Seeing Emily and James close in on losing 40 pounds each is proof that major gains (in losses) can happen very quickly.

Fast forward a year. If they stay on this pace, by this time next year, they will be unrecognizable!

Take Emily. There she is above, holding the amount of weight she's lost. If she continues this way, losing more than 10 pounds per month, she will be beyond any dream or goal that she set for herself at the beginning of Dare to Lose.

Here's what she had to say about the beginning of her journey.

During my first few work outs, I could barely do about ten minutes on the elliptical machine and then would have to take a break, and then I would get back on and do another ten minutes until I finally reached my 30 minute goal. Every muscle in my body hurt but I knew I had to keep going.  Now seven weeks later I can do at least one hour of non-stop cardio on the elliptical! In fact, some days I now consider that my warm-up!

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Then there is James (pictured at right, next to Matt in the center and Ken on the left). He and I have found we have a lot in common through this program. One of those things, apparently, is a steely determination. When he decided he was going to do this, he obviously meant it, because he's been dropping weight at a similar rate to Emily.

He was down more than 30 pounds at last check. An athletic, musical, active guy, James let himself go for awhile, and went up to 250 pounds. Here's what he had to say about it.

When the opportunity arose to participate in the “Dare To Lose” competition, it couldn’t have come at a better time. All the bad habits, the inability to lose weight, the fact that I was still eating just as poorly I ever did, not being a good example for my son with Diabetes.. all of these things I thought about when I looked in the mirror – all came to the surface – and for real this time. This is the time to change! I have been given all the tools to be successful – gym membership, personal trainers, a nutritionist, and even a wellness coach. This is the chance that I have been waiting for and I will make the most of it! Thank you for listening to my story and thank you to Miramont Lifestyle Fitness, 99.9 the Point and Tri 102.5 for making this all possible!

Now, when I see James with a smile, I can tell that he's proud that he is setting a better example and is feeling better for himself as well.

To think that all this took less than three months! That's the amazing thing about progress. They had to make a decision and find something to which they could be accountable, but after that, it's like a blink of an eye since when they started making these major changes and when they started feeling, seeing and really experiencing better results. The time between now and this time next year will feel like a blink of an eye as well, so if you have been thinking about starting, now is the time! Today is the day!

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