Into the triple digits for weight loss

Okay, here's what I did in a nutshell

Starting Out

One of the most important parts about starting out is assessing what is important to you. For me, the major problems I wanted to deal with were obesity (obviously), borderline hypertension, and generally low physical fitness. My ultimate goal was to be muscular, rather than skinny.

To that end, I really came up with the following actions I would take:
1. Stay below my calorie goal, as a must-do. I set it at around 1900 calories per day, which was about 1% weight loss per week.
2. Hit a protein goal, as a nice-to-do. I set this at around 0.7 grams of protein per lb of goal weight.
3. Strength training for musculature.
4. Cardiovascular training for overall fitness.

I didn't set any other dietary goals. While my blood pressure was borderline when I began, I didn't immediately bother with tracking sodium or potassium - I expected (and was right) that cardiovascular exercise would produce significant improvements without need of dietary intervention. I set no goals whatsoever on fat, carbs, sugar, sodium, etc. - I had my two most important dietary goals and all the rest was unimportant to me.

Putting it in action

At first, I found it hard to know what I should be eating. Then I decided to start pre-logging my meals. Now, except for special occasions (about 15 days per year), I log each day the night before. It lets me see and work with the whole day at once to ensure I make my calorie goal, and see how I am doing on a protein goal. I set no other dietary restrictions, but I try to ensure at least one meal a day is really satisfying to me. I didn't cut out anything, although I cut back on food that is high calorie and not very filling (e.g. donuts are a lot rarer, but I still eat them).

I do three days a week of training - first a session of strength training focusing on progressive resistance, second a HIIT session on an exercise bike. For the bike, I tried the 30/20/10 method - 30 seconds of slow pace (at least 30% of my maximum peak speed), 20 seconds of moderate pace (at least 60% of my maximum peak speed), 10 seconds of top speed (at least 90% of my maximum peak speed). I do three sets of five reps, with 90 seconds of slow pace active recovery between them.

Other Results

My blood pressure went from around 140/90 to about 120/70, and my resting heart rate went from being in the 70s to being in the 50s. Before I couldn't climb a single flight of stairs without being winded, now I regularly climb four flights and don't even really notice or think about it.