Ouch

Make sure to eat bulky foods that fill you up to avoid feeling hungry. Take care in starting a new exercise program if you have been inactive. There is no reason to hurt yourself. Good luck!

Echoing what others have said about not depriving yourself/being too restrictive.

Carrot sticks and water: stereotypical diet food. Not that they're bad (water is important) but when you hear about someone being "on a diet", that's what you think. Celery and carrots, rice cakes, cottage cheese, water.

Eat what you like, just in smaller quantities. Make room in your day for a beer or an apple dumpling if that's what you feel like having.

You're less likely to crash and burn that way.

I'm with everyone else on this. I started out eating what I normally did but in smaller portions that would fit into my calorie goal. I knew I couldn't just switch to healthy just like that. Now, I've gradually changed and eat way healthier but I always give myself some treats because I know if I completely cut it out, I'll probably binge and go back to my old ways. Good luck with your journey!

It's good you're adding healthy foods into your diet, but like others have mentioned, it's ok to reserve some of your calories for treats such as alcohol and desserts. It's easiest for me to do that if I plan ahead and pre-log the foods I expect to eat either a day ahead or at the start of the day. The plan usually changes as the day unfolds, but you have a better idea of how it's going to change your calorie allotment for the rest of the day. It's also ok if we go over our calorie limits once in a while, but I agree that having enough discipline to say no to something also feels good. The next time you're at faire, have the beer if it works for you, or maybe even get a second cup to split it with someone. Heck, if Dirty Laundry performs at your faire, they'll accept that other half as part of their routine to warm up the audience. (Ich sorelly myss faire.)

Do you have someone who can double check and watch to see if you're using correct postures for your exercising? Some soreness is normal, but when it comes to our backs there's no harm in making sure there's nothing else going on.

I don't know your insurance situation, but would your insurance pay for physical therapy for back pain? I mean if you really are in pain I think it's legitimate. I would at least do something to try to make sure you are okay, just to avoid actually injuring yourself badly and making everything so much more difficult.

Edited to add that my stomach seriously adjusted to smaller portion sizes. I don't know if there's any science behind the idea of stomachs shrinking but mine feels like it did. In my highest eating days I simply was never full - I could always, always eat more and clean my plate. When I first started seriously monitoring appropriate portions, I had huge physical hunger pains at first and my stomach just felt empty. Today I ate 7 oz broiled haddock, 80g sweetcorn and 80g sliced carrots and I felt absolutely stuffed, but then again that was all lean protein and fiber.

My tastebuds also adjusted to a lower sugar and salt intake (as a result of me cooking my stuff at home as well as just having less sweet stuff) and now a lot of desserts are repulsively sweet to me and restaurant food is way too salty. When I eat fried stuff now, I stop after a little bit because my stomach is telling me we've had enough fried-ness/fat and I don't really want any more.

So, maybe in the future you won't even crave that apple dumpling! But your food can still be flavorful . . . you can have a little bit of hummus or something for flavor with the carrots. Don't punish yourself! : )