With 2 lbs. to go, this may be slightly premature...

I'm nearly at my goal, and am feeling pretty confident, so here goes...
Ever since my first child was born in 2001, I have tried to "get into shape" with no progress every being made. I'd start some exercise regime based on the things I remembered doing in high school for our sports conditioning, and be gung-ho for a few days. Then, I'd start getting bored and discouraged because I didn't feel like it was working at all. 3 days ought to be long enough to see some progress, right? LOL
My first pic is from 3 1/2 months after my youngest child was born in 2009. This was not really the start to my weight loss journey, but it's the most comparable picture to how I looked when I started in December of 2012. (I have 3 years of pictures of my kids and hubby, with an occasional shot of me behind a table or behind some children.)
My sweet husband bought me a Wii Fit Plus for Christmas that year (Don't worry...I ASKED him for it!) I knew it was supposed to be a fun way to keep accountable, and I had 5 children to play and compete with. I started out with Wii Fit Cycling.
Right after Christmas, I decided to give up pop, except for an occasional treat. After a couple of weeks, I heard about MFP and joined. I started tracking my food, and was amazed at how much I had been consuming. I started working at a balanced diet, filled with veggies and water. It took about a month for me to see any progress, but it WAS progress! I logged diligently for about 6 months, and lost 35 lbs.! By that time, all my "friends" had fizzled out and I thought I had a good handle on everything, even though I was still 12 lbs. away from my goal of 155 (my weight before I got pregnant with my first child). I was active throughout the summer of 2013 and by October, I had dropped to 163! Then, the weather turned cooler, the holidays came, and we had some long-term houseguests. Exercise went out the window, higher calorie dinners came into play, and a lot fewer fresh veggies. (I did keep the water going!)
I put on 9 lbs by March 2014, and was back up to 172. At that point, I got back on track with MFP. I went searching for friends in the forums, and built a supportive network for myself. I learned a LOT from some who had logging streaks over a year long, and also from some just starting out! Most of my friends and I have open diaries, and we can comment on each others days without offense...we're keeping accountable for our choices. :-)
As far as fitness, I don't use the Wii Fit much anymore other than to track my weight. I was riding my bicycle or walking consistently this summer, along with some of Jillian Michaels' videos on Youtube (until they all got scrubbed-thankfully, some are available on Amazon Prime!) My longest ride ever was 20 miles in 80 minutes!
I did take about 6 weeks off from exercise, simply because I was too busy with our new homeschooling year to get it in. This past week, I have been able to get some in and am aiming for at least 2 days a week, but building back up to 5.

Height: 5'8"
SW: 202 lbs.
CW: 157 lbs.
GW: 155 lbs. -This is a soft goal. I'm working on firming up and am looking more at the way I look and feel than a number on the scale.
I hope my story encourages somebody! I love looking through the success stories.