Before you decide to start a diet, you have to know what type of dieter you are, how patient you are and how much you want or need to lose. Are you willing to be more active, do you have to prepare family meals, time to cook etc.
If you are a carb-addict, believe me, you will not succeed with the Atkins diet (unless you are very determined and have no social life). Do you have a (big) family, then it’s needless to say that you are not looking to cook two meals every day and your family might be very supportive, they don’t want to eat salads every night.
Also, you might want to think about adjusting your current diet, rather then starting a (fad)diet and not knowing what to do afterwards. I believe in a lifestyle change when it comes to losing or maintaining weight. Try to find your weakest point in your eating habit. Love the chocolate? Don’t punish yourself by not eating it at all anymore, but try to compensate it by cutting out other foods. I’m a strong believer of moderation. Everything is allowed, as long as it’s in moderation. By cutting a food out completely, you are only going to crave it more.
I gave up on milk products a while ago and replaced them with (light)soy products. I used to love my meat (on my plate, not on my bones) and ate far too much of it. Now, I eat it once a month at most and I must say,I don’t miss it, also because I don’t deprive myself completely from it. I will never become a full vegetarian (it is my aim, but might not be realistic with my lifestyle), because I don’t want my social life to be interfered in any way. So when I visit my mom, I know I will get that meat on my plate and I will eat it. But knowing I contribute in the wellness of my body and environment by not eating meat daily, is good enough for me. So instead of filling my plate with meat and empty carbs, I fill it with extra veggies and whole grain carbs.
Start with finding out what you want to change about your eating habits, cause most people know very well what they should change.

If you are very determent, I would suggest (if you are a healthy adult with no health complications) that you start your lifetime change with a detox diet. This can be a raw food diet, liquid diet, fruits and vegetables diet or even a waterfast. This is to kick start your weight loss and to clean your body and mind from all the bad habits. It depends on every person on how long you can and are willing to detox for. I myself did a 6 day fast, with only one teaspoon of honey when I was feeling faint.
After your detox, you want to build it up very slowly! Start adding one food group every few days and see how you react on it. By adding little by little, you will be totally in control of what goes in to your body and after a while, you will know exactly what to eat with what and what not to eat. So to put it short:
-Find out how you want and can change your eating habits
-Find a suitable detox program
-Follow your own advise on what is best for you.

Raw food diet
I did this for over two month, cause I just loved it. I loved the energy I got from it, the clean feeling and being able to eat a lot of the allowed foods.
It’s basically very easy. The most of the diet consists of raw fruits and vegetables. You can have raw nuts as well. BUT! I did this during the summer, when I had no needs for cooked meals. In the winter I don’t think I could manage this diet for the obvious reasons.

Liquid diet
Consists of…..liquids. Water, green tea, fresh fruit juices and fresh vegetable juices. Juicing your food will make it very easy for your body to digest. I do suggest you to use a proper juicer and also to put in the skin of the fruits where it’s possible, so you get the benefits of the containing fiber.

Fruit and vegetable detox
Well, that says it all; just fruits and vegetables. Keep in mind that you don’t combine the fruits, especially melons. I did this one also during the summer and really enjoyed it.

Water fast
This one is only for people who are already experienced with any fasts. The first three days are horrible and you better make sure you don’t have any obligations those days. After three days it goes better and you will find yourself with more energy. If it’s your first time doing a water fast, I suggest that you tell yourself it’s for three days. After three days you can decide whether to go on or quit. When you come of a water fast, you have to be very careful with food. Your mind will be craving all kinds of food and before you know it, it was all for nothing.

Keep in mind that most of the weightloss during a fast is waterweight and you will be putting most of it back on when you start to eat again, but it is a good start for your body. After a fast, your body will be using the energy far more effective then before and you will probably only need 75% of what you would normally eat to feel satisfied. Don’t forget to drink enough water during any fast/diet! And don’t eat anything you can’t pronounce.