New to this

What I did was just follow what MyFitnessPal set out for me. I put in that I wanted to lose 1lb/week and that's what I've done for the past 13 weeks in a row. I try to get some kind of exercise every day. Some days it's a 45 min spin class or run and some days it's just a 20 min walk. I still allow myself some treats every day and you are welcome to look in my food diary. I didn't have to give up anything other than I've chosen to stop drinking soda because I would rather eat my calories rather than drink them.

Welcome! Weight loss is pretty straightforward-begin accurately tracking your food intake, start paying attention to portion sizes (a cheap kitchen scale is a great help here), and stay within your calorie parameters. That's it. You also don't have to cut out any foods you like or make drastic changes-you can continue eating the foods you enjoy, just less of them

Also, there's nothing wrong with chocolate, fast food etc etc. However, you do need to learn how to fit them into your calorie parameters. Pre-logging your food for the day is a great way to do this. For example-if I know I'm going to have a beer on a Friday night it's the first thing I log in my food diary in the morning, and then I build the rest of my daily calories around it, to make everything fit

I recently re-started. I am a caretaker and the truth is I quit caring for myself so I put on the 30 lbs I had lost. I find that it is amazing how just clean eating and cutting things like sodas and fast food really seem to show results in a few weeks. I have a lot further to go, but for me, I allow for the things I love, just once a week. Not a cheat day, but a cheat meal. I can accurately plan the day to fit my meal, or choose healthier options of the cheat meal such as cauliflower crust pizza instead of from the local delivery place. Also, chocolate is not your enemy, just make sure you are eating a dark think 70% of organic chocolate and portion it. You can also make avocado mousse with raw cocao powder, stevia or splenda and an avocado.
And logging is my friend. I was appalled the first few days of logging to admit what I was actually eating. But it really motivated me to want to meet the goal that MFP says in order to lose at because I know it works, I see all these people meeting their goals!