That being said, I haven't changed my exercise regiment since I started, so I consider that being a "wash." My "regular" diet hasn't significantly changed, just "tweaked."

My diet is a low "simple" carb diet with a little "paleo" mixed it. I have done my best to cut out bread, processed sugar, pasta, rice, etc. as well as processed food. My only exception to processed food are the protein & nut bars I snack on instead of candy. I'm a chocoholic and a ice-cream-aholic, the latter is what put the pounds on me in the first place.

I also try to bump my protein intake by adding a protein shake every day. I also don't worry about fat. Fat keeps you satiated, and that's a good thing. I try to eat "good fat," and just don't worry about how much I consume.

Since I prepare most of my meals, I don't worry about breaking diet when I'm eating out...I just try to not go overboard.

I have also reduced my drinks to only coffee and water. I'll have diet sodas when I'm out or on the road, but they aren't a typical daily drink.

I read food labels and track everything I consume. Tracking helps me make better choices. One example I like to use is that I found I can eat ~4 strips of bacon for every sausage patty. Since I love the taste of both, this isn't a sacrifice. Now I thought turkey bacon was supposed to be this really healthy alternative, but I found there isn't much of a difference in calories or grams of fat/protein between a strip of turkey bacon and an strip of pork bacon. After that revelation, I'll never buy turkey bacon again...lol

My recommendation is to NOT try to "diet," but to gradually evolve your food and drink intake into something that will help you lose, then maintain a healthier weight. It's more of a "lifestyle" diet change. You have to evolve your diet into something you can maintain for the long term. A short term diet or exercise regiments will work, but as soon as you go off of the diet or stop exercising like a mad man, your weight will return. I rode that horse too many times before I came to the conclusion that diet controls your body fat, and exercise controls your level of fitness. You'll have long term success if think of it that way.

One last thing, keep hitting the scales after you've hit your target weight. What you want to do is to stop any weight gains early. It's much easier to lose 5 pounds than 50 pounds...lol