I agree, don't cut your calories lower than 1200 a day. Going lower than that actually has the reverse effect on your body and slows down your weight loss process since your body goes into "survival mode" because you dont have enough nutrients. Once this happens, your body actually starts storing fat because you have no other energy sources. If you eat small balanced meals 4- 5 times a day, it keeps your body running healthy all day. If you go online, I think 24 hour fitness may have one, they have an online calculator that determines how much your body burns all on its own a day, with out doing anything (usually 1200+)
and it varies depending on your age, height, and weight. There are also calculators that determine what your calorie intake should be. To lose weight healthy you want to burn about 400- 500 calories less. So you dont starve yourself, burn the majority of the calories with exercise (one cycling class at the gym burns like 450 calories alone!). I am not a fan of appetite suppressents but there are teas that aid in this. A natural way through food is to eat plenty of fiber ( a good snack or for part of a meal are apples and healthy grains- great for loosing weight), protein (yogurt, protein powders that you can make smoothies with- great after a workout, legumes, lean meats- turkey or tuna sandwiches are great too.) Another trick is I like is to eat a medium to large salad before lunch or dinner if I'm really hungry
with a little non fat dressing or just red wine vinegar and a little olive oil and pile on the veggies! I used to not be a big fan of salads, and I kinda had to teach myself to eat veggies again, but now I actually crave them! Always eat a small amount before a workout (usually a piece of fruit or some nuts) and eat a little after. After a good workout, your body's metabolism will actually keep burning up to 24-36 hours (nice, huh!) but you have to keep giving it "fuel". Some things to stay away from are high sugar foods (high fructose, corn syrup, ect), anything that has the word hydrogenated, high sodium foods (try to eat 1000 mg or less a day), white flour (try to eat whole or sprouted grain breads and wheat or brown rice flour- like in pastas or rice), full fat dairy (low fat or skim is good for you), be careful with juices as they are mostly sugar and water anyway, and high fat content (but, just keep in mind that you need good fats too like avocados, unsalted nuts, extra- virgin olive oil, certain fish, ect.), and try to buy things that you actually have to expend energy and cook for meals (this helped me a lot)- it helps to be more aware of what you eat, and buy healthy snacks like fruits (seasonal is always good- grapes are awesome for diets too), cut veggies like baby carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes, dried fruits- organic with no added sugar, luna bars are great, trail mix- low sodium, and hard-boiled eggs (I will usually pre- portion out baggies or containers so I can can grab quick for work or anytime)...
Always portion your food, sometimes keeping a diary helps, and eat favorite foods in moderation (try narrowing it to once a week and one meal). Sorry, I know that's a lot if information I just gave lol, but I have recently started doing this too and I've lost like 8 pounds already (I gained like 15 lbs. since last year, I was eating whatever I wanted and not exercising enough) after almost two months with just moderate exercise. I'm stepping it up now that my energy level and endurance is better and the flab is almost gone! and hope to loose the rest before the holidays!
Oh! and also remember that muscle ways more than fat, so you may look leaner and thinner and wear lower clothes sizes without so much a dramatic change in the scale, so always trust the clothes, lol. Good luck!