Juice, pop, alcohol, and other flavored drinks contain tons of empty calories. Tons. Replacing most of your liquids with water will easily cause a reduction in the number of calories you consume daily, thus increasing the amount of weight you lose.
Carbs are also interesting. They get digested easy and cause a quick blood sugar rush after eating. While this is good for getting you going, it’s not good for keeping your energy going throughout the day. What this means is you’ll eat more to compensate for the hunger, you’ll have a snack here and there, etc. Try exchanging carbs for protein and veggies – instead of a sandwich for lunch, try a chicken topped garden salad. For a more evident difference, try it in the morning. One day make a toast or cereal breakfast and note what time you get hungry, and how that hunger feels. Then on another day make an eggs and bacon breakfast (two eggs, two bacon slices, some juice or milk or coffee). I find that the no-carb breakfast fills me up for longer and when I do get hungry it is not a painful hunger.
Ultimately the best way to lose weight is to watch what energy you put into yourself, and strive to expend more energy than you usually do daily. I strongly recommend you do NOT list any foods as being 100% off limits”, such as a piece of chocolate cake – you will only think and want that cake more and more, you’ll feel bad about thinking of the cake, and if you do break down and eat that cake you may eat the ENTIRE cake while crying and feeling bad for yourself. What’s best is to live a life of moderation, have a small bit of cake and stop at that, because YOU are the one in control. It’s very true what they say, weight loss is a lifestyle change. :)