A Little 'History' About Me

So I'm 30 years old, will be 31 this year. In 2002 I had my first born child - gained like 65+ pounds during the nine months I was prego. Yup 65+ pounds, what was I thinking!? The key here is that I was already a good 30 pounds overweight. So yeah, off to a bad start for me. After I had the baby, I lost maybe 30 pounds out of that 65+ that I gained. Thinking about losing the weight was greuling. Super tough. I eventually gave up and told myself over and over again that there was no way I was EVER going to be skinny again. So, I moved on and carried the extra weight around felt horribly miserable day in and day out. Every day I made promises to myself and said I was going to diet, but then would cheat only 6 hours into it. I was stuck in a rut so deep that I had seriously lost all hope. And then what do you know, I got pregnant again. I had my second child in 2005 - only gained 35 with that one. I was overly concerned about my weight - the doctors didn't seem to be at all. And oddly enough, both of my pregnancies were fairly normal, no big complications at all. So, I have baby number two, and like a miracle, within 6 weeks I had lost 35 pounds. I have no idea how it happened so fast. Fast forward to early November 2005 - My brother came to live with us for a short period of time. He asked me before he moved in what my thoughts were about going on the South Beach diet with him - I agreed thinking to myself that I could stand to lose some weight. I was in denial big time, but deep down inside I knew I was fat. And so my weight loss journey started. He was my mentor - my motivation - my everything. I owe my success on this diet to him, I really do. And my husband too, he really supported me through it all (and still does to this day). Before I knew it, the pounds seemed to be melting off. I felt so good, like a brand new person. People were noticing and asking me questions. It was really working! I had finally stepped out of my fat suit that had been haunting me all that time. I'm happy to say that almost a year later, I'm 15-20 pounds from my goal weight - and I'm even more estatic to say that I'll never let myself go again - ever.