Early on, I lost weight just by thinking about it. I shed pounds easily. I wasn't trying to crash diet, so I lost weight naturally over the course of 18-24mo. Then I hit a plateau about 18mo ago that I couldn't break -- more exercise, less exercise, triathlon training, yard work ... nothing. I could fight it, track every gram and eat perfectly for 2wks and maybe squeeze 1-2lb off my frame, or I could eat whatever I wanted and gain the same 1-2.
So biggest bang for the buck ... I need to allocate my calories throughout the day to keep my metabolism running. I'm doing 300-500 at breakfast, 500 at lunch, a few for snacks at 10 and 1 and the remainder at dinner. I feel better, and the scale is drifting down once again.