49 year old working mother looking for health and balance

I am relatively new to MyFitnessPal but not new to struggling with my weight and trying to find the optimal diet and fitness routine for me. I have struggled with my weight my whole life, although in retrospect, I wish my 18 year old self could know what my 49 year old self knows-- that I was not as heavy or as unfit or unattractive as I thought I was! I have had some very frustrating health problems over the last years (removal of most of my thyroid, severe iron deficiency and sleep apnea) that have set me back but are fairly stable now. As I see 50 looming in the note-so-distant future, I really want to get-- and finally stay-- in a good healthy place for me, no matter how busy my life is or what stressors might come up. I have been reading a lot of Judith Beck's work on using cognitive behavioral techniques to supplement a reasonable whole foods diet and keep the 70 or so pounds I need to lose off for good. I would love to connect with other community members who are using the techniques in The Diet Trap Solution: Train Your Brain to Lose Weight and Keep It Off for Good or The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person in their journey. I would also love to connect with other (mostly) vegan community members and those with a significant amount of weight to lose. The journey is daunting-- and I am sure its going to be long-- but I am very hopeful and a community of folks on the same journey can only help! Looking forward to meeting the community!