Lissa........I lost 75 pounds counting calories........ I did it in less than a year. It became sort of a game, trying to see what I could eat for the calories I had left. For a long time, I kept it to 1500 calories a day. I used the web site
www.fitday.com to keep track of them.
I did Curves for quite a while, but now am using a gym, but I did not notice any progress until I started watching the calories.
Good luck, I know this is a very difficult battle.
Lori