Q: It's 9/21/05 and I weigh 168 lbs. I need to weigh at least 140 lbs. by 12/1/05. How many calories do I need to take in daily to make it happen? And I go to Curves 3 times a week. Is that enough, or should I use my treadmill? or a combination of both, alternating?

A: You're trying to lose too much weight too fast. You only have about 10 weeks and trying to lose 28 pounds -- that's just too fast. What happens when you lose weight this fast is instead of losing fat your body starts burning muscle for energy. The result is that you lose maybe half fat and half muscle. That may not sound so bad but all that lost muscle, in combination with a restrictive diet, will absolutely kill your metabolism and almost guarantee that the fat will come back. This is by far the biggest reason why all the various fad diets fail!

So my advice to you is to adjust your expectations to a healthy weight loss phase which is about 1 pound/week. If you lose at this slow steady pace and do weight training at the same time, you can be sure that you'll be losing actual fat and not muscle. Such changes will be sustainable and lasting. So aim to lose no more than 15 pounds in these 10 weeks.

About your routine -- Curves is a good starting point for a beginner, but you can certainly do better, both in exercise and in the diet approach. I recommend you read through my Nutrition and Weight Training articles in http://www.mikesfitness.com/content/lists/articles and also fill out the Fitness Guide there (specify 'Lose Fat' as your goal) to learn how to maximize both your diet and your training. In the meanwhile you can continue doing Curves, but as you learn more you'll probably want to consider changing up both your training program and your diet for maximum results. In either case, however, remember that fast weight loss is an illusion that doesn't last. Aim for slow steady 1 pound/week progress if you want it to last. Good luck!