Success stories and advice would be greatly appreciated

The before pic was summer 2013, the after pic was March 2015. I lost some weight from 2013-2014 by simply buying less unhealthy food at the store so that I wouldn't be tempted. But it wasn't until September of 2015 that I started counting calories. I started watching what I ate and realizing that food is a necessity and not something to constantly indulge in because the flavors are good. So many healthy foods are so delicious and make you feel better than eating something smaller that's so high in fats and sugar. I've been drinking a lot of lemon water and green tea to help my metabolism run well Also I've been doing ab workouts 4-5x per week, leg workouts 3-4x per week and I recently started jogging as well.