I'm certainly not a size 8, more like a 16 and only recently a size 20. Studying the eating habits of thin people has convinced me that they do in fact eat less. I went to a diabetic support group last week and a woman complained that her dietician told her she could eat only 12 grapes at a time. She said it couldn't be done. Of course it can, and my skinny friends would be quite likely to say "12 grapes! Who could eat that many?" Still, I am surprised that you could gain weight on the diet your described. Do you exercise? I eat low carb, but really very high fat because I inhale nuts and cheese and still I am losing weight, but I have had to give up my life-long devotion to being a couch potato. As a diabetic, I have to exercise after a meal so that the fuel I have taken on can be used by both my brain and body rather than being stored as fat.

I don't exercise much - 30 minutes at Curves 2 to 3 times a week - that's it. I'm not gaining weight at this point, but maintaining. If I eat just a bit more or eat badly (family get-togethers where I overindulge) I will gain weight quite rapidly.

Just 8 years ago I ate much more and was in a size 10/12. I did smoke then, but didn't exercise at all. Age has definatly thrown me a curve.

I had a thin friend who ate maybe a bit less than me, but she always something sweet for breakfast (doughnut or ding-dong) and snacked on candy all day. There's gotta be more to it than calories in and calories out.

Lydia, I'm a size 16/18 and also tall. It doesn't look as though your daily diet would contain more than 1500 calories. I could lose quickly on your diet. Once you get to where you want to be, just add in something you really like, but don't overdo it. If you start to gain again, you'll know you have to adjust your intake down. I think it's important to weigh regularly, though not necessarily every day.

Just some ideas:

My husband was on 1800 calories and not losing, then he tried 1/4 tsp cinnamon a day and started to lose 1 lb per day. There is good research out there about the benefits of cinnamon for sugar balance and metabolism, and it's on the internet if you google it.

Are you getting the right nutrition? I mean, I know you eat extremely well, but as we age, small imbalances can have a greater impact, and maybe there's a mineral or something that you need more of. Even if you eat organic, it can be hard with our soil depletion to get enough of what we need.

I know you do Curves, but do you believe you are losing muscle mass? Maybe CLA or something would help?

Do you eat the same things? Sometimes I get too much in a routine and my weight loss stalls because my body really wants other things that it's not getting. I may walk around the supermarket and see what "jumps out at me".

Have you had any surgery or pharmaceuticals that would be changing your endocrine balance? My mom had to have her medication changed because the hormone balance was making her fat, but she had to see the endocrinologist, not just the internist.

Hope this helps....

Take care!!!