You are making progress jxyzobrien, it is the same for all of us at the start, so keep working on it one step at a time.
Side sleeping is best, sleeping on your back is likely to increase apnea and snoring.
If you are a GORD [reflux] sufferer like me, sleeping on your left side helps reduce the reflux disrupting your sleep, something to do with the way our insides are designed and how all the plumbing lays when we are horizontal.
I'm not a fan of 'fad diets' to deal with weight issues.
When I was 15 kilograms above what I should have been, I went over to the idea of having my main meals dished up on a lunch plate rather than a dinner plate.
The lunch plate holds a smaller amount, thus reducing my portion size of each meal, while still looking like a proper meal on a plate.
It got my weight back down closer to what it should be.. though I need to start watching it as it is sneaking back up recently since I lost my job.
I like the idea of the 5/2 'diet'.... some years ago I came up with the idea of a 6/1 diet plan that helped me control the weight again [should have modified it and marketed the idea
]
Basically the 5/2 theory is to eat 'normally' for five days of the week, and not eat for two days of the week, just drink water/fluids.
The idea is that it reduces the total food portions consumed over the period of a week compared to eating seven days a week.
I'm going to start this week by not eating on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I need to drop 5kg to 7kg at the moment.
Don't get too disheartened when you have the odd nights of large leaks or high AHI numbers, we all have ups and downs, the average over 3 months to a year is what to be looking at [my personal opinion only, and for my driving licence compliance it is only the annual average my specialist and the driving licence authority are interested in]
Ock.