Hi!
I think the best way to lose weight is a way that you can maintain for the rest of your life. Keep in mind that fad diets are intended to be stopped after some time because you can't maintain them. Once you do, you gain the weight back.
I count calories and try to eat healthy. I use sparkpeople.com (there is also livestrong.com) to guide me because it tells me how many calories I should eat a day. I never eat less than 1200 calories a day, because doing so puts you at risk for starvation mode and loss of muscle (for females, males should eat no less than 1500 calories)
I don't restrict anything either. I sometimes have M&Ms once in a while, and if I have the calories for it. I do however try to avoid Trans Fats because they are very unhealthy for your heart...Good luck!