My Diet Plan...(or an attempt anyways) LOL

Here's the current photo of me taken during a trip to Yosemite just about a week ago. Can you see the swelling? Another lovely symptom of thyroid disease LOL

O.K., here goes a photo of me now and one of my goal. I had lost about 40 or 50 lbs before when I was 28. I had gained all this weight by being lazy and having a diet of many, many sodas, and chocolate (this went on about 3 or 4 years). I didn't watch what I ate. I never had to before, but after having my first child, that's when my metabolism decided to start playing tricks on me. LOL
Here's my goal photo. This is when I first lost weight. I weighed about 120 here. I'm going to be realistic and try to go for 130 (which is a good weight for a person my height with my frame).

Anyways, I'm not 28 anymore (nearing 42 now), and I acquired an under-active thyroid. So, like I said before, it's not easy for me to lose weight, and it was HELL when the pounds packed on in only a span of 3 or 4 months. Not only that, I gained about 40 more pounds in the last 2 1/2 years of the 3 years since I moved to California. I think I can attribute it to not being active, not working (I'm a SAHM), and even though I still don't eat a lot, I can still gain weight. Everything is an uphill battle.

I decided that eating 1600 calories is still too much for me to effectively lose weight. With no thyroid function at all, which controls metabolism by the way, it would be hard to burn that off. It takes burning 3500 calories to lose ONE pound. I'm not completely sedentary, but I'm not very active either. I bought this book called The Supermarket Diet. I am doing a variation of this diet with other things to try and see if I can lose more than 1/2 pound a week. Right now I'm not losing any. But, I've maintained what I've lost so far.

This is how the plan works: First, you do two weeks at 1200 calories. It gives you a shopping list, menus, and recipes. They way I'm going to variate on this is through the menu. The second week you up to 1500/1600 (can't remember exactly) for a few more weeks. Last, is the maintenance plan. To be honest, the second phase will probably what I need to do for maintenance.

Can I do 1200 calories? Probably. Though I tried before and got so light-headed, but I'm determined. If anyone else has some other tips, I'd love to hear them.