Day One of New(More Like Refurbished) Goal

Many people would kill to get back to the size they were when they graduated from high school. I would kill to stay away from that size and weight. When I graduated in 2005, I was 5'8(and a half)" and 275 pounds. My driver license, which I got the same year I graduated, confirms the fact. I started college, and slowly, without really noticing it, I dropped down to 260, then to 250. I wasn't doing much different. I ate less because I had to at least partially fend for myself, instead of my parents buying all the food. I also had class AND work, rather than  just school. I also had somewhat of a social life, and so was out and about doing things. I didn't need food to fill up my times when I was bored.


To put it simply, I was living a healthier lifestyle. 


Now for those who are privy to nutrition and weight-loss, and especially the BMI(Body Mass Index), you would notice that my starting weight was rather... big. BMI for my height and weight during my senior year of high school was 41. That means nothing if you don't know much about BMI, so I will explain it a bit more, 18.5-24.9 is within the normal weight range for an adult. 25-29.9 is overweight. 30-34.9 is obese class one, and from 35-39.9 is obese class two. 40 and up is morbidly obese. Yeah. Not fun.


I served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 2009-2010, and continued to lose weight because I had a greater incentive. Bad knees. After just a few months of being a missionary, walking around, going up and down stairs,  I felt a crackle in my knees, especially when I went up stairs. Between the doctor and the physical therapist, I figured out what I needed to do. Get to a healthy weight. I fluctuated, but mostly my weight went downward whenever I stepped on the scale. 


When I returned and started college again, I took a nutrition class, and learned a great deal and did wonderfully at keeping my weight down. I got as low as 216, but was more consistently at 220. Not bad, going from 275 to 220.


I hated my major. I didn't know what to switch to, so I stewed over it. I made food for my friends and roommates, they did the same for me. Social gatherings where food was involved, and my own downfall of being a social eater, made it so I slowly gained more weight back. 230 then 240, then 245. 


I met Daniel, and we started dating. Summer came and went. Fall came and went. Daniel proposed to me and we planned for a wedding in April. The wedding came and went, and during the winter semester and  after getting married, more weight started creeping up on me, 250, 255. Then the other day I saw 260 and nearly completely freaked out. I promised myself I would NEVER get back up to 275, and yet I was right on my way to getting there.


Here I am, two months after my wedding, going steadily towards three. I started reading more articles about exercise, and remembering the things the doctor on my mission told me to do in order to lose weight. I read a few blogs about people who lost weight to encourage myself, and today I started my new goal.


Now for my goal: I want to lose 5-10 pounds per month for at least 12 months
I want to get initially to 199 and maintain that, then keep going down until I get to 160(about 24.3 on the BMI scale), and maintain that. If I don't get down to 160, I want to at least have less than 35'' as my waist circumference. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt/risk.htm#limitations

I am currently at 257 pounds (Weighed just this morning) and can comfortably wear a size 24 jean.(which is about a 45" waistline)

The way I am going to meet my goal is to religiously  enter in what I eat onto Loseit.com (Kind of like WeightWatchers, except for free.) and exercise 5 days a week for at least a half hour, alternating between strengthening exercises (As I've recently turned 25 and I'll lose muscle if I don't keep it up) cardio (Like walking and swimming) and things for fun.
I also plan to avoid sugar as much as possible when it is in unnatural states(I put sugary snacks in a cupboard I can only reach with a chair to help me. May put the cooking sugar there too). I also plan to cut back on my salt intake by not adding salt to food, or adding very little, and avoiding using it when I cook. I also plan to use the smallest utensil and plate/bowl available for my meals. (for example, I'm currently eating a cup of spaghetti on one of the dessert plates we have, using  what my husband likes to call a "threek" which is a three pronged fork)

Support and encouragement is always welcome!