By Ashley Thompson

Melissa from Shadyside, Ohio, has struggled with her weight and binge-eating since her husband committed suicide when suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after serving in Afghanistan. When her one of her two sons was also diagnosed with PTSD Melissa found herself 100 pounds heavier, weighing over 300 pounds. Five years later Melissa decided to turn her life around and contacted Chris and Heidi for help... feeling a kinship to Heidi for also being a working mother. Tonight we see Heidi take the reigns for the first time.

Heidi gives Melissa her first goal of losing 76 pounds in the first 90 days, putting her down to 225 pounds. But after barely getting through her first workout, Chris isn't convinced Melissa will make it through this challenge. However, Melissa goes over the goal and loses 79 pounds, bringing her down to weighting 222. Now Heidi wants Melissa to participate in a 10 mile run, and Melissa is extremely apprehensive. Although Heidi can't run with her due to pregnancy, Chris shows up for support and the community rallies around her. "I had to do it, to heal", says Melissa.

Complete with a home gym courtesy of Chris and Heidi, Melissa now has all the tools to continue her weight loss at home. Also being given a trip for her family to New Zealand, Melissa now needs to prove she can get to her Phase II goal of losing 40 more pounds. And he nails it hitting her goal of getting down to 182 pounds! Melissa's New Zealand challenge is to climb the Sky Tower in less than 20 minutes, knowing it takes the average tourist around 30 minutes to complete. But Melissa's determination brings her in at 12 minutes and 40 seconds. Her next goal is to get down to 165 pounds.

Unfortunately when we see Melissa next she has lost only 5 pounds in three months. Disappointed, Melissa expects to hear bad news from the doctor but he assures her that even though she could stand to lose a bit more, she is still a good candidate for the skin removal surgery.

By the end of her journey Melissa has lost a total of 142 pounds in one year... bringing her total weight from 301 pounds to 159 pounds. Beating her final goal of weighing in at 165 pounds.

Photo courtesy of ABC