Photo journey...weight loss, weight gain, motivation? Part 1

I have struggled with my weight off and on ever since I got pregnant with Autumn.  When I was in highschool and even before, I was thin and pretty, and I can prove it, lol.  Here is a pic!:  

 This was me on my prom night, I was 18, and having fun!

 Please ignore the dude behind me...he is NOT my husband.

 I'm pretty sure I was 16 in this picture...cute huh?

So then, what happened?  I met Paul, married Paul, had Autumn, and I did lose weight initially, but I didn't lose it all.  I was around 140 when I met Paul, had Autumn, lost some weight, and was around 160.  Then he came home from Korea, we moved far away from my family (which was incredibly new to me, I'd never lived away from them before), and he had to go to some training in Georgia.  I was left with a daughter, a town house, and I wanted to find a job.  So I managed the job part, I took care of my little girl.  I did what I needed to.  I think the loneliness caused me to want to eat, so I did, and I got up to 190.  He came home, and left a few months later on deployment.  I started working out, and trying to eat better, but I didn't know anything about anything at that time, so I was just eating salads, no matter the dressing, no matter the workouts.  I just was doing what I thought was good.  It wasn't.  He came home from Iraq a few months later, and I hadn't dropped any weight.  I was so excited to have him home again though.  Then about a month later, BAM-I'm pregnant with Sierra.  I was devastated at the time, I didn't feel prepared to have another child.  I was still dealing with ME, I was dealing with military life, I was dealing with how to be a mom, and work.  9 kind of miserable months later, Sierra came into my life.  I had postpartum depression, but I didn't know I did.  3 months later, I learned to deal with my depression, and things started feeling better.  Life was better.  Meanwhile, Paul was going in and out of training, and with Sierra I went up to 230 lbs.  Got down to 200 immediately, and stayed there for a bit.  One year later, Paul and I had moved into our first house, he was preparing for deployment, and I was trying to earn some money by putting myself in a birth control trial.  I got a call from one of the people of the trial, saying that I wasn't healthy enough for the trial so I couldn't participate.  WHAT?  Apparently, my cholesterol is higher than average.  NOT GOOD.

So that day, I decided that was IT.  I was sick of it, sick of being unhealthy, fat, and feeling gross.  I went to the Dr.  I was 223.6 lbs.  The highest I'd ever known my weight to be at that point...

 These are the pictures of my highest weight at that point.

At least Sierra is cute, lol!

So then what happened?  I went on a very strict diet/exercise regime.  I thought, if the Biggest Losers can do it, so can I.  I worked out 4-6 hours a day, anything from walking, one of my workout dvds, or riding my bike.  I started feeling great, eating really well, and feeling amazing.

 The weight came off little by little...please excuse the messy room, and the cute little turd holding my shoes!  =)

I think I have something against making my bed, lol.

 Finally, it was a year later, Paul was on his way home, and I was trying out clothes to see what looked good.  I'd decided on this outfit:

 Then, I found out that he wasn't actually coming home until 3 am, with the kids and all, I ended  up wearing this:

 You can see how incredibly tired I was...I'm not even sure if I was wearing any makeup, lol.  But I felt GREAT.  I thought I looked halfway decent, even though I was wearing a gray sweatshirt, ha ha.  I was 158 in these pictures.  I had lost 65.6 lbs in just 6 months, and I was toning, and keeping up with it (the other 5 mos were maintaining, and still trying to lose more weight).  One of my favorite pictures, I took for Paul was one where my head was turning, but you can see my arms, and how toned I actually looked: 

 this was a LONG way from that fat girl up top.  I was happy!  And then....???  Well we have to move on to Part 2, tomorrow, I know I know, I'm leaving ya hanging, but I will get around to doing part 2 tonight or tomorrow.  But this is where it all began....