Progress, not perfection

I have been snooping around reading so many success stories on here and am amazed by each and every one of them. I am not done with my weight loss journey, but I've been at it 2 years and have seen amazing results so I wanted to share my story until now. My story should start with the fact that up until I was 21 years old, I never had any issues with my weight. I gained and lost a bit in college, but nothing major. When I turned 21, I ended up pregnant with my daughter, unexpectedly. Her father stuck around until i was 8 months pregnant and was never heard from again. it was a difficult pregnancy, i was on and off bed rest for the last 12 weeks and gained 70 pounds during the 9 months. After she was born, I went back to college to finish my teaching degree. When she was 10 months old, I met whom I thought was a wonderful man. Maybe he was wonderful because I wanted to move out of my mothers home. During that time I got back to my pre pregnancy weight and felt great. About a month before I married the supposed man of my dreams, he became increasingly controlling and protective and little warning bells kept going off but I chose to ignore them. Within months of getting married, the fights, name calling, rage and anger started. Within the first year and a half I gained all my weight back and kept it on. My then husband, I started to realize, was, and still is, addicted to pain killers. Stealing them from his family members and mine. When we got to our 2nd anniversary, he didn't even acknowledge the day. I hated my life and thought losing weight would help my marriage. I got on Phentermine, and walked 12 miles daily and spent 2 hours at the gym daily doing cardio, Zumba, and weights. I lost several inches but not a lot of weight.i was working full time as a para professional and part time at the gym to make ends meet and support his drug habit. By the time we were close to year 3, I finally had enough when he threatened to take my daughter (whom he adopted) and I would never see her again. I filed for divorce the next day, then found out I was pregnant from a 1 night stand I had a week before with a coworker from my gym. I am not proud of it, but after trying 2 1/2 years for a child with my ex husband, I kind of saw it as a sign from God that I was doing the right thing in leaving my ex. It was a messy divorce, and my ex made the choice to never see my daughter again. Again, I gained a lot during my pregnancy with my wonderful son. i chose to not let his father know about him. he was taking himself on and off bipolar meds, and threatened to kill me several times. 2 kids and not much income, I struggled to make ends meet, let alone eat healthy. When my son was 18 months old, I met my wonderful dear husband. He, too, had struggled with an abusive ex and marriage. We got engaged after 6 weeks, after 3 months we were married. We will have been together 3 years Labor Day weekend of this year ???? we went for our honeymoon to Las Vegas, at that time I thought I was over weight but by no means obese. I topped the scales at 235 lbs. I struggled walking up stairs, couldn't play with my kids. Our first day in Vegas we walked the entire strip. When I awoke the next morning I could barely move I hurt so bad. My legs, feet, back.........I had never felt that way in my life. We were there 4 days, and what should have been a wonderful weekend was the most miserable time of my life, due to my weight. When we came back, I started on Atkins. I also used my elliptical 7 days a week. I got burned out quickly and just kept with Atkins. I lost 35 pounds the first year and since last August I've lost another 30 pounds!! I REALLY need to tone up, my belly is awful and so are my bat wings. Sorry for such a long story!! I've been stuck at this weight for 10 months, but recently started running. Hoping to lose 30 more pounds and tone up.



Starting weight: 235
Starting pant size: tight 18w
Starting shirt size: 2x or 3x

Current weight: 175 (ish)
Current pant size: 12 or 14
Current shirt size: XL and some L


Here are some pictures:

My husband and I in Vegas at my highest, 235 pounds






Last summer at 195 pounds








Here is one of my starting weight, and me now. Also there is a close up from October of 2011 and July 2013






Sorry, first time using tinypic!! Oops