Thanks for the feedback...we really do appreciate it.

I've been mentoring here since March '02 and I have seen a very wide range of experiences with regard to calories, as have the other mentors. I think that, in general, we here agree on a protocol something like this:

1) Start out by not counting calories, just carbs. This makes it easier to get started on the diet and most people are SICK of counting calories. Most times the calories are self-regulating and this works fine. If weight loss stalls for 4+ weeks we then suggest
2) Keeping calories to 10-12x bodyweight. If they stall again,
3) Consider their activity level and if it is rather high, suggest increasing calories/fat. If that doesn't work
4) Especially for peri-menopausal/menopausal women, consider decreasing calories to 10x IDEAL bodyweight

The problem is that there are ALWAYS exceptions to these guidelines.... maybe as many as 1 in 5 or 10....whose bodies, for whatever reason, just don't respond the same as most others. But we have to distribute advice based on our experiences and the experiences of the thousands of others who have come before us. We dispense this advice because it WORKS for most people. We regret that the advice you read here and elsewhere didn't work for you, but that doesn't mean the advice was necessarily "bad", you see? I would imagine that having twins could easily wreak havoc with one's hormonal system and it could take up to a year to recover from it fully. That alone could explain your difficulty with losing weight. Be patient, enjoy your babies and just keep tweaking!! You'll get down to your ideal weight eventually.