9 lbs since July 16 is excellent! Whatever you are doing is working. Congratulations! It will probably take awhile for you to really notice the weight loss, though. It takes our minds more time to catch up than we expect.

The key to success is to make this a way of life that works for you. If you simply eat salads all day and expect to go back to your old routines once you are at goal, then you risk putting the weight back on. Take this time while you are losing to learn new eating habits and find what works best for you. A latte once a week is maybe a little more reasonable then every day or every other day. Maybe use this to convince Dunkin Donuts to come up with some low carb items on their menu. I wonder if they are losing too many customers yet.

Ok, this ones a little silly, but it works for me... how tight are your undies? I can really tell when I'm losing because the undies start feeling looser.

Good luck with your continued success!