@PanthersLuke,
You have had phenomenal success. Your rate of weight loss is indicative of someone who stuck to a program that works with few slips. Even if you didn't reach your original goal, you are headed solidly in the right direction. All you did is extend the time a little. There is nothing wrong with that.
Many people can't see the changes in their body when they look in the mirror. The brain fills in what we want to see or what we expect to see. That's why quantitative measures like weight and the notch you use on your belt are important.
You seem concerned about seeing changes in your muscles. You may be one of those people who store much of their fat in their muscles. As you exercise, that fat disappears and your muscles fill in the spaces. It can look like you aren't making any progress or even losing muscles. If you are gradually lifting heavier weights or doing more reps, the muscles are improving. Notice I didn't say growing.
For about the first six to eight weeks, our increase in strength comes from increased efficiency caused by neuromuscular changes. In other words, our brain becomes more adept at employing the muscle fibers to lift the weights. While this is occurring, the body doesn't sense a need to develop more muscle cells. After this initial period, most people can only gain a maximum of 12 pounds of muscle weight a year. Since this is spread out over the whole body, it doesn't look like much. After the first year, people can gain 24 pounds of muscle a year. Consider these maximums.
Let me answer your question directly: "What do I think you need to do to have success?" All I can do is give you a personal answer based on extensive reading, personal experience, and talking to my trainer. This is one case where there are many versions of right.
1. Determine how much time you can work out each day including cardio and resistance training. You can split cardio and resistance training into two days if you work out almost every day. If you can't work out this often, then decide what you can do. If your time is limited at the gym, work in some extra time at home.
2. Cardio is the easiest to explain. Do at least 20 minutes a day, and gradually increase either the intensity or the time. Trying to do both at the same time after the initial period of quick progress can lead to injuries.
3. Work with a trainer to develop a list of exercises that will give you a full body workout. If you don't have access to a trainer, I can give a list that will work or show you how to develop a workout routine.
4. Make a simple log book. I prefer using a loose-leaf binder and a separate piece of paper for each exercise. This makes it easy to add and delete exercises and allows for different rates of progress.
Log books are something everyone agrees people should use, and few do. Using a log book may help transform your inner speech. When your mind says you aren't progressing, you can look at your log and prove you are. At the very least, you will be able to see you are doing the things necessary to progress.
5. Focus on the actions needed to improve rather than focusing on results. If after 12 weeks or so you aren't making progress, you can change the actions. We can directly control actions. We can't directly control results.
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