There is so much you need to learn, but that is OK...its hard, confusing and most of all just straight frustrating....You are a beginner and chances are that you will not go all the way and accept this way of life, but if you do. Well if you do your whole life will change for the better, you will find that not only you will look better but you will be a completely different person, it will make you a more disciplined person in ALL parts of your life, it will bring you complete euphoria.......So lets start by discussing "DIET".........Calling your diet a "DIET" will most certaintly make you FAIL at your DIET....there is no quick fix to loose the fat/weight. You need to make a lifestyle change, this new "diet" needs to be how you live your life. You need to sit down and figure out what and how much exactly you are eating. Then you need to transfer it into numbers. And then you need to adjust the numbers. For example if you are currently eating/drinking 3000 calories per day and this keeps you at a certain weight, lets say 160 pounds, then you know that your "maintnance calories" are 3000 per day. So the next step is to make adjustments to eat 2500 calories per day and see what that does. If you are a begginer (and it sounds like you are), then that means to cut the regular soda to diet soda, the beef witch chicken and replacing the chips with druits like berries. If you are a little more advanced, it means replacing the chicken with fish and cutting out some other things that are not needed. You see, there is not such thing as a "DIET". Diets make you loose the weight (muscle) and keep that fat, you you become weak, skinny but still remain flabby. What you want to do is a "lifestyle" where you just get comfortable with the things you eat every single day in your life.....OH and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE dont waste your money on "diet pills" its complete bull shit...
this is not easy, and you will most likeley fail at it like most who realise that a great body does not cost 5 easy payments of 39.99, or only three easy sessions at the gym per week. this is hard work, but make it part of you, make it your LIFESTYLE.