<human>: Can you summarize the given text in a few sentences?

I'm a 24 year old, 240lb, 5'9 girl, and I am going to once again try to lose my extra weight. 

I'm a former athlete; as a teenager I excelled in team sports at state level, so I have lots of unused muscle that has turned to fat, just waiting to be reshaped. I have always been a "bigger" girl, I have a larger build, strong arms and legs, but a sports injury (now healed) and a severe depression gave me the excuse to eat all my feelings and balloon up to my current weight.

I tried strength training with a personal trainer last summer, who told me that if I worked out 5 times a week, with power walks on the weekend, the muscle training would be the fastest way to get in shape. I adhered to his diet and workout plan for 4 months, but plateaued after the first month and a half, and only ended up losing 18 lbs (which I stupidly put back on). Was he right, is weight training and crunches really the fastest path to weight loss when your goal is to lose copious amounts of fat? Or would I be better to focus more on cardio? I know it's unrealistic to think it will happen overnight, but I need to see steady results because I get discouraged and down on myself way too easily. Any help is appreciated.
<bot>: Aside from diet and drinking lots of water, what's the best way for a severely obese woman to start losing weight?