i went from ~250 to ~210 from december 2010 to april 2011. bodyfat from ~27% to ~16.5%. these numbers are from bod pod testing.
today, i'm 6' 1/2", weigh 212 and i'm 39 years old. to maintain this weight, i literally eat anything i want.
to lose the 40 lbs, i didn't do anything special. really. a moderate calorie reduction and exercise. i was consistent and patient. i like to "zig-zag" my diet, so i have high/medium/low days in terms of both calorie deficit and exercise.
i didn't put any special emphasis on cutting carbs or eating more protein. i still lost a good amount of fat and little LBM in a short amount of time. i gave you my true, accurate numbers above, so you can calculate fat vs. lbm loss if you are so inclined.
my goal now is to get down to 195 by this time next year. why am i going to go so slowly? because i'm reasonably fit already, this weight will be tougher to lose. also, as my "set point" is right about this weight, if i lose it fast, i'll almost certainly gain it all back (and what would be the point of that). i need to get my body used to and willing to accept the weightloss.
do you have any idea where you are and where you want to go?
my advice is to take your time. lose the weight relatively slowly. don't get sucked into fast weightloss plans that are not sustainable. work to lose 1-2 lbs. per week.
most importantly, only be as restrictive as you need to be. what i mean is, in the beginning, the weight should be relatively "easy" to lose, but it gets harder the more you lose. you'll have to gradually work harder. but if you start off "all guns blazing", you'll probably stall after a few short months. your body will have already adapted to heavy restrictions and you'll have nowhere to go. and you'll probably be at a greater danger to gain it back.
slow and steady wins this race.