Q: My goal was to lose 8 pounds by October 19th, and so far I have lost about 3 of it in two weeks, but last week I sprained both my ankles and my sciatica is really acting up due to my new job so I haven't worked out this week at all. Does that mean I will probably not reach my goal because this past week was dormant?

A: Sorry to hear about your injury problems. The kinds of injuries/aches you have are not to be messed with so you're definitely doing the right thing taking time off gym. Whether you'll meet your goal or not is hard to say. You were certainly on track before the injuries. Metabolic benefits of heavy weight workouts can easily last past one week, so just because you take this week off doesn't mean you'll definitely miss your goal. Also, if you find that sciatica subsides, you should be able to return to gym for at least upper body training. Either you or you doctor will need to make the call as far as lower body training but between sciatica and sprained ankles it's probably wise to take it very slow with lower body.

If you find that you're unable to return to the gym for more than a week, you can cut down your calories slightly -- try to make that change at the expense of carbs. A good way of doing it would be to replace a starchy carb food (rice, potatoes, bread, pasta) with some light veggies in one or two meals. On the whole though, don't worry too much about the exact dates and numbers of pounds (stress is bad when losing fat!) but just get better and do your best with diet and exercise. You may reach your goal by Oct 19 or you might reach it a week or two later -- either way you'll succeed! Good luck!