I wrote a lot here about my diet and routine but to add on -
What didn't work for me was just counting calories for some reason. I think it was really easy to blow my calorie goal by eating high carb foods. Another thing I have noticed is that if I have a spike of simple carbs, say candy/cereal/bread - I would have an immediate need to binge the crap out of it. I mean I would eat like 6 bowls of cereal in one sitting. It was bad. These days, I try to limit those sort of intakes although the craves effect is not quite as strong as it once was. As soon as I set a carb limit for myself, the pounds started shedding. Can only eat so much lean protein in a day I suppose haha.
My goal was to mainly have a lifestyle change. I really started getting into snowboarding two years ago as my brother was an instructor at a local ski resort. He was really fit and quite buff and my sister, being a track star in high school, was as well. I was the fatty sibling. I tried snowboarding and even got a seasons pass in 2013, but my weight and overall fitness was limiting. I couldn't last more than 4 hours on the slopes without being unable to stand up and my weak core meant I had bad balance. This year, I have been able to pull back-to-back 12 hour days on the slopes and have no leg soreness in sight. Over two days in Utah this year I banged out some 70,000 vertical feet of terrain. It has been awesome. I also can ride 100 miles on my bike and still go to the gym later in the day. Overall, I just really wanted to be able to consider myself an athlete. Both my brother and sister are and it has been motivating.
Goals from here on out are to stay lean and add muscle. I know that I might have to bulk up a bit to get more muscle gains. I'd like to have some abs showing by summertime :P. I am doing the BTFC8 competition so I am hoping that keeps my motivation up. I don't think I would ever get below 200lbs but honestly at this point the scale is nothing to me. It is all about how I feel, what I can lift, how many hills I can snowboard, and how many miles I can ride.