Three seems to be the magic number.

BEST TRAIL RUNNING  Central Virginia, indeed, has dozens upon dozens of urban, suburban and classic mountain trails that are appropriate for beginning trail runners and ultra runners alike.

Some folks have to be dragged kicking and screaming into an exercise class. Nilou Jones prefers kicking and punching.
The Charlottesville mother of two decided last summer to lose 100 pounds before her husband, Army Sgt. 1st Class Charles Jones, returns from serving in Mosul, Iraq. But the whole time she has been losing weight, she has been gaining - gaining knowledge, experience and a fistful of tools to help her sustain a healthy lifestyle.

Nilou Jones wants to tell her friends what she has gained from meeting with a nutritionist. But every time Jones suggests they try it for themselves, she hears the same refrain - ’tis the season to postpone any precarious new additions to the stack of holiday-season tasks to juggle.
“It’s so interesting. The reaction so many people have about seeing a nutritionist is, ‘It’s not the right time,’ ’’ Jones said, laughing. “But this is the right time.’’

Daily Progress readers have been following along as Jones, a Charlottesville mother of two, decided in July 2005 to change her appearance, her health and her future.
Her initial goal was to lose 100 pounds before her husband, Sgt. 1st Class Charles Jones, came home from Iraq. She began by researching proper nutrition and fitness so she could develop reasonable, safe goals.

Under the giggles and the crisp rattle of gravel, there’s a friendship that can go the distance.
While Nilou Jones pushes her sons Cyrus, almost 4, and Arman, who’s about to turn 2, uphill in their jogging stroller on the Saunders-Monticello Trail, she doesn’t have to go it alone.
Mary de Souza pushes a stroller of her own. Her 4-month-old son, Connor, dozes and the Jones boys start making up cheerful little songs while the mothers pick up the pace for a pleasant but heart-pumping walk.

Nilou Jones lost 66 pounds in her quest to change her life during the first 10 months that her husband, U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Charles Jones, was serving in Iraq.
Now that her husband has seen her new figure, improved energy levels and solid groundwork for a healthy future for their family, she knows she has a new ally in her efforts to keep losing weight - and keep it off.

For football fans glued to today’s NFL divisional championships, waiting to see who’s headed to the Super Bowl, winning by inches can be excruciating.
But for Nilou Jones, more than halfway to her goal of losing 100 pounds before her soldier husband returns from Iraq, winning by inches is exhilarating.

When Nilou Jones pours skim milk on her bowl of high-fiber cereal, it looks like an ordinary breakfast. But under its unassumingly crunchy exterior lie two powerful weapons in Jones’s quest to lose 100 pounds - calcium and fiber.
Jones is determined to lose the weight before her husband, Army Sgt. 1st Class Charles Jones, returns home next spring from serving in Mosul, Iraq. Since starting her self-improvement program in July, she has shed 43 pounds, closing in on the halfway mark.

On the home front, Nilou Jones fought the battle of the binge - and won.

While her husband, Army Sgt. 1st Class Charles Jones, is serving in Mosul, Iraq, Nilou Jones is determined to lose 100 pounds.

She’s about halfway there, thanks to a combination of changing the way she eats and developing a sensible exercise program, in hopes of reaching her goal by her husband’s homecoming in May or June.

Nilou Jones hopes that when her husband, Sgt. 1st Class Charles Jones, returns from Iraq next spring, he’ll be seeing less of her.

A lot less.

The Charlottesville mother of two is determined to lose 100 pounds before her husband, who works in U.S. Army intelligence, returns in late May or early June from his assignment on a transition team in Mosul, Iraq, where he’s advising Iraqi soldiers.

Nilou Jones, a Charlottesville mother of two, has set a goal for herself.

She wants to lose 100 pounds before her soldier husband returns from Iraq next spring, and she’s determined to avoid gimmicks and trends in search of permanent, healthy change.

Behind a billowing sign reading, “Welcome Home from Iraq, Honey,’’ his wife, Nilou Jones, quivered by the front door in a trim linen dress, hoping to surprise him with her 66-pound weight loss.