Jeanne48, I think you hit the nail on the head - I like feeling "human" as you put it. For me, it was more that I want this to be a "natural" weight loss, taking in good healthy food with as few supplements as I could. I decided that the best way for me to is to eat now as I mean to for the rest of my life.

I determined my calorie limit by creating a new account at fitday.com and entering the my goal weight as the current weight. I actually tried several weights (15-20 pounds above and below) to find the amount of calories that would be needed to sustain my lifestyle. I've never been at my goal weight, so am not really sure where it is. Based on fitday's calculations, I should average around 2000 calories.

I'm still trying to figure out the right amounts of fat, carbs & protein that make sense for my goal weight. I've searched the net for the last couple of days and can't find any stats. I know there are plenty of skinny people out there who maintain their weight naturally. I just can't find any records that show it. [I would just love to see some reports out of that fitday.com database!]

Nawchem, I'm losing at 100 carbs, but then as baconbabe suggested, it's probably the lowered calorie count that is causing my weight loss. 72 carbs might be a better target - I've read on here that a lot of folks use 60 as a guideline.

Regarding your comment on temptation, I figure that it is going to be something that is in my life for the rest of my life. So I need to learn to live with it. I'm trying to balance, so that if I want to have a wicked dessert, then I just don't eat any other high carb foods for the day. But you are right, if I was the type of person who binged on high carb foods, then this would not work for me. I am a binger when it comes to chocolate and cookies, so I'm trying to avoid those 2 items. I used to buy a package of cookies at the store and they would be gone in 2-3 days. I can't do that anymore and maintain my health!!!