What about calorie counting? I think the best way to lose some fat is to add up the sum of the calories of what you're eating, as the day goes by. In time, this will create an ability to know which foods are too rich and which are ok. Also, they allow management of appetite/hunger by allocating the rest of the calories for the rest of time. I personally found it much easier to eat on a budget of 1200 or 1400 calories a day than following a regime that forbids some kinds of foods or aims to make food less palatable. I lost 30 pounds that way and was able to keep my new weight in the following 5 years. I used an iPhone App for actual counting and calorie database lookups. Also, physical activities can be tracked and added up to the daily budget. If I walk for 2 hours, then I can have an extra meal, if I want to take it.
TL;DR Calorie counting makes for mindful eating and changes habits, without suffering.
If you were only 30 pounds overweight then you probably didn't have the types of problems that most Americans have: metabolic disorder / obesity / diabetes. To fix this problem requires not just a reduction in calories, but a repair of the insulin levels and an increase in water soluble fibre for lipid production.
TL;DR Calorie counting makes for mindful eating and changes habits, without suffering.