you could do 5 pounds a week but you have to be really good. go with a low calorie diet but add tons of exersize with it so that you burn off a lot more each day then you eat. you have to burn off 2500 calories more everyday to lose 5 pounds a weeks but remember that you are burning calories every mintue even when you're not doing anything and if you do intense aerobics like taebo- which is awesome!- YOU'LL BURN A LOT OF CALORIES. GO TO WWW.CALORIESPERHOUR.COM it's really great help. keep all that motivation with you always becasue what you wrote was wonderful motivation. also- don't quit just becasue you have a bad day- set yourself up for a bad day here and there so you don't lose that motivation and control over yourself. good luck!