Cholesterol: Frankly, I don't worry about that any more. The "old" paranoia about high cholesterol was faulty, in my opinion, and so many doctors are still behind the curve on this. My cholesterol is always through the roof, BUT....at least I have a progressive enough doctor who says that since my HDL is quite high (last time it was 85) and my triglycerides are fine, even though my LDL was high at 257, I requested that she do the VAP cholesterol test, which tests to find out the particle type. Small dense particles are not good as those pile up and create plaque and clog arteries...small dense particles form when you eat a lot of sugar and starches. Large fluffy particles are great because they move thru the arteries and bounce around and DON'T create clogs. So the VAP test showed my particles are the big fluffy type, and once my doctor saw that, she relented on the statins, which I refuse to take. But that insistence on statins come from doctors who don't understand the principles behind low carb/high fat eating. Amazingly, few of them seem to understand it all and they are still operating from out of date information from decades ago. Also, when you eat low carb and high fat, your HDL goes up (a good thing), as yours has done. So higher HDL will contribute to higher overall cholesterol. Duh! I suggest you get the VAP test for particle type to set your mind at rest. You might have to pay extra for it, but it's not all that much $$.

Weight gain: Here's the fact of it: Assuming you are eating just as you should, which from your description you appear to be doing, your "gain" of 2 lbs is WATER WATER WATER!!! Any of us can and do fluctuate in water levels on a daily basis. I myself can still go up 1.5 lbs literally overnight. It has to do with foods you eat, salt content, your dehydration levels (if you aren't adequately hydrated your body will tend to retain more water, and hence, weight can go up). I weigh myself every single morning and I go up one day, down the next. I spend more time than I'd like at every single pound I reach. I was recently in a 3.5 week "stall" of sorts where I just bobbed around in a 2 lb range of weights, yet I was doing everything exactly right with no cheats, and I also did a few 24 hour fasts along with my daily 14-16 hour fast between dinner and breakfast each day. Amazingly, after several of the 24 hour fasts my weight went UP the next day!!! After these often lengthy pauses in weight loss, I'll go down a bit more (rarely more than a half to one pound now), then there will be another long pause at one weight (together with the inevitable bobbing up and down). Weight never seems to keep continuously dropping as you "diet". In fact, I think it's a virtual impossibility.

What I've learned is that the human body puts up quite a fight to NOT lose weight. Weight is put on far easier than it comes off. And this makes sense, because otherwise the human race could die out too easily. You have fat cells full of stored fat, and when you burn off that fat the cell fills up with "placeholder" water in an attempt to maintain the status quo. After a time, the cell will release that water and it becomes rather like a deflated balloon, and that's when you'll drop some scale weight. You already lost the fat in that cell (a great thing), but the water has to flush out of it before you see the actual weight loss. And remember....that deflated fat cell never goes away, it's sitting there for life, just waiting for you to pig out again and fill it up with fat. This whole process is how people can report they have lost inches but not scale weight. You said your belly is flatter...so there you go, that has happened with you.

I used to make myself crazy with the scales, but to desensitize myself AND to understand what was really going on, I weigh myself daily, and there was a period of time when I weighed myself morning and evening as a test. I saw that I was capable of going up 1 to 2 lbs just between morning and evening. Was that a "real" weight gain? NO NO NO, it was not, it was water fluctuations. So I just picked a convenient time...for me it was after getting up in the morning, same time every day, and that's my "weight marker" for the day. SO....your 2 lb gain is a big nothing, don't let it worry you. Weight at any given time is just a momentary snapshot, so what you look for is a trend over time. Another thing: Your weight will be different on different scales. So you'll weigh differently on the doctor's scales. Just use your "base" scales to watch the trend, and don't fret over these other weight changes.

Exercise: I have lost a lot of weight without any exercise...just because it worked out that way this time. I love exercise for how good it makes me feel, but I'm often sporadic about it. I'm at a point similar to you right now, where I'm being totally "on plan" with no cheats, all is good in how I feel, but it's the devil losing any more pounds. I just keep getting stuck at one weight for ages and ages. I'm busy with work etc. right now and can't get to the gym, but soon I will be going back to the gym to "shake things up" a bit and burn more calories. My past experience has shown that doing SOME exercise...I especially like HIIT (high intensity intervals) on the elliptical at the gym works quite well to get weight loss moving downward again. It's about doing something a little bit different and changing your energy expenditures from what you had been doing. I feel fairly confident I can get my weight loss moving more quickly once I can get in some regular exercise.

I hate to see you feel discouraged and give up. You're in a GREAT place, you've just got to be very patient and keep being consistent with what you eat. Give this enough time to happen. You didn't put your excess pounds on quickly, don't expect them to come off quickly. Weight loss is rarely if ever as fast as we want it to be. Also, this is about changing your eating habits because what I've realized is that I can never again eat like I used to, not if I want to maintain my weight loss. It's a different way of life. But being the weight I want to be, fitting into my clothes, feeling good and having tons of energy and no stomach aches etc., that's worth so much more than letting food (especially sugar) control me as it did in the past. Ultimately, this is a mind game that you must win so that you keep your expectations realistic and don't allow yourself to get discouraged and quit before your goal. You WILL get there, but perhaps it will take longer than you want. Also, if you do give up, you can be fairly certain what will happen every time you step on those pesky scales!

I think you are doing fantastic...KEEP IT UP! Keep on keeping on, as they say! You'll get there!