Don’t get hung up on a number (20 lbs) unless your doctor said so. Find out your BMI (goolgle it) and aim for that.
This diet plan has kept me on target:
* Breakfast should either be a bowl of cereal or oatmeal, plus a banana. Never skip breakfast (unless its shabbos or a taanis)
* Make milkshakes with yogurt instead of ice cream
* Soup has no limit, (homemade only)
* No take out food, no store bought food. Eating salad with dressing you buy at a store can easily top 200 calories. The calories and fat for deep fried chicken is off the charts. Making the same thing at home (and baking the chicken) will give you a fighting chance. And things you bake at home are much less fattening than store bought stuff, plus you can control the serving size (the size of your fist is the size to aim for)
* Avoid anything that has hydrogenated anything in it
* No food past 8:00pm
All in all, the 1st step to weight loss / control is deciding that you want to do it. You have made that 1st step. Congradulations!