<human>: I've been lurking on r/loseit for a while and have decided to make my first post. I've always been a plus-sized/curvy girl, hovered around a size 16-18 in high school (didn't weigh myself back then). In my senior year I managed to lose an awesome amount of weight and got to around a size 12. Then, slowly, over the 4 years that I was in college, I gained it all back, and then some. I'm now 23. A few months ago I went to the doctor and faced the scale for the first time -- I was beyond shocked to see that I was 297 pounds (now a size 20/22). I thought, at most, I would've been 250. 

I decided to make a change then, but only in the past month or so have I gotten really serious about it. I got a part-time job at a restaurant where I'm walking/on my feet for 5/6 hours at a time. I've had a hard time being consistent with my dieting -- losing weight this time around is harder than when I was 18, which I did not expect. The trouble I've had with my dieting has been really discouraging, making me wonder if I have it in me to do all this again.

This is the first week I've been really stringent about my dieting, and tracking my steps with my Fitbit. This morning, I tried on a pair of pajama pants my mom bought me a few months ago that were a little snug back then. But now they fit perfect! I stepped on the scale and I'm at 290, 7 pounds down from when I was weighed at the doctor's. That's mostly from my restaurant job, and I have a really, REALLY long way to go, but I'm really happy to have some encouragement after a tough time starting out. 

Sorry if this is not an appropriate post, I just really wanted to share this. It's a very small milestone, but as my mom says, baby steps are still steps and I have a renewed hope in my journey.

Thanks for reading!

Can you summarize the given text in a few sentences?
<bot>: 23-year-old female, had a tough time starting out, but down 7 pounds from lots of walking and have renewed hope in my journey!