I have kept a daily diary of everything I injest, along with my weight and activities, for months now, and believe it or not, just journaling like that has helped me to shave off a few pounds. Not a lot, mind you, but about 10-12 since February. It seems that on weekdays, I have coffee, then a granola bar and a piece of fruit in the morning (maybe a second piece of fruit or small can of fruit late morning), a sandwich and chips or slaw in the afternoon, with a little something sweet a bit later if I feel like it, then a regular homemade dinner of some sort, a can of soda and sometimes an Edy's fruit bar in the evening. Weekends, of course are far different with eating out and not sticking to a schedule, and that sometimes brings the weight back up a bit, only to be lost when the schedule returns to my workday one. In the long run, it appears to be burning more than taking in, so I'm pretty happy to just journal and not really "diet". My only real conscious effort is to not reach for a soda whenever I feel thirsty. I feel like one a day is good, with two cans on the weekends. I like soda, and can't get used to diet ones, so this is what I decided to do.
BC