I would like to welcome you and also extend to you an invitation to the calorie counters group(in the general diet plans category). We reduce our calories from the level we are maintaining our current or start weight. And we also exercise and this in turn is helping a number of us lose weight. I have also started a weigh-in and/or measure-in thread in the Success Stories category. If you ever need any help with anything, feel free to contact me! --or any of us for that matter. Welcome chickie!