I seem to run into this situation fairly frequently as I'm sure most of you do as well: When I have a good starting hand, raise preflop (anything from KQ to AJ, AQ, AK, JJ-AA etc)

and THEN a less-than-favourable flop comes along, such as rags or pairing up with a higher overcard on board.

For example, raise 2-3x preflop with AJ and then the flop is JKx - I'm early position and want to keep showing strength, i've run into too many problems betting the pot at this time, but checking isn't an option either really?

Or if you have a high pocket pair and you get rags, or one over card (say JJ and a Q flops) - whats the best way to bet here if you raised preflop?