Halfway to goal - my story with a lot of photos

I've wanted to post my progress photos for a little while now, but I was always too nervous. Now that I'm halfway to my goal weight and I can definitely see the difference in my body, I feel that some feedback will give me just the push that I need to reach my goal.

I've always been muscular, and was really involved with track and field/running in high school. In the 10th grade, I tore all the ligaments in my right ankle and broke pieces of my ankle bone off. I had surgery to repair the ligaments and remove the bone fragment and was advised not to do track anymore. After that, I did what I could to stay active, but I gained a bit of weight and curves. My husband and I got married shortly after high school and I put on a few more pounds of newlywed weight. I fluctuated between 155 and 165 pounds.



Fast forward to a few years ago when I got pregnant. With that came morning sickness, (which was all day sickness, actually) and it stuck for my entire pregnancy. I lost around 20lbs in the first trimester because I was so sick and couldn't keep anything down.
I finally put on some weight in the third trimester and I ended my pregnancy weighing around 175lbs. Aside from my massive belly, I felt so tiny. I was the thinnest that I'd been since high school.



After I had my son, (and I could finally eat again without being sick) I quickly put the weight I'd lost back on and then some. I stopped weighing myself when I was 185lbs, but I'm pretty sure that I made it up to 195lbs or so.



My wake-up call came when I saw our family pictures that were taken in October 2010. Though the photos were absolutely beautiful, I didn't recognize the woman who was holding my baby, and standing next to my husband. I looked at the photos and saw an overweight, unhealthy woman and it shocked me. How could I let myself get that big?!



It was then that I decided to turn things around. I lost 5-10lbs, (again, I wasn't sure how much I weighed at my heaviest) before I discovered MFP in March. Here are my March 2011 and July 2011 photos to compare:



I'm down about 25lbs pounds since I started this journey to get back to a healthy weight, and 17lbs since I started with MFP. I feel SO much better about myself and for the first time in the long time, I feel proud of my body instead of feeling ashamed of it.



As of this morning, I weigh 166lbs and my goal weight is 150lbs. I'm sure that once I'm there, I'll reassess and decide to keep going.
Thank you (especially to my MFP friends) for your support and encouragement. I definitely wouldn't have been able to do this without you! I'm looking forward to the 2nd half of this journey and posting pics again when I'm at my goal weight!