You have made good progress, which tells you two things: 1) You can lose weight and 2) you feel better when you eat "the right stuff." You just have to keep at it for the long haul. If you're losing slowly (which is the healthiest way) it may take a year or so before you start to feel really satisfied with where you're at. I think the trick is to just to be patient, and keep on the forum where you have people who will cheer you on, accept you when you have those little failures (when fast food wins) but not give up on you. And then, once you've reached your goal, think of your new way of eating as a new way of life. On a related topic, you know who Mike Huckabee is? (He was governor of Arkansas and is now running for Prez). He was about your size I think. A big guy, and much older than you also. He lost a huge amount of weight and kept it off, and without gastric bypass surgery. I don't know exactly what he did except I know it was medically supervised and basically just "healthy eating" and exercise (barely walking at first, which is where a lot of us start out). I think if you google Mike Huckabee weight loss you might be able to find some info about what he did. I wouldn't vote for him, but I do admire the fact that he was able to lose all that weight and really change his life by doing it.
Wishing you all the best, doll.
to another (I think?)