DR. WALLACE: I've been dating a guy who I've known for a while was into illegal things. It's always bothered me, but somehow I was able to look the other way and try to ignore his misdeeds even though I knew that's where he got his money.

The worst possible thing happened recently: He got arrested, with me in the car along with two of his accomplice friends. Long story short, he and his friends went to jail, and the authorities are not sure yet if they believe me when I tell them I was not involved with whatever he was doing that was illegal.

I was accepted to college and had planned to start in the fall. But now my father is telling me that he's no longer going to pay for my books and tuition for my first year of college. His justification is that I betrayed his trust by hanging out with a criminal.

I now fully realize the error of my ways, and I have a lot of remorse over what happened. My attorney tells me that there will likely be no charges made against me since I was truly unaware of anything specific and that I'll be free to go on with my life, but even she warned me to take better care of myself by not putting myself in that type of situation ever again.

I've apologized to everyone I can think of, and I broke up with this guy forever. I'd like to make a fresh start, but I need my father's help to do so as I don't have enough time to earn the money I'd need for my first year in college in September. What can I possibly do about this? — Won't Ever Repeat My Mistake, via email

WON'T EVER REPEAT MY MISTAKE: Apologize sincerely to your father again and ask him for a second chance. Offer to repay him if he would be kind enough to allow you those same funds so that you can attend the college you were accepted to this fall.

Also mention to him that you'll be very careful of who you associate with in the future, and that if he is ever uncomfortable with you again in the future, he can of course withdraw his "loans" to you.

Tell him you'll work hard to earn back his trust and that you'll do a bit of part-time work next fall to repay some of the loan as you go forward. You can also improve your odds of having him reestablish his willingness to fund you by working as much as you can this summer to save up for college on your own. This type of proactive initiative is likely to melt his current frosty demeanor when it comes to pulling the college rug out from under you.

MY WEIGHT LOSS PLAN SEEMS TO HAVE STOPPED WORKING

DR. WALLACE: I set a goal to lose a certain amount of weight by summer as I want to wear a two-piece bathing suit at some outings my friends and I have planned.

I've been eating better, exercising and even practicing reasonable portion control. For the first six weeks, I made great progress towards my goal, but now it seems I've almost stalled out completely. I say "almost" since I have lost just a small bit of weight per week — but nothing like the very positive numbers I was racking up several weeks ago.

Now it feels like no matter what I do, I won't be able to lose the rest of the weight I need to drop in time for summer. Part of me wants to just give up and eat what I want and just let my plans go. Some things are not meant to be, right? — Frustrated To Be Stalled, via email

FRUSTRATED TO BE STALLED: Don't give up just yet! What you are going through is quite normal, as many people trying to lose some unwanted weight have bigger losses earlier in their new regime. The "stalling" you mentioned is a natural slowing, but your own letter notes that you are still losing a very small amount per week. Keep at it!

Don't do anything rash, and don't give up. Keep up with your exercises and even very gradually seek to increase your endurance in that area. Also keep eating well and keep your portions in line. Remember, even a 1 pound loss of weight per week puts a person to lose over 50 pounds a year!

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at [email protected]. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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