53 pounds down w/pics :) first post

I figured today, my birthday, would be a good day to finally figure out how to post pictures and then share my story. Although I am still about 15 pounds away from my goal, I've come along way and am beginning to be quite happy at my reflection in the mirror.

I wish I had better before pictures to really show my progress, but I avoided the camera like crazy. Plus, my scanner is broken so I can't upload any hard copies. Most of my before/after pics lack clothing and are for my eyes only.

I started at 222 pounds in Jan. 2011









The next two pictures are when I weighed around 190 this summer (just before doing 30 day shred)





The next pictures show where I am now, between 168-172 (169 as of this morning)













I am 29 years old, as of today and 5'7.5''

My goal weight is 155, but I'll see when I get there.

What did I do?
I worked out nearly every.single.day. Food is by far my biggest challenge. I'm an emotional eater and a binge eat, so I still deal with that often. I started two years ago (with the calorie counting/working out method of weight loss) and lost 25, then gained back 10. On Jan. 2012 I started the process back up and have lost the other 43 since then. It has come off slow, but it's come off for good! I never used any diet pills, starvation, or any other stupid way of losing weight. Now don't get me wrong, I've tried all that and more, but those never worked. What works is eating healthy and exercising, one day at a time....

I will have to continue this for the rest of my life, so I am finding what works for me so that I am able to keep this up to keep the weight off and to continue to improve my health.

It feel so good to have accomplished something that I have wanted so bad for so long I can't wait until the process is over and I can start maintaining!