Congrats on the big step.
I too, like many others, am looking for a lifestyle change. I talked to my doctor about Phentermine. It's a tiny pill you take once a day. It increases your metabolism and fights off your cravings. Now I'm not a big fan of the "magic weight loss pill" BUT, this isn't that. This pill will only help curb your cravings. If you continue to eat the same, and don't exercise or drink water, you'll lose weight, but not much and once you're off....you gain it all back. The point of this pill is to help you curb the cravings to give you the ability to think thoroughly. Portion control, proper balanced meals, you can still have candy and sweets and ice cream, but in moderation. And then you know, hey I snacked last night, probably shouldn't do it again tonight.
I've been on this since October. So far I've lost 20lbs, which I am so proud and so thankful for. For someone my size (I'm not near as brave as you to post an actual weight...
) I should have lost a lot more. But I don't exercise, I'm stressed, I don't sleep well, and I'm just not trying that hard. BUT, now that I'm unemployed, I'm making myself watch portion sizes, watch how many snacks I have, watch how much water I drink....etc. And the BIGGEST accomplishment I have had with this pill is.....I no longer emotionally eat. That's a HUGE step for me. I have been able to fight those cravings, with the help of these pills as well as learning other ways to "get over it". And it's helped. Me sitting at home all day, online, with no money and nothing to do....the old me would have grabbed some chips and dip and munched the day away. But I now realized how awful that is, and how I can relieve that boredom with something else that's better for me.
I'm also now on a "water kick" I've been REALLY bad at drinking water. But these pills, if you don't eat fiber and drink water regularly...you get severely constipated...I know it's gross. BUT, I've had two or three bad cases of constipation, to the point where I honestly thought I had a ruptured appendix or something. Realizing it was constipation, I fixed the issue and I was all better. Since I'm not one for pain...I realize the importance of water and fiber while on this pill and have improved that in my daily habit. Is it 8 glasses of water? No, but even 1 glass a day is still better than 8 12oz cans of diet coke that I was drinking. So, it's baby steps. You have to start slow and maintain it before you can add anything else otherwise it'll be a "diet" and not a "life style change"
As you see, you have people here supporting you, as well as people here who are walking with you. And I think with the support of everyone here, we can all motivate and encourage one another to be as healthy as we can be. Don't be so focused on a number. My doc tells it to me like this. "You lost 4 pounds!" of course me...."that's it?" doc says "Hey, it was Thanksgiving, you've had a LOT of stress, you're about to lose your job, you have the holidays coming up, you didn't starve or punish yourself over the holidays .... so a 4 pound loss is GREAT! You managed to not only keep from GAINING weight this entire month, you actually LOST weight this month...something most people don't do around the Holidays." I know my doc is setting goals for me. Drink more water, walk the dog, exercise, and this month she wants me to lose 10 pounds. I haven't been doing so well with this. BUT, water intake is up, bad food intake is down, weight loss is still happening. If I could just get my butt up and stop being depressed about being unemployed, I could probably lose more. But, my mom and I bowled on the Wii the other day and I really forgot how much fun that was. And how much EXERCISE it was too! So, I'm making it part of my exercise, I'm gonna do some yoga stretches when I get up, look for a job, play the Wii for a bit (exercise), look for a job again, go to school, come home from school, do some yoga stretches again...and go to bed.
Also another random thought I had. How is your calcium intake? I'm on the Depo shot and they told me I need to have LOTS of calcium because of this. And at the time, I was a big milk drinker, I had bowls of cereal a lot, etc. But not so much anymore. I realized I was really tired, cranky, couldn't sleep, and other things, so I started taking Calcium with Vitamin D and that alone boosted my energy, I sleep SOOOO much better now, and I just feel more prepared for the day. So may want to consider a calcium with vitamin D supplement as well. Honestly, for women, even our age, it can't hurt.
Anyway, I've rambled enough. Keep us posted. I know you'll do great. You got my number if you need me!