I thought I started at 247 lbs, but at a recent visit with the dietician, they had my initial weight at 254 lbs. I currently weigh 145 lbs which puts me down 109 lbs since surgery (2/12/04) and in a normal BMI which was the only goal I had. My ideal weight is listed as 134, but I'm like Linn, and afraid I'd look too thin at that weight. I'm fairly large boned and other than my butt and thighs (which are saggy, but actually pretty okay) the rest of me is starting to look a little boney. It may actually be normal, but I'm not used to seeing myself this way. I've been EXTREMELY lucky and feel guilty posting when others have struggled so hard, both with their weight and other health problems. I've had a couple of small plateaus, but none that lasted longer than 6-8 weeks without at least a 1-2 lb. weight loss and I've lost 12 lbs in the last 3 months. This is in spite of the fact that I eat an average of 110 carbs, 1200 calories, 50 grams of fat daily. I hope everyone can reach a place where they are healthy and happy. Love you all, Julie

Margaret, I buy this cereal for my daughter....she loves it. I had a half a cup with milk a few weeks ago and it seemed to swell in my pouch and make me feel bloated (which could have been the milk). It does have 13 grams of protein per serving, but a serving is 1 cup. You might be able to eat it dry without problem. Just a thought. Take care.........Wanda

Hey Dorothy! My weight loss has slowed down quite a bit since October. I've probably lost 6 pounds since then. I weighed 256 on my surgery date and now weight 179. So that's a loss of 77 pounds. I would like to get to 145 pounds. That leaves me with 34 pounds left to loose. I'm 5'6" tall. I actually gained about 3 pounds over the Christmas holiday. It took me until now to get that, plus 2 extra pounds, off. I've noticed that since I've been keeping myself aware of what goes into my mouth and exercising every other day (I try to burn at least 600 - 700 calories each session), my weight has started going down again. Looks like its going to be slow going from here on, but at least its going in the right direction. This past year has flown by! If it takes me one more year to get to goal, that's fine with me! I feel so much better and am so grateful for being given this new lease on life! Take care.........Wanda 256/179/145 -77 5'6"

Ok, I'm putting this out there for those of us that haven't lost quite as much as the rest of you. My anniversary is Feb 4th and I'm pretty far from my goal (my surgeon never set one for me). In December2003/January 2004 I was around 298lbs., on my surgery day I was 287lbs, and now I'm at 215lbs. A total loss of (depending how you look at it) 83lbs (prior to surgery) or 72lbs (post surgery). I've set a goal weight for myself of 165lbs... it may be lower once I hit that weight, but for now I think that's good. So that leaves me with 50lbs to go! I hit a four month platue from Aug. until Nov. and off and on before that from July until Aug. I think it was a combination of eating too many carbs and weight traning. I've stopped weight trainig for now and am only walking and bike riding and I have cut back on the carbs soooo much, I'm also paying more attention to my calorie intake. It's hard, but I'll get there.... We all will!!! I've also started a journal because I think I self sabotage... it's funny to think I still do that after all that I went through to get the weight off! Anyway, I haven't had to deal with gaining weight, when on a platue I stay the same weight, and over the last 3/4 weeks I finally started losing again!!!! Yeah for me!!!! Anyway, I hope this helps someone out there to not give up. We can all do it, it's just a little harder for some and that's ok because it doesn't mean that we won't get there!!! Good luck everyone and God Bless!!! Milissa

Margaret, I do not eat cereals but I do eat oatmeal. Delainya 321/166/150