I'm going to chime in here. Back in April i decided enough was enough i was 43 40 lbs overweight and i looked like sh*t. Its the typical story your in shape get married have 3 kids and start a career you forget about taking care of yourself. You learn a lot about your body what works and does not work when it comes to food. There is a saying in the fitness industry its eat average look average. People who are in good shape and fit don't eat the average typical american diet. They do things very differently. The short answer find out what your TDEE is(total daily energy expenditure) and eat less then that the weight falls right off. Its a dynamic number it always changes as you lose weight. The weight scale does not tell the whole story. You want to lose body fat but not lose any muscle that's important imo. Those fad diets suck you lose muscle as well as fat so they are a really bad idea. Its the end of the summer now i have gone from 206 to 167 just shy of 40 lbs lost and my body fat started in the high 20's down to 11% and i'm the best shape of my life. Weight loss comes down to 4 things. Mental outlook,good nutrition,cardio and resistance training. You get those 4 things right you will look better then 90% of the population. Buy this book
http://www.amazon.com/Burn-Fat-Feed-...eed+the+muscle its awesome. Once you understand how the human body works you will never struggle with weight loss ever again. Its a lifestyle change fad diets are stupid and expensive they don't work long term. Best of luck with your fitness journey.