": "Even if you have 20 pounds to lose, lose it now before it turns into 100. It's doable.""

" Toast and cottage cheese. "I always have eaten a light breakfast," she said. "I'd start out eating healthy, but by noon ..." Snacks before lunch were sweets, mainly cookies and chocolate candy. "And if they had donuts at the office ...""

" Fast food with co-workers. She select high-calorie menu items; for example, the chicken pot pie at a franchise chicken restaurant. "And they served such large portions.""

"Mostly restaurants with her partner. Mexican food was her favorite, and that included several tacos, sodas and the side orders."

" Usually the salad bar. "I'm on a first-name basis with the salad bar at Dierbergs." Or, she'll have a package of tuna and low-fat cheese."

" Chicken or homemade pizza with low-fat cheese and turkey pepperoni, as well as fresh vegetables for the topping."

" When Marielle Chenault's weight kept her from having fun with friends, she knew it was time for a big change."

" Two years ago, Marielle Chenault found herself unhappy with her life. From 1994 to 2004, her weight climbed past 300 pounds. She'd endured a flat relationship for that same decade. She blames that and the boredom for her weight gain."

" The relationship wasn't abusive. It's just that the only thing she and the man had in common were food and the comfort zone it helped to form."

" They both liked restaurants - not particularly upscale restaurants, but those that sold flavor at the expense of nutrition. They both felt satisfied to have dinner and then watch television."

" The relationship dulled her previously good habits. She had been active. She liked playing in the water. She liked bicycling and walking."

" Now, fun was fast food, sugary snacks at work, and an evening in front of the tube with meals that came from restaurants, packages and boxes."

" Her own figure worked against her. At 6 feet, her weight gain didn't show, even when she went from less than 170 pounds past 200 pounds."

" "Every day I thought, 'OK, I'm going to start my diet,'" Chenault recalls. "I started Weight Watchers so many times.""

" But the pounds accumulated ounce by ounce. "I'm not sure how this happened," she said. "I kept saying, 'Tomorrow, I'll lose it tomorrow.' And I didn't.""

" It wasn't so much that she was unhappy with the relationship. It was worse. She was unhappy with herself."

" Chenault's aha moment came in May 2004. A group of her girlfriends decided to go canoeing."

" "I couldn't do that. I didn't want to be seen in swimsuit," she said. "I'd sit on one end of the canoe and the girl in front would be out of the water - if they could find (a canoe) I could fit."

" That was the end of her being too overweight to feel good about herself. She had to change her eating habits and her activity habits."

" "I probably just walked about 20 minutes, and I thought that was a marathon," she said. "I was so proud of myself.""

" Chenault had seen an ad for a fitness boot camp at the Webster Groves Recreation Complex. However, she felt too large to attend. So she waited until after she'd dropped that first 50."

" That happened by September 2004, so she signed up for the camp, a rigorous one-hour regimen during which the trainer treats the group like a Marine drill sergeant treats recruits."

" "I was the heaviest person in there; I almost walked out," she recalls. "But I said, 'This is something you want to do; it's something you've got to do.'""

" The group meets about 6 a.m. Participants do traditional exercises - jumping jacks, push-ups, running, stretching and so forth - an hour a day, four days
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