I concur w/everyone. It's basic math: ya gotta put out more than you take in and the only way to do that is to eat less and exercise more. Not the answer you wanted to hear, I'm sure, but it's the truth. Several years ago, I went on a low fat, low carb diet and the weight melted off and stayed off until menopause. Now I have to eat half as much just to maintain; losing weight is even more difficult. So you're on the right track to do it now while you're young and still having periods because when your periods stop, your metabolism grinds to a halt. (Usually. I'm sure there are exceptions but all my crone friends agree w/me. ) I bought a cookbook that has yummy recipes that have only 6 grams of fat. I ate only 6 grams of fat a day until the weight came off and it was truly easy. Good luck. You can do it, girl!

P.S. Ignore your brother's remarks. Men have a totally different dynamic when it comes to weight loss. Unfortunately, most of them have one thing in common: insensitivity to and ignorance of women's body issues. You need encourgement, not berating. You'll get encourgement here. Keep us posted. We're w/ya!