Aiming for the big 3-oh on my MFP anniversary

From a starting point of 14 stone (196lbs) on 21 February 2011, I hit my lowest MFP weight of 12 stone and a total loss of 28lbs at the end of November. However, since then I've yo-yoed and, well, Christmased, back up to 12 stone 5 (173) as of today.

When I get to my anniversary in just over five weeks, it would rock my socks if I could see a lovely round 30lbs loss on my ticker and finally see my weight as 11 stone-something. I have a cunning plan for this.

I haven't been losing on the 0.5lbs a week setting, not through any fault of MFP but because I've been slack on tracking, eating rubbish and going out for a drink too often. First step is setting it back to 1lb a week loss to cut myself some slack when I go awry.

I'm training for a Marathon, so my weekends are all about running. I eat back all my exercise calories and then some, even 800-odd burns, because I'm starving! However, I hurt so much after my long run and club run I skip sessions and don't feel like cross-training on my off days. I've also been known to make myself quite ill by pushing too hard and have been getting exercise-induced migraines for the first time. So my next step is to take it easier and buy myself a cheap HRM to keep me sailing along at a stately speed. I have no time target, I just want to get round with a smile on my face. One full day off on Monday and proper targeted cross-training on the non-running days.

Thirdly, I need to take more responsibility for my food choices. When I have no say over a certain meal, I tend to let the day go to pot. From this week on I'll have more opportunity to plan ahead with shopping and a newly-installed cooker, so I'll be doing more planning ahead and being super-careful about lunches when I'm unsure what dinner will hold. Keeping the booze within healthy limits and having the NHS-recommended days off a week will help too.

Does anyone with similar goals fancy joining me to target 7lbs (half a stone!) in five weeks with some serious butt kicking? I'll be using this thread to keep me honest. Cheerleaders along for the ride to point and laugh very welcome too!