hoodwinked, I think it's wonderful that you want to break the chain of obesity and improve your life. I can relate to your story and have found these life style changes work wonders:
- take a multi-vitamin every day, so you know you're getting the nutrition you
need as you cut down your food intake
- drink water instead of other drinks, it saves you tons of calories each day
- eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner and mind your portion sizes - a serving of
meat should be the size of a deck of cards or less, bread should be two
slices, half a bagel or muffin, pasta is one cup, fruits and veggies as much
as you want, but try to eat them without toppings/dressings, dairy
products eat sparingly
- if you get hungry between meals drink water or eat fruits and/or veggies
without toppings, you can eat all of the fruits and vegetables you want
- take small bites and eat very slowly or use chopsticks to slow you down
(your stomach doesn't know you've eaten for about half an hour)
- only eat out once a week - meals out are very caloric - that's why they
taste so good
- when you eat at a restaurant ask them to only serve you half of the meal
and box the other half for you to take home (yes, they do this)
- if you have a craving for something - give in to it, but only eat a small
amount, half a cup or less, of what you're craving and savor every bite
(you're only allowed to give in to one craving per day)
- cut out one hour of tv viewing, computer usage, gaming, etc. and go
for a walk, swim, bike ride, etc. (It's more fun to do this with someone
because the time goes a lot faster, it becomes a social thing, and you can
motivate each to do it when you don't feel like it.)
If you can't go for an
hour, go as long as you can the first day and each day go for one additional
minute.
- if you want to eat something fattening, and you've used up your one
craving, don't give in to it - read a book, go for a walk, call a friend, take a
nap, play Wii, go golfing, etc. (It gets easier the longer you do it.)
Remember that you didn't get to your current weight overnight and you
won't get to your ideal weight quickly either, but
you are saving your life by instituting these changes. Your chances of developing diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and other chronic diseases are cut dramatically by losing weight. It's not easy at first, but the more you practice healthy habits the more weight you'll lose, the more energy you'll have, the better you'll feel, and the more you'll be the person you want to be. I'm very proud of you for coming here and asking for help. No one can change the past, my friend, but the future is ours to make into whatever we wish.
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) I quickly was doing 50, then 100, then 150 laps everyday. I felt this happy, positive addiction to swimming and went several times per week. I felt deprived when I had to miss. 
