Giving it my first serious try. Need help from the pros

Hey everyone, my name is Tay, im 26 from Canada and I'm a total car nut! Aside from loving cars and having a bit of a green thumb I'm also 5'10" and 240 with high blood pressure. It was really a shock to me when my doctor told me last week as I've never had sort of health issues like that before, but after looking into the food I was eating, it's no surprise since some meals I was eating my entire daily intake of sodium in one shot. All my doctor said to me was to "cut down on sodium" and for the last week, I've been doing that very well. Usually no more than 1500mg a day, but I am usually hungry all the time so I do need some help and advice on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle because the way I'm doing it now I know I'll cave sooner than later.  I was never really taught how to eat healthily (Italian family) and I'm thinking it's either now or blood pressure medication. 

I was recently hospitalized for having a seizure due to unknown reasons, they did every test imaginable and still came up with nothing.  I am still in quite a bit of pain so the only exercise I've been able to do is light bike riding every other day and since I'm still off work from the incident I have been exercising more than I used to (any exercise is more than I used to). All the doctors at the hospital told me my weight had nothing to do with what happened, but I'd like to rule out weight being a possible issue for any other ailments that I might run into in life. So these are my current goals

1. Get my blood pressure to an acceptable level ASAP

2. Get to a weight of 225 

3. Get to a weight of under 200 ( I do need help setting up a time frame for these goals as I've never seriously tried like this before so I have no idea what to expect)

And then the sky's the limit.

I've quit smoking (cold turkey and will never smoke another cig in my life) and cut down my beer and rye consumption dramatically. Now I just need help with the nutritional part of life. I'm no stranger to online forums and can't wait to learn all I can from here. If anyone has any tips or advice I would be nothing but grateful if you'd like to share . Can't wait to talk with you all and see where I can get my body.

Cheers!

Tay