You are ADORABLE - both before and after, actually. Looking forward to following you on this path. (And if you hadn't mentioned your fortieth birthday party, I would have guessed late twenties!)

Thanks for posting.

WOW -- what a difference a year makes! You look fabulous!!!!

Woah! You are gorgeous! Congratulations on your success!

You look so fantastic and fit! WOW!

You look wonderful---and all in one year! I also have a function that I am striving to lose weight for -next July.
I hope and pray that I can do as well as you have. I started a little heavier than you, but a size 12-14 would make me sooo happy.

Oh Rachel, you are one beautiful lady. I'm sooo happy to finally put a face to your posts. And what a face it is!!!! You are stunning!!! What a wonderful, incredible transformation.

I don't know what it is about the before and afters or before and progress/current pics - but they make me weepy. Yours was no exception. They just get me so darn emotional.

Keep up the great work. I know you will. I just know it.

You look great. And you've come so far so fast!

Wow windy, you look great!!!!!

Congrats on your success and thanks for posting such inspiring pictures.

You look amazing. Congratulations. How did you do it?

You look toned, beautiful, healthy, and happy! Congratulations!

You should be so proud of yourself!

Congratulations! I'm convinced you'll meet your goal! I love all the pictures but I find that the second picture reflects a woman who is empowered. And I really like the little black dress! I'm also wondering how you transformed your body like that!

Yo go girl!!!

Aw shucks, thanks everyone for saying such nice things! To answer the questions of how I've done it, well the second picture is a big clue! I discovered a long distance runner buried deep under layers of fat, and finding an athletic activity that I truly enjoy has been so instrumental to bringing me to where I am today. Even though I know that what I eat has a larger overall calorie impact than exercise, there's been something about running that has really changed my entire mindset toward my body. And it's been unbelievably empowering to find that I can run for long distances - I have 16 miler on tap for tomorrow, a year ago, I could barely make it down the block!

As to the eating part, well, I've approached that by calorie counting. I started logging everything I eat in Fitday, and just that act of writing it all down was a huge eye opener to me.

So, net-net, for me it all has boiled down to eating less and moving more. That plus time has brought me to this place on my journey.

Thanks again to all of you for your nice words of encouragement and support - the 3FC community has been wonderful, and I've learned so much and been inspired so much by the folks who post here. I can only hope to give a little of that back.

Hi Rachel,
Congratulations on your AMAZING accomplishment.

I too, would like to find my inner runner. I am only 15 pounds overweight, but have ALWAYS hated my legs. They are fat, floppy and cellulitey. My question is, were your legs horrid to begin with and you turned them into those lean, muscular legs in #2? Or were your legs pretty decent to begin with and you turned them into awesome?? I see people much more overweight than I with much better looking legs. LOL.

Did you mostly run indoors or out?

You look beautiful!

Thanks.
Michelle