I would recommend that you lift weights - gain muscle, and increase your basal metabolic rate (the calories you burn while at rest). It will make fat-loss much more efficient, and relax the caloric restriction requirements a great deal compared to the cardio-only route. Cardio+diet has a tendency to result in muscle loss in greater proportion than fat loss - folks tend to look flabbier, despite the scale sporting a more cheerful number.
In terms of diet itself, the main shift if weight-lifting would be to increase protein intake somewhat, at the expense of carbs (though nothing near Atkins or keto or similar - diets are fairly benign unless you are trying to break into the sub-10% bodyfat threshold). If you can find a broad set of guidelines you like and just wing it thereafter, great - it is true that, within reason and with the right activity level, most diets will do. But if you are the kind of person who needs things to be better planned out, have a look at this site, which is something similar to what I found helpful in constructing my strategy.
The trouble one has with females when it comes to weight-lifting is in combating the notion that they will rapidly become mannish boobless muscled amazons (it won't happen without pharmaceutical enhancement, or dedication bordering sick obsession). With men, the main trouble is ego - it has to be left at the door. You have to be willing to lift what appear to be embarrassingly low numbers (at first), and it may seem silly to be lifting weights, especially if you are older; but keep in mind that 9/10 people lifting weights are NOT bodybuilders, they are just interested in general health and fitness). And a trouble for everyone is getting drowned in information, some of it unclear, some of it conflicting. There is no way around that, short of hiring a personal trainer. Find a strategy, go at it, and tune things later. The only thing to get right the first time is 'form'.
If you are willing to consider the weight lifting route, two free resources I would recommend are:
The first link is to an online fitness community - do not be intimidated by the connotation of "bodybuilding". I found the "Workout Programs", "Over Age 35", and "Workout Journals" sections to be particularly helpful, especially the "stickies" at the top of every subforum. There is some shilling for buying supplements, but most of that stuff is worthless.
The second link is to a dumbbell-only exercise routine (other routines are "better", but require barbells and a squat rack - it will take a few months of home workouts to be able to tell if investing in that equipment, or a gym membership, makes any sense). There are videos showing proper form and range-of-motion - proper form is CRITICAL for avoiding injury, and there is a fat-loss section there somewhere. Anyway, a dumbbell set should be fairly inexpensive (I bought mine from Wal*Mart, something like $40, though an exercise ball in addition would be helpful).
I went from 30% to 12% bodyfat with weight-lifting (2 years, upgrading to barbell set with bench and squat rack at month 4). Size 48 waist to size 34. At 2000 to 3000 calories per day (depending on specific routine and activity level of day). Protein shakes to keep food costs and kitchen time down, and that is it for "weirdness". Pretty good, considering a sedentary desk job and less than an hour of cardio per week. With a high BMR, weight maintenance is fairly trivial (but some explicit fitness activity is non-negotiable, as is reasonable dietary restraint).
What about for a young guy that no matter what I do to get the blood flowing, I never feel fully awake?
I was thinking today of getting a bike. Then I thought about what I feel like all day every day, and that leaning would probably make me fall. I had also hit the best condition I was ever in when I was 14-15, doing a leg press of 400lbs when I didn’t weigh 100.
I’m getting love handles and it makes me sad. For diet, I like to eat. I could try starting with a clean slate, but I dunno how long I could keep it up.