I agree that exercise must go hand in hand. While it's possible to lose weight without exercise, it's the exercise that helps build muscles and keeps them strong.
Easiest is to cut 250 calories and expend 250 calories/day....... that's 500 and over the course of a week should result in a 1 lb loss.
Veggee, I'm glad your looking to lose weight and wanting a healthier you! The absolute minimum calories that women need to consume is 1200 - anything below this and you can run into some serious nutritional deficiencies. Here's a decent article that covers some of the basics:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/360444-daily-recommended-caloric-intake-for-women/
As far as exercise - take a closer look at incorporating it into your daily routine. Weightloss without exercise is nearly impossible, just as weightloss without dietary changes is nearly impossible. Successful weightloss happens when both of these combined, due to an interesting phenomena that happens in your body:
It's called the set-point: your body fights to stay at or above a certain weight. When you drop below this weight, your body fights this by cutting corners in activities (less twitching and subconscious movement throughout the day), thus reducing your total caloric expenditure. Adding physical activity and exercise forces your body to move and keeps it from cutting these corners. While it is easier to cut 500 calories from your eating habits than to burn 500 calories on the treadmill, those 500 calories will be all-for-naught if your body isn't being forced to expend more energy.
Hey, veggee, I'm also trying to lose up to 25 pounds by August. I had a gastricbypass 12 years ago, & over the last 3-4 years I picked up some very bad bad habits. The worst being Dr Peppers & M&M's. So I now drink one diet Mt Dew a day cut out all sweets but frosen greek yogurt. I keep my calorie count to between 580-1100 a day. The counter susgest 1330 ,but I still have a hard time with protein after twelve years. Good luck on your weight lose.
Nanacatcat
I think it's a good idea to have a friend to motivate you. Message me if you want some support up stick to your diet, I know I need some!