Near the end, I got tired of the pace of the last few pounds, and I made a deliberate push to get to goal. I didn't actually count calories, but I kept them in mind, watched portion size, and generally "tightened up" my carb consumption. (I didn't go through the steps -- my carb count was pretty much the same from start to finish.) Whenever I felt like I was bogging down, I made extra sure to drink lots of water. That really seemed to help.