2013 Will Be My Year ...

A little about me.
I am 25 years old, and have battled being overweight since I hit middle school (a.k.a. "Puberty"). It was a fun time where I turned into the Sta Puft Marshmallow man, and wore nothing but stretch pants and big t-shirts until about Junior year of high school. 
I have many exciting things in my life that I would like to be healthy for. I am in a long-term relationship with my crazy lovable boyfriend Ryan, and I would like to eventually marry him (not wearing a tent).
I have my bachelor's degree in Elementary Education, and I am sadly relegated to Substitute teaching until I can get my own classroom. It's been 2 years... but my finger's are still crossed. 
I am sometimes a potty-mouth. I apologize in advance! 


Here is my story.
I have tried every diet/lifestyle change out there. I did the "French Women Don't Get Fat" leek soup cleanse (really just onion water for 48 hours... gross). I did Weight Watchers ("look I can have McDonald's for 30 points!). I tried My Fitness Pal (1,000 calories per day?! Really?!?!). I did Slim Fast (just have a shake in the morning, a meal bar for lunch, and China Buffet for dinner!). I did food journal's (Hmm... yep I had breakfast, lunch, and dinner!). The last thing I did was LoseIt!, which was successful for me for a while... then Summer, Thanksgiving, and Christmas happened... and... well... I sorta stopped following and added 10 pounds back. 
But with the New Year I am ready to finally do this. My current weight is... gosh this is scary and embarrassing... but I currently weight 218 pounds. Never really thought I was FAT before, until I saw pictures of myself from Thanksgiving and Christmas. That is when I KNEW it was time to change. 
I have started meal planning, which means that I am in control of the calories that I put into my body. I am the one that cooks 5 days a week, with left overs on the weekends. My dad has been successful with working out and "dieting" 5 days a week, then cheating (within reason) on the weekends. That is the system I am going to try and follow. 
I try working out, but I find that I am easily bored with workouts. I don't get that "high" that people talk about, I just get sweaty and smelly and I HATE it! But I have looked through and decided there were a few things that I will add to my arsenal of tolerable work outs. 

1. Just Dance for Wii (any of them, but I have 2, 3, and 4)

1. Zumba for Wii (I have done this before, and it has said my calorie burn was up near 800... how?)

1. Yoga Booty Ballet (the first work out system I ever bought, oldie, but fun too)

1. Turbo Fire (this shit is TOUGH!)

1. Walking (the old stand-by, it's boring, but I listen to music and just hope to get through it)

I will be weighing myself in on Saturday mornings, and posting a picture of myself once a month. 

My official start date is January 7th (my dad always told me it's better to start a "diet" on a Monday. New week, new life). 

Here are my stats:

Age: 25

Height: 5' 5"

Current Weight: 218 (I feel if I tell everyone it means I will change)

Goal Weight: 150

Current Pant Size: 16-18

Total Calories for Each Day: 1,517 (seems like a lot to me...)

Current Picture 

This is from Black Friday 2012

My goal will be to blog 2-3 times per week. If I can do it everyday, even just a sentence or two, I will.

Here's my question for today:

What have you tried that has been a success, or a miserable failure?