I lost 4 and a half stone last year by doing the following
1. Keeping my daily calories between 1,200 - 1,350
2. Excercising to work out dvds a few times a week nothing to excessive as it's a lower calorie diet that helps you lose weight the most
3. I didn't cut any food out, I had everything I wanted as long as it was in my calorie range, I had a subway once, a mcDonalds chicken burger another day, one time I had 2 chocolate bars in the same day. I just took the calories from my daily allowance of 1,200-1,350.
4. I lost between 2-3 pounds a week doing this
5. It took me about 5 or 6 months give or take
6. I bought alot of weight watchers ready made meals like spaghetti bolognaise, lasagne, chicken curry etc.. which made it easier for me to keep track of calories, as I didn't have to work them out.
7. I used sweetener in my tea, saves around 16 calories a teapoon, so if you have 3 sugars in your tea like me that saves 16 x 3 worth of cals - it all adds up.
8. I drank alot of diet drinks, like pepsi max and diet lemonade and low calorie hot chocolate if I craved something sweet.