Overweight, looking to lost 25 lbs

walletless

Hello,

I am new to MFP. I will introduce myself as 29/M, 5' 5", 175lbs. I consider myself overweight - not only because of the weight, but also my body measurements. My waist measures 38", and I have a tummy that looks awkward.

I am looking to lose 25lbs, so I am closer to the ideal weight of 150 lbs.

Eating restrictions: I am a strict vegetarian, and cannot eat Eggs and Mushroom either.

Working out: I
have been working out about 4-5 days a week consistently for the past 5 weeks. Most of the time is in cardio - where I burn roughly 280 calories in 27-28 minutes.

Lifestyle:
I had a mostly inactive lifestyle before I started working out - with my only exercise of the day was climbing 5 flights of stairs instead of taking the elevator to work. At work, most of my time is spent in front of the computer with little to no activity (besides the occasional walk to the breakroom for drinking coffee/water).

Food habits:
I am from India, and have mostly junk eating habits. Twice a weak, for lunch, I have steamed gabranzo beans with tomatoes, cucumber, onions, and spinach mixed like a salad. This is where the healthy part ends. For most of the other times, I have Indian junk food (called "chaat") - which is generally things like sev puri (Fried thin biscuits with potato, chilli paste, sev as toppings), pao bhaji, etc. I relish food, and this is one part where I don't think I can give up a lot at this age. The good news is that I consistently eat about 4 meals a day, and hardly ever go on a eating binge. I also consistently eat roughly 1200 calories a day, which is well under what MFP recommends.

Family history:
My father has cholesterol and diabetes problems. Everyone from my dad's side has the same (my dad's brother has it, my grandfather and grandmother had it). I fall in a high-risk category with diabetes, and am somewhat hovering on borderline normal right now.

Goal:
1) Lose 25 lbs over 1 year (roughly 1/2 lbs a week)
2) Reduce cholesterol (was 196 on last check, which is borderline normal). My doctor tells me that by reducing weight and exercising, I might automatically see this improve.
3) Reduce glucose (was 129 on last check with fasting, and for folks with family history, 130 is considered normal. For folks with no family history 100 is considered normal).

Need help:
Any tips folks from MFP can give me to achieve my goals will be helpful. I feel the goals are realistic (I am not setting myself up for failure my setting a goal of losing 25lbs in 2 months), but let me know if you think I need to be more or less aggresive.