Diet options

Hi. I have lost 55lbs following the Low GI (Glycemic Index) diet from the book by Rick Gallup. It is called a diet but really is a change to a healthier life style. I have kept the weight off for 18 months now and am currently working on losing the last 10lbs. It is a slow and steady, healthy! method that worked for me at the age of 40 after having 3 kids. A key part of my weight loss was committing to minimum of 30-40 mins exercise 6 days per week.Good luck

Any diet will work provided your calorie intake is less than your TDEE. Simple. You don't need diets, shakes, pills, etc. Put the work in and you will lose weight.

Use MFP, meet your calorie goals, increase your cardio workout and add more weight to your strength workout.

Just pick good, wholesome food, log it into MFP at a calorie deficit and that is all you need.

what would be considered wholesome foods?

Log your food every day. You're not doing that. You need to log every single bite you take. Eat all of your calories, and your exercise calories. Trust me on this - you don't want to screw up your metabolism (you are way too young to have to deal with that for the rest of your life).
Wholesome foods are generally considered fruits, veggies, lean proteins (chicken, lean cuts of beef, etc), whole grains, healthy fats (olive oil, nuts, some dairy, etc). Eat those types of foods most of the time and eat other foods some of the time. It's okay to still have cookies, candy, pizza, etc (I do!), as long as you are trying to meet your nutritional needs as well.