There are so many diets and systems out there today that promise to help you lose weight. Most of them will, in fact, do just that.
But is it what you really want to do?
Your body is composed of many things: Bones, Internal Organs, Skin, Muscle, Water, and Fat. All of them are necessary for health. A certain amount of body fat is necessary for good health. But when your body fat levels exceed the amount necessary for health, you expose yourself to a number of potential problems.
In that circumstance, you don't need to lose weight, you need to lose body fat. This is a significant distinction.
Radical dieting and extreme cardiovascular activity will help you lose body fat, but they will also cause your body to consume lean muscle mass. In losing lean muscle mass, your metabolic rate slows and your body tends to hold onto fat even harder as a protective measure.
Losing body fat is not a mystery, however, and it does not require radical diets or extreme exercise or expensive supplements. It requires that you burn more calories than you consume, that you exercise in a way that targets fat stores, and that you exercise in a way which conserves or even builds lean muscle tissue.
So throw away the "no carb" diets and the "no fat" diets. Your mother was right: a balanced diet is still the best way to eat. As to the exercise portion of the problem, see a qualified trainer for an exercise program that targets the body fat you want to lose and spares the muscle that you need.
Don't lose weight, lose fat.
For a good source of nutritional information for the serious trainer, we recommend "Power Eating" by Susan Kleiner. See our Bookstore page for this book and other recommendations.