My two cents...

I have sifted through a lot of posts on here about eating enough calories to avoid starvation mode. It just doesn't make much sense to me that your body is starving if your not feeling hungry.
So, my thought is, eat healthy, eat when your hungry, eat slowly. Exercise is obviously important. Exercise as much as you can, as hard as you can (expect to be sore, but don't strain to the point of injury)
As a mom, I don't always have the time, energy, or third hand to break down every part of my diet, and count every calorie to the exact digit. I can't always track everything perfectly and do the math to make sure I am changing my diet at the right pace, and stressing about it will only slow the process.
That being said, keeping track of what you eat and what it does in calories is a wonderful way to see what you really eat, and to find out where your weak points are, it has worked for me in the past, and is doing the job now.
Remember, fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean meats, and if you just have to have that one sweet thing after dinner, or at snack time, make it yourself, so you can make the healthy substitutions.
A "diet" is not a short term thing, its the way you eat, everyday, you whole life. Make it a healthy one, but also a happy one,because, if your miserable, whats the point?

Keep in mind I wrote this (albeit somewhat incoherently) as a mom with a baby under a year, not extremely obese, and mostly healthy. Not everyone is the same, some decisions you need to make by listening to your own body, no one knows you better than you do.

If you got this far, thank you, and I apologize if its a bit hard to follow...I tend to ramble!