1 lb left until I am at maintanence. Mel, Meg, I NEED YOU!!!!

Good morning and GREAT JOB!!!! I just watched your slide show, and your success is so impressive! Congrats!

Libby that's fantastic! Congratulations and way to go!!!

Libby what how many calories do you average each day? I am a 5'5 and weigh 150 my goal is 125. I haven't started an exercise program yet. I want to get my eating in control then move on to exercise. You are such motivation!!!

What an awesome inspiration you are to those of us just starting out. Congratulations, you know that the one pound is going to drop. The things that you did to get you to this point are the things that will keep you there. I followed several of your links and hope to use them in my journey. I hope you keep posting after the one pound to encourage the rest of us.

When I first started I averaged between 1200 and 1500 calories a day. About 4 months ago I moved to 1400 - 1650 calories a day and I've been averaging that amount ever since. I make sure I have a deficit of at least 500 calories a day between calories and exercise. I need to eventually increase my calories to just over 2000 a day once I'm in maintenance. And frankly, it scares me. But I'm sure I'll do ok. I'm so used to weight loss mode, that it's become my comfort zone. But like the original challenge, I will have to master this one as well.

I did this for almost 3 months in the beginning without a fitness routine. I did get some results, but it was amazing how much faster it all fell into place once I incorporated cardio and strength training. Strength training is as important if not more so than cardio. Reason being, building lean muscle allows our bodies to burn fat 50 times faster than with just cardio alone. And it allows us to burn calories even when we are NOT doing cardio. Throughout our day. Believe it. I am proof. I lost 9 1/2 inches after the first 2 weeks I started strength training and have lost 64 inches of fat to date. That's more inches than I have in height.

Getting your eating in control is important, but looking back, the reason for me not starting a fitness regime immediately, was fear. And in retrospect, I should have dug right in. Who knows where I'd be right now if I had that 3 month head start? Fitness needs to be part of all of our routines. Not just during weight loss. This whole experience has taught me that eating well, as healthy as possible and moving as much as I can, will keep me healthy, drastically cut my risk of horrible diseases and possibly allow me to change my family history for my children.

Even if you just walk 30 mins a day and do some work with a resistance band 3 times a week, it would benefit you so much in the long run. Besides, you don't have to eat as few calories with exercise as you would without it to lose weight. So it's a win win! You can eat more with exercise...YAY!!

Best of luck to you and I'm honored to be a motivation to you.

Go! Go! Go!!!!

Thank you so much for your reply. It was very sweet to take so much time and detail.

I just saw your pics...you look amazing! Congratulations!

Wow! Oh, how amazing it must feel to know there's only ONE pound let to go! I've watched your slideshow a couple of times and I think it is an amazing transformation. I'm rooting for you to lose that last pound! You deserve the satisfaction of reaching your goal!!!

Ninepaw, you are so sweet! Congrats on your recent weight loss as well. EVERY bit helps, believe me! Thanks for the kudos.

Thats awesome

WOW. You look fantastic.

Hello Everyone,

Libby, you are an inspiration. How did you stay in the right frame of mind. I just completed week 1 and down 3 lbs. I hope my scale is correct. I just hope i can keep it up. It is now 10:14pm and I am so hungry. I am so scared to eat anything. I might start binging.

Someone please tell me how do you get the thing on the weight tracker to move. I want to show my little 3 lbs lost.

You look fantastic in your slide show great job!