If you know you need a healthier lifestyle but you have no idea where to start, then these tips for starting out will really get you going. These women made a healthy commitment to diet and fitness, and they have only good things to say about their new bodies!

76 Pounds and Counting

April 1999, I was 110 pounds overweight. I was killing my body, and I was only 25 years old. So I began reading everything I could find on health, fitness, exercise, diet and overall well-being. I began incorporating all of the things I had learned (and could live with) into my life. I then started walking about 30 minutes a day, as fast as I could comfortably walk without panting, and began eating much smaller portions of my old favorites. It worked, and by August of that same year I had lost 45 pounds.

I hit a plateau around that time and knew I had to make some changes to my program. I no longer craved or ate most of the food I used to call my favorites, and I invested in a cookbook that centered primarily on vegetarian meals. I tried most of the recipes in that book and found that these meals satisfied me without making me feel so "heavy" afterwards. I found that by slowly adding healthy items to my diet, I never feel deprived. I eat vegetarian-style food about three times a week and have continued to work out four to five mornings a week since I began in April. I even started weight training about two months ago, and my body has already begun taking on a new shape.