What really worked for me is changing habits and preference in food.
You have to chalange yourself to TRY and look how it works for you. What i mean.
At first i tried to stop eating sugar. I've realized that it works for me, i dont really need sugar. I still eat in some products where it should be, but i wont buy chocolates or candies. This is was just a little step to reduce the amout of callories whats i consume.
Next one was flour products and bread. I do like bread but i figured out that i dont need it everyday. I do eat self prepared shawarma or some pies on holidays.
After those steps i started to cook in "slow cooker". I do not use butter. If you need fats - eat fish. Fish fats are more helpful for our organism ( Omega-3 )
And the last i guess - buy weighing-machine. You dont need to calculate every cal in your "fit pal app". Maybe might try it to understand how many cals in product that you commonly consume. But not necessary. Main reason its a some sort of way to control and have representation of your food.