I'm becoming more vigilant at tracking on MFP. I notice that a lot of you weigh your food. That is something I can begin to do as well. My menu consists of: premier protein rtd for breakfast, 5 crackers with a tbsp of pb for a snack, half of a black bean burger patty with half a slice of cheese for lunch, 48 oz of water somewhere throughout the day inching towards 64oz, chicken with sautéed spinach for dinner. The menu varies.

Thank you for the tip about miralax. I'll definitely try it today.

If you have stopped losing weight after four months, you need to find out what is wrong. On 500-600 calories a day, you would be losing two to three pounds a week. Something is not adding up.

I have a digital scale, measuring cups, measuring spoons, and even a plastic ruler in the kitchen. People might laugh when they see me measuring my cantaloupe for 1" cubes, but I know eight of those cubes equals 50 calories if I grab them later for a snack.

I track everything in the My Fitness Pal application. I know exactly how many calories, protein grams, fat grams, and carbs I consume.

There is such a thing as starvation mode, but it sets in at a very low weight. For a man, it would set in when his weight dropped to about 80 pounds. All of the fat has been used up. Ribs and other bones show prominently. That happens in severe anorexia or in forced starvation like in concentration camps in World War 2.

As long as your body has stored fat, it will burn that when there is a calorie deficiency. A smart scale will answer the question of whether you are retaining extra water. I have been surprised sometimes to find that when I thought my weight was up due to water, that the water content of my body was lower than usual.

I thought the same thing! I feel like I should be eating at intervals at least. There have been times when I've eating twice a day with the meals being about 200 calories each. Thank you for the calculator. I'm going to check it out.

One of the hardest things for me post WLS was developing good habits for getting enough fluid. Here are some things that are helping me meet my goal of 2 litres per day.

I alternate hot and cold liquids. Although I know that hot fluids count toward the goal, I tended to avoid them early on because you have to sip them instead of gulping them the way you can with cold liquids. However, I later realised that I actually consume hot liquids at a faster rate! That's because reaching for the cup and taking a sip at regular intervals happens automatically, without my consciously having to think about it. Also, hot liquids don't make me feel "waterlogged" and "sloshy". Compare that with cold liquids, which I have to remind myself to keep drinking. Also, I measured my favourite mugs and was surprised to discover that they hold 500 ml, so that's a quarter of my daily requirement. So now I tend to alternate between hot and cold liquids to avoid boredom.

I start before breakfast. Just thinking about drinking 2 liters per day is intimidating for me. So (and this is brain dead obvious in hindsight), I focus instead of getting in 500 ml before each meal. Drinking 500 ml before breakfast was a game changer; getting a quarter of the way to my goal that early really inspires me to keep at it.

I turn some of my liquids into indulgent "snacks". To decaf coffee I add protein powder, cocoa, cinnamon, and almond flavouring for a decadent "latte". One of the highlights of my day, and I'm killing two birds with one stone: protein and liquids.

I prefer a little acidity in my water. Adding lemon juice is one way. Another thing I do is fill a bottle with water, put an herbal tea bag in it, and stick it in the fridge for a few hours. Effortless ice tea!

For cold liquids, I prefer to bottles with screw-on lids. I drink them more quickly and automatically. I think this is due to years of unconsciously sipping on diet sodas. Liquids in glasses tend to warm up, evaporate, and collect dust more quickly. I have tried using water bottles with flip top lids, but I have found it difficult to develop a habit of drinking automatically from them. I now use those steel double-walled vacuum bottles. They keep drinks cold/hot for ages, and somehow liquids just taste better. Easy to clean, and never develops a funky smell like plastic bottles do.

Use fluids as an appetite suppressant. When I feel "hungry" outside of mealtimes, the first thing I do is drink. That usually makes the "hunger" go away, at least for a while. If it comes back the second time, I have a snack.

If you skip breakfast, try to get in 1.5 litres of fluid before lunch. I'm generally not hungry for breakfast. In fact, I find that breakfast "wakes up" my appetite, so I usually skip it. Drinking most of my fluid before lunch accomplishes several things:

• All that fluid reduces my appetite.
• I've met 75% of my fluid requirements early in the day, so the rest of the day I just drink fluids as desired and am virtually guaranteed to meet my goal.
• If I drink a lot of fluid later in the day, I will have to wake up frequently to pee.
• Drinking that amount of fluid over a relatively short period of time really helps me avoid constipation.