Heya, newbie here

As my title suggests, I'm a freshmen at University who has quite a bit of weight I need to shed. A sports injury from last year left me with a metal plate in my knee and I lost the ability to do sports for 8 mo. After that I just lost my confidence to get back into things. But now I'm ready to change that.

No experience here nor any idea on the best way to lose weight. All I know is that I want to get healthy and make it a lifestyle. Any diet suggestions and ideas would be great, as well as any exercises that have worked for people. Diet wise I have to abide by a meal plan 5 days a week so I can never be 100% there, but I think watching calories and adding stuff like fruit would help? I've said I'm a university student so I have access to a gym and weights and I intend to use them. I have my schedule set up so I'm walking a lot around campus too. That said, I detest running and snow will limit my outdoor activities come winter. Aside from that, open to anything so any and all help will be appreciated!

Stats/Goals: I'm currently 5'8 and 215 lbs. I'd like to get my medium frame back as well as my muscle. Ideally, I'd like to be 155-160 around January and 150 or lower by summer. Basically 65+ lbs total...it's a lot but with my motivation and age I think it's reasonable within that timeframe? What type of success have you all seen? Just trying to get some ideas.

Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to reply!

Welcome to 3Fat chicks. There is a ton of information about many different food plans on this site. Pick a plan that fits in your lifestyle and you can follow long term. I chose calorie counting because it is free and flexible. It allows me to eat almost anything I wanted as long as it fits within my calorie range for the day and there are ton of free apps out there to help you track your food.
Give up the sugary drinks and drink lots and lots of water.
Make use of your free gym facilities. Any type of cardo combined with weight lifting will make a huge difference.
Remember if you have a bad meal, a bad day, heck, a bad food week. Do NOT let this be a reason to throw in the towel. Get back on track at the next meal. You can do this!!!
Best of luck to you!

Hi KillerBee! NEMom gave you some great advice. I think if you do a little research about dieting, watch your calories and/or bad carbs, add some healthy foods, lose some foods you know aren't good for you, and pick up some exercising, then with patience and determination, you'll be able to lose that weight without too much trouble. Just remember, it's not a fast process, and like the sports you used to be involved in, it takes discipline. Good luck! You can do it!

Thanks for the welcomes guys! You gave me some really great opening advice. Diet wise at first I think I am just going to be more calorie conscious above anything and try to eat as many healthy foods as possible. More lean meats and fruits/veggies for snack and with every meal when possible. Also going to try and drink more h2o and cut out most soda (excluding finals week). I think that should cut most of the weight off within my time frame as long as I keep walking all over campus and lift 3x per week for 1 hour. I'm confident I will do this right and I just might be able to wear a 2p swimsuit by next summer Thanks again! Now I just need to find a good place to learn about "bad" carbs as I've never heard of those before...

Bad carbs are carbs that process quickly such as "white" foods, like white bread, white potatoes, white rice, and also sweets, like cookies, candy, etc. When it comes to grains, stick to whole grains, like "whole" wheat. Whole grains process more slowly. When you eat fruits like apples, eat them with the skins on for the fiber. Also, the more whole, natural foods, as compared to processed foods, you can eat, the better. Processed foods add sugar, etc.

Low carb works for me better than anything I have ever tried!

Welcome KillerBee.

That's my experience too.