Finally got it together

Sorry for the delay, didn't check the thread in a while. Since a few have asked for story, here goes:

I remember the first time I was made aware of my weight; at some point in 8th or 9th grade, I was skiing with my family. As we're filling out the paperwork for rentals, I put in my weight of 150lbs, and I remember my dad said something like "whoa, 150?". Up until that point, I had never thought about my weight as an issue. Sure I wore "husky" jeans from Walmart through junior high but being a shorter guy I didn't mind the extra bulk.
But my young metabolism must've kept it relatively under control, coupled with marching band and plenty of outdoor activities, because my weight was more or less fine throughout high school, although I remember seeing some 160s (?) at later points, which even then I knew was "overweight" for my height.
My eating habits at the time will surprise no one here; constant snacking throughout the day, no portion control at all. My mom would warn me about my habits and weight occasionally (she has struggled with her weight her whole life) and would apologize for giving me her metabolism and habits, but I still didn't really think it would get the better of me. Started dating a high school crush just after senior year; she had weight issues as well, although her eating habits were much better, some of her weight issues were from PCOS, which she saw as an excuse why she couldn't lose any weight rather than just something she had to compensate for with her lifestyle.
First year of college I didn't do so well; the large campus kept me active, but as other bad habits (procrastination) snowballed out of control, by the time I failed my second semester I basically never left my room except to get food. Entire bags of chips and jars of salsa, constant snacks, 2 dozen chicken wings at a time, etc.
Then I'm back home going to a CC for 2 years; still with the same girl. She was also at the CC, having left her college after a year for financial reasons. We both did ok for those 2 years; I was going to school 4 days a week and working the other 3. This whole time I just felt like "me" and didn't think much about my weight, but I'm sure I was slowly pushing towards 200lbs.
By the time I transferred to a 4-year college, I was 200+. The "freshman 15" was somewhat stymied by all the stairs on this campus, but I still didn't care much about my weight for the first year or so. Eventually when I ended up rooming with a high school friend who was in much better shape, we started going to the campus gym every night together. If I recall, somewhere in 2012-2013 I got down to almost 180lbs, but I wasn't tracking calories or anything and must have been eating way too much still. Constant snacks, tons of beer and junk food, no portion control at meals.
Between summers off, my gym buddy graduating (I was behind due to more, surprise, procrastination), and my relationship going sour in early 2014, I gained back everything I'd lost and then some, probably to about 220lbs.
Later in 2014 I began dating the beautiful redhead you see pictured above (we met at college, both musicians; she, a singer, needed and accompanist, so I, a pianist, obliged...I joke that I'm still her accompanist, just with a great benefits package). Like most of us, she also had a little weight issue, but not nearly as severe as my previous girlfriend. But I had found another food buddy, which is the opposite of a gym buddy. After a year or two of craft beer and takeout together, I was my heaviest at somewhere in the neighborhood of 230-250lbs (and this is on a 5'5'' frame, mind you). Friends I hadn't seen in a while would comment on my weight, my mom's 'warnings' were a little more dire now, and I finally noticed how bad it had gotten. Instead of looking in the mirror and seeing "me" I finally snapped out of it and thought "wow, this is really bad, you gotta do something about this".
So in 2015 I joined MFP and got back in the gym habit; tracked my food, tried to control portions and snack less. Girlfriend and I would walk every chance we got. She finished school before I did (surprise again), and by the time I finished in Spring 2016, I was still around 220lbs. Another summer of desk jobs kept me there, and I fell out of using MFP for a while, coming back in mid-summer still at 225lbs; I started walking again and got down to 210lbs before losing motivation again. Got a job working for my uncle, a truck driver; fell out of using MFP again, but managed to not gain anything until I came back in 2017; tracking everything and eating protein bars rather than chips and snacks kept the road lifestyle from ruining my progress, small as it was. I'd regularly walk 7+miles on my days off when I had nothing better to do at my parents' house; I'd spend my weekends at my girlfriend's apartment, eating whatever I wanted, but we were walking together and I was tracking everything. We both lost 5-10lbs doing, getting me below 200lbs for the first time in 5+ years. I was getting burned out on the road every day and not seeing her, so after 150+ job applications across a 3 month search, I finally landed a good job with a standard schedule. Eating on a regular schedule again caused me to gain back to 210 or so in the beginning of this year before I said "enough" and came back to MFP; we had both joined Planet Fitness but hadn't used it much, so I started using it.
Since being 210lbs in January, I'm down to 145lbs. BMI-wise, "normal" after being considered "obese" for almost 10 years. Went from not being able to run at all, to being able to jog/run 2mi+ and enjoying it.
Spent a few weeks going to the gym every day before work, starting to build some muscle. Ended up getting the 'ammonia sweats' after some high-protein days and 900+cal workouts, so I backed off on the gym after that for a while. I still eat basically whatever I want, but I count it, and once I'm out of calories, that's my day. If I want to eat more, I have to buy it with exercise. If I want a bag of chips, I eat the whole thing and that's my day. Not the most nutritious thing, but a deficit is a deficit.
Now, 5 days a week (workdays) I eat healthy 3 meals, 1500cal + exercise, at least a walk a day. My weekends, I try and at least stay below my maintenance calories (~1900-2000) and make sure to exercise (longer walk, run in the morning, etc.) but I don't fret too much if I go over. I tend to eat relatively low-carb during the week, not on principle, but just as an easy way to skip calories; this can cause an annoying gain of water/glycogen weight as I re-carb on my weekend (I once gained 8lbs in a day) but it comes back off just as quick as it went on.
I weigh in daily so I can see the fluctuations and don't get frustrated by a surprise gain. Taking it easy right now, not exercising very hard, just eating well and still eating 1500cal/day, which is barely below my BMR now. When I was 220lbs it was easy to lose 2+lbs/wk but now it's slowed down, and 1500cal doesn't sustain that kind of loss anymore. So I'm just relaxing for a while, trying to lose the last bit of belly fat so I can then see how much loose skin I'll have to deal with, but the stretch marks are reminders of where I'm never going to let myself go again.
As for my girlfriend, as you can see in the above photos she has lost a few pounds as well, but has a way to go.
I do my best to motivate her lovingly, but she needs to find her own reasons or "turning point" and then she won't need any more motivation than herself, and I'll be happy to help her when the time comes. For now I'm just glad she supports me in my own efforts, which I in turn hope will inspire her to keep working on herself.
I will say she's very happy with my results, which has been great for our relationship. Almost 5 years together and it feels like we're teenagers again.

My thanks to anyone that reads that whole novel above...hopefully it'll inspire, or at least entertain, you as you continue your own efforts. My profile quote when I joined MFP was, and still is, "gotta get in shape while it's easy". Well, on the other side of it now and beginning a lifelong lifestyle of maintenance, I can say it wasn't easy...but it wasn't complicated, either.