I tried to "turn things around" and failed.
First step first 6 months - I cut back on fried foods, salty foods, burgers, and sweets and kept a sane calorie budget. Along with medication that brought my high blood pressure down from a walking heart attack level to elevated but still didn't do much for my cholesterol or weight (5 pound weight loss).
Second Step 3 months and counting - It was a simple matter of increasing my exercise regimen from non existent to a relative intense resistance based regimen that's now up to around 2 hours four times a week. I've lost about 10 pounds but I've probably platued.
The third step is going to be the hardest for me, cut back on meat and start eating more vegetables and fruit and cut out non diet sodas (yeah I know about the studies with diet sodas.) Goal is about another 10 pounds of weight loss.
Honestly, my biggest concern is not losing weight at this point just being healthier.
That's the only 100% banned item in my diet because fried stuff makes my skin look ashen and ugly. Whenever fried foods come up in conversations everyone immediately assumes I am talking about fats vs carbs and proteins. Google does too. I can eat most any fats, even butter sticks, no problem. I was wondering if anyone knows why fried foods are so bad.
Also but not likely to be the reason for your symptoms - cooking with vegetable oils releases toxic chemicals linked to cancer and other diseases,
But cut out all sodas ASAP (even diet sodas). Imagine that all sodas are addictive mild poisons. That would help you to replace sodas with water.
Stopping soda intake would probably allow you to lose another 10 pounds without extra effort.
I feel like this just doesn't work, like, at all. "Poison" is a strong term, and as bad as soda can be, it just isn't a poison; the contrast is too strong to properly work, in my mind.
It should be noted however that even sugar free carbonated drinks are bad for your teeth.
And about soda: I'd suggest simply cutting down on soda altogether. Once they are out of the normal loop, it isn't so bad to have a soda once a month or something. I eventually just quit: nearly all soda tastes like syrup. The main exception is one they sell here that is basically watered down, carbonated fruit juice. As a bonus, you can still have the thing you enjoy from time to time.
I've noticed that veggies are hugely important to making me feel good, probably because of the fiber and the fact that I'm eating them instead of processed crap.
It drive me crazy, though, trying to find recipes that have lots of veggies, but still a little bit of meat. I like meat, and no desire to become a vegetarian of any sort, I just want to have 90% veggies, 10% meat, or something around that. It is really hard to find that balance in recipes. I usually just take a recipe and add a ton of veggies. That works, kinda, but I really wish it was easier to find recipes that already figured that stuff out.
I got an Instant Pot for xmas, and while it isn't worth the hype, I've found some good recipes for it. One is Chicken and Dumplings. Really tasty, but I added red pepper, green pepper, celery, carrots, and onions to the recipe, and greatly reduced the dumplings. It took about 4-5 tries before I found a new version of the recipe that we liked. I'd like it if I could find that recipe straight up. "High Veggie" recipes, or something.
I'm mostly vegetarian - I eat fish once or twice a week. but I use meat replacements. it makes it slightly easier, but not completely. Before this, I cut down on meat greatly - I had gallbladder problems and later got that organ removed, so digesting meat is weird for me. My digestive system is happier this way.
Stir-fries are good. In many recipes that you have small bits of meat (diced chicken, ground beef, and the like) you can replace part of the meat with veggies. It doesn't take a lot of meat to add flavor or get your protein. Soups are generally flexible. Pasta sauces can take a lot of veggies in them (a stick blender will make the texture smoother). Simple dishes of meat with sides are a great way to add veggies since you can easily adjust your portions. Grilled cheese - or toasted cheese made in the oven, especially open-faced - gives some veggies.
Another great way to make sure you get veggies is to limit meat to one meal a day. Or simply make sure you look at other meals and snacks to fit them in. Eat fruit instead of drinking fruit juice in the morning. Snack on bell pepper or carrots. If you look at intake through the day instead of individual meals, it might be easier to achieve. You can average through the week as well so you have more flexibility. That might mean you have some nights with fewer vegetables and others that have little to no meat.