounds back, but I'm slowly getting back to where I was before Christmas. Hope that some of this helps.

I think we ought to start a regular weight loss thread here to encourage each other! Any takers?