Losing weight for Supernatural convention this August!

So my friends and I are going to a Supernatural convention this August in Minneapolis, MN. We decided shortly after the new year started and I figured it'd be a great way to set a specific goal, which I am statistically more likely to achieve than a general "lose weight and eat healthy" goal. I want to lose 30lbs by August 14. To do this, I'm going to Boot Camp 3-4x a week, and walking my dog daily. I have 1690 calories to eat a day, I'm 5'8", 201lbs, and can bench press about 95lbs. 170 is my goal weight because a) it's a reasonable amount of weight to lose in that time frame, and b) I'll be able to fit into my Castiel costume again.

I've been doing boot camp for about 3 months now, and haven't lost weight, mostly because I was slacking about tracking, and treated workout days as excuses to eat whatever I wanted. That's fine. I didn't want to stress myself out because I knew the minute I felt like it was too much I'd throw up my hands and take a nap. Stop tracking. I couldn't be bothered. The good news is that I only gained 2lbs over the Christmas/New Year's holidays! (Yay, extra muscle!) AND I'm getting in better shape. I'm more flexible, I don't run out of breath as quickly in class, I have better balance, and I'm stronger overall.

So now instead of cooking only one meal a week and eating sandwiches, lean cuisines, and restaurant food all the time, I cook 3 or 4 big meals and share the leftovers with my husband all week. Breakfast is home-made and I swapped tea for my Grande Iced Coffee w/ cream and sugar. It can be challenging sometimes to cook for my husband. I want to make food he likes to eat, because then I'm not stuck eating all the leftovers. But he's a picky eater, and I'm picky about how I eat my vegetables. It's taken some trial-and-error, but I now have about 20 recipes that we both really like.

I also try to treat myself to a Haagan Daaz caramel gelato bar when I have the extra calories (and sometimes even if I don't ). Yeah, I could eat a lower-calorie treat. Yeah, I could lose weight faster by not using those calories. But lower calorie treats taste like crap, and I know from past experience that "saving" those calories means I just go overboard on another day because I ran out of will power.

When I started college, I was 230lbs. In my softmore year (2006) I started losing weight and by 2009 I was 145lbs. I was SO proud of myself because it was the first time that I really was able to take control of my weight. I've always known I could do it, but it's hard to want to, especially when I feel overwhelmed and depressed. But now that I'm exercising regularly and getting more sleep, I'm finding that it happens less and less often.

So... long time subscriber, and user. Starting a new goal. Hi everyone.