I initially started cutting weight after I started going to the gym. I was very overweight. And what I did was decide to cut down on the amount of food I was eating every day. I exercised portion control in the foods I ate. I tried to stick to less calorie-dense food options as well. So I tried to stop eating the chips, the chocolate, the fast food, the KFC -- that kind of food. Occasionally, of course, I would slip back into my old ways, but I tried to limit it. And the mere fact of me just limiting it meant that I was eating less calories on a day-to-day basis. That in turned allowed me to drop weight and drop fat, even though I wasn't eating 100% clean all of the time. You can see in this photo that I've cut down on my body fat percentage (I went from 35 to 15 percent body fat), and I have even noticed the beginning outline of my abs.
Simultaneously I began to put on more muscle because I had been lifting 3 days a week. This is called body recomp. Body recomp is simply when you are losing fat and building muscle at the same time.
Now when it comes to getting leaner, and as you begin to reduce your body fat percentage to lower and lower levels, it's vitally important that you are engaging in muscle-building exercises or resistance training. The higher percentage of muscle you have, the higher your basal metabolic rate is. Among other things, this means that your nutrition can be a bit more forgiving than it is at a higher percentage of body fat. In addition, having a higher concentration of muscle will lead to a change in your appearance. You will appear leaner simply because you can see more definition in your muscles.
Let me add in closing that the pursuit of getting lean begins with setting realistic goals and expectations. Fat loss is not going to happen at any sort of rapid rate. It's just going to take time to get from 35% to 15% body fat. It starts with recognizing where you struggle with eating right now. You need to know how to create an eating plan for overcoming overeating and grazing. Personally, I have found that adopting an intermittent fasting approach (2 meals a day) is a great way to start learning the habits I need to decrease my overeating and grazing tendencies.
Through a dedicated effort of training consistently at the gym, along with a much improved meal plan, I firmly believe you will be able to complete your own body transformation.
God bless!
Dave