So, I'm relatively young (23); recovering from the damage that college has done. I've always been very active, and played many sports (competitivly: basketball, volleyball, ski racing). My senior yr of high school, I tore my ACL and had reconstructive surgery; so entering college I was out of shape compared to what I'm used to, and then just continued to get worse. (Cafeteria food + alcohol = not the best ways to maintain weight).
My biggest was 200 during the mid-point of college (I'm 5'6").
My senior year I studied abroad in Australia, and through poor eating/lack of eating habits & minimal exercise (mostly just light cardio, no strength training. But I was also skiing 3-5 times a week, pretty much non-stop for 4-6 hours at a time), I got down to about 160.
While in Australia I began eating more, and healthier options, and exercising (lots of walking, a bit of running, lifting at the gym, and skating (longboard). I also did a few camping/kayaking trips. My longest being a 6 day bushwalk carrying a large backpack up hills & mountains.) When I left after 6 months I was down to 150. I went back to college for another semester following that trip, and re-gained 20lbs.
I'm now out of school, and since January/February have been trying to regain my strength/loose weight. Naturally, I've always had a bigger/more muscular frame, and I'm pretty active so I don't want to be anorexically thin, or unrealistic, so Ideally I'd love to get down to 130.
The longer I've been on this 'diet' (I say 'diet' its more of a lifestyle change) the easier it seems to be for me. I usually consume between 800 & 1500 kcal a day (my average for last month was 1200). Which I've heard/read terrible things about. But even when I was heavier, I never really went over the 2000k mark (unless alcohol was involved). Naturally just a light eater, so over-eating/portion size has never really been an issue for me. I'm just sticking to healthier options now. I take multi-vitamins/supplements (no 'diet' pills) and try to limit my fat & carbs to the quality kind, and on higher impact exercise days I up my protein. Oh, I also eat about 5 small meals so I'm pretty consistant throughout my day.
As for my current exercise routine, I hit the gym at least 5 times a week, but now that its getting nicer/warmer out, I've been going less and running outside more (I'm lucky to live in Boston and have some lovely running trails along the river). When I do go to the gym I try to change my routine up. I walk to & from the gym, I warm up for 10 mins on the bike, and then I'll either run on the treadmill or elliptical for an hour, sometimes on non-training days I'll do the rower for 15-30mins. If it's a training day I'll spend 20-30 mins with weights (I've noticed significant strength being re-gained in my arms, my legs have always been very muscley and I've never really had a problem there, even when I was heavier; as I said before, I've been an avid skier/racer since I was 3, and the way I ski takes a lot of endurance & leg strength). Since my surgery, my reconstructed knee is back to normal and I never really notice a difference (unless it's raining, it tends to click and becomes more tempermental).
Well, all that said, I've hit a plateau. I'm stuck at 160 with no signs of getting smaller. I still have a lot of fat I'll looking to get rid of, preferably before my birthday (August 9th). So that gives me a little less than 3 months to loose 30 lbs.
Like I said before, I really have no problem keeping my hand out of the cookie jar, and actually enjoy my cardio/training routine; so is there anything else I can do to reach my goals in time? I'm open to any suggestions.