I've been on a serious fat loss quest which has been quite success. Started Nov 1st and have lost 25lbs in ~2.5 months. I highly suggest everyone to read the bodybuilding.com forums as they have been the most enlightening thing as I am a complete novice.
Start here:
How to lose fat for Noobs Part II and here:
Calculating Calorie & Macronutrient Needs
Here are the rules:
-Eat 1g to about 85% of your weight in pounds (e.g. 200lbs = 170gs). This is where protein powders are your friend because it may be unfeasible to eat this much protein through foods.
-Calculate your maintenance calories (the amount of calories you need to live according to your activity level) then eat about 85% of that amount.
-Meal timing and frequency is
IRRELEVANT. The only thing that matters is your calorie intake at the end of any 24 hour period. Don't believe that crap where you have to eat every 3 hours. Eating 400 calories 6 times a day is the same as eating 1200 calories 2 times a day (except much more annoying). You can eat once a day and still lose weight so long as you eat all the macronutrients you need and still hit your deficit in that one meal. It's called the Warrior Diet, look it up.
-If you run a 500 calorie deficit per day after 7 days you will lose 1lb. One pound of fat contains 3500 calories. Whether that 1lb loss is fat or fat and muscle is dependent on your protein intake and lifting routine.
-Sources of carbs/fats/proteins are irrelevant. All that matters are the carbs/fats/proteins so pay attention to what you're eating. You can actually eat nothing but chocolate cake and BBQ ribs and lose weight so long as you're running a calorie deficit. You'll probably lose muscle and be mentally broken from constant hunger pains as those are calorie dense but definitely lose weight.
-Aerobic cardio is unnecessary. Unless you're doing high intensity interval training (1min sprint, 1min jog, 1min sprint, etc.) all aerobic cardio does is burn calories so that your deficit for the day is now larger. Energy used for aerobic cardio is derived 75% from fat and 25% from muscle so it may be counter-productive to your goals if you do a lot of cardio. In all respects heavy weight lifting is better. It will both burn calories anaerobically (approaching 100% fat burn and no muscle loss) and cause after burn (soreness) which will burn calories long after you stop lifting and eventually train your muscles to use more calories in a day so that your deficit is easier to hit. Of course cardio is good for your heart and lungs but that's a different topic.
So do your weight lifting, eat 15% below your maintenance calories and get lots and lots of protein, but do not neglect your fats. Use carbs as only when necessary as they are proportionally less important in the quest for fat loss.
And here's my favorite motivating video.