Time to get it done.

Hello all! Current nursing student at the age of 43 and as of today weighing in at 318lbs at 5'6. I need to slim down (a lot) before I graduate and have to do the nurse thing full time. I want more options in nursing jobs, and my current weight makes jumping on a gurney and doing chest compressions for 20 minutes in the ER very unlikely.

I lost weight in my early 20's ..I went from 300 to 135 in 18 months...and I did it the wrong way..10-20 miles of walking per day, dexatrim(the good stuff before it changed), laxatives, and extreme calorie deficits (1 bite of a chicken sandwich for the day kind of deficit). I was skinny, skeletal and looked sick. I got kicked out of a gym because I scared them and my doctor threatened to have me committed to an eating disorder clinic if I did not put on 20 pounds immediately. I need to find the "middle" in between eating disorders, I cannot go from one end of the eating disorder spectrum to the other.

I have been tracking on MFP for 20 days, my weight loss shows 15 pounds lost, but I had a 10 pound woosh on day 1 and I tracked the lower number instead of 343. SO my weight loss is actually 25lbs since May 15th. I bought myself a food scale and I weigh EVERYTHING and I am logging everything ...and it is working. So my theory of this super slow/efficient metabolism was wrong and I will be avoiding my PCP for awhile so he does not gloat and I am not going to "friend" him like he wanted me to on MFP for awhile yet either lol.

I am gluten free and have been for 5+years, even before it was trendy. I was probably closer to 400lbs on gluten, a lot of joint/back pain is gone. my migraines have gone from 5-6 days per week(every week) to 2 or 3 per year, my hair filled back in and my skin lost that grey-ish hue.

I am worried about loose skin, I bounced back ok in my 20's, but after two kids and a 400lb high, I am probably going to be a mess this time around, but that's ok..I will save for a body lift.

I was going to wait until I was closer to 200lbs to think about joining a gym, but from what I am reading on the forums I need to think about weight training now, so if anyone can offer any advice on where to start on that it would be appreciated. I want to be thin, but not the kind of thin I was at 22.

Thanks for reading everybody!