A plan is a must, to be sure, no matter what it is. Another calorie counter here! and i write stuff down - that's also a weird hobby LOL I'm not crafty at all but I have beautiful journal and I 'scrapbook' stuff into as well as my food intakes - things on how i'm feeling, inspirational words of wisdom, and stickers and glue and pretty papers and fun shapes keep me BUSY when I feel a snack-attack coming on ;)

One piece of advice I'd offer, is to start slowly. Jumping in whole-hog is very exciting and you're all gung-ho and going to buy workout dvds etc, but if you're just getting started that might all be a bit overwhelming. I like the idea of the breaking it down into weekly goals at first -- week 1, cut out fast food, week 2, take a 10 minute walk every day and no fast food, etc. each week add something new in so it's not such a shock to the system.

My system, when shocked, likes to go back to the way things WERE and in a hurry LOL so i have to trick it!

Remember too, that "plan" doesn't mean you need a 10 page manifesto with schematics outlining the do's and don'ts of your weight loss journey.

My plan is super simple. I aim for around 1500 calories. I try to steer toward healthier foods (veggies, lean meats, fruits, low fat dairy). And I take walks. That's about it. Oh, and I don't punish myself when I slip up.

It can be as simple as you want it to be. But know that the more rules you make for yourself, the more opportunity there is to make a "mistake" and that can be really de-motivating, making you feel like you've "failed" when you might be doing just fine...

I agree with having a plan. I also count calories and recently (as in yesterday - LOL) started using Dialy Plate. I also bought the app for my Blackberry (it was only 2.99). I like that it gives me an idea of how many calories I should consume every day. I'm sure I'll have to tweak it depending on how my body responds.