One woman has averaged 1 pound a day, but she's got longer to go than some of us. I've lost 7.5 pounds so far in 3.5 weeks. Not bad for someone who was stalled for the better part of a year.

For me it isn't exactly fast, but my metabolism is rotten anyway.

Last week I didn't lose anything but on my free meal day, I lost .5 a pound. Then the next day, today, 1 pound. This is pretty typical for me, whenever I diet to stall out briefly then have a nice dip.

Hmmm... traveling would definitely not be as easy as on Atkins. If you are in a hotel with a fridge, you could haved bagged prewashed greens, pre-cooked chicken. Maybe at breakfast ask for scrambled eggs with only whites? Or perhaps egg-beaters? Hmmm.... at fast food joints salads with chicken, hold the croutons and cheese. Ask for the FF dressing, everyone seems to have it. Or you could just plan to take a break from the diet, go onto maintenance for the duration.

Soup! Yes! I was struck by a craving for soup over the weekend. I did my usual buy frozen stuff, pre-made stock and slapped together a chicken/vegetable soup with large hunks of chicken. I want to try a pureed soup next time.

I also make a lot of saucy chicken and vegetable dishes. Trader Joe's has some really good sauces that are low fat, low calorie. I sautee onions and garlic, add in chicken, cook it, pour the sauce and some assortment of frozen vegetables and let it cook for awhile. Then I eat left overs all week.