Well, pretty much all the answers you're looking for are already here in this now 66pg thread. Your situation of being relatively untrained, wanting to lose 10lbs or so and also gain some muscle is far from unique - it seems to be the norm, quite honestly. So my answers are all there.
It has been stated many times ITT that losing weight and gaining muscle simultaneously is a tricky proposition. They are antagonistic to each other, so you have to make some decisions. Are you prepared to get fat now to get strong later, then lean out again? Or would you rather lean out first, then add weight? Or do you not care how long this takes and just want to make slow and steady improvement on both fronts at once? You also have to be realistic about what you are prepared to go through to get there as well. I mean, everyone wants the fastest possible fat loss diet, but once they see it...they realize that they couldn't stick to it for more than a few days, never mind a few weeks. Ditto for strength training, or conditioning.
For people who really have no specific goals beyond 'get in shape, look better naked', I recommend eating Paleo style (because it is fairly easy to drop weight, the best I can see for long-term health, and - this is key - by far the easiest 'diet' to stick to that I've found.
To kick-start fat burning, I recommend lifting heavy a couple of times a week to gain muscle, and some high-intensity conditioning (Crossfit or HIIT style workouts) or sprinting. Maybe 20-30 mins a week of intense activity. Maybe as little as 10 if you're not used to it. That's it. The rest of the time, just stay active and recover.
What I eat - it's summer here so I'm not cooking as much as normal. Normally there would be a lot of roast meat, curries, stews etc...now not so much. The heat brings my appetite down and I don't like heating the whole apartment with the oven
So right now, it's a lot of bacon and eggs for breakfast, omelettes for lunch or a light dinner, full-fat yoghurt as a snack, heavy cream (straight from the carton!). Dinner is usually 'meat and 2 veg' of some sort. Last night I had a chicken breast (herb-crusted!), some pureed broccoli (lots of cream and butter), and an avocado (with some salt, pepper and lemon juice). I make salads as well, mostly cause the wife likes them. Most leaves are basically useless food but they do no harm either and they are a decent olive oil delivery method. I eat a bunch of spinach as well, usually sauteed in bulk and stored in tupperware.
For today, I have some pork steaks marinating, no idea what I'll eat them with. I'm thinking tomatoes and olives or maybe a mustard and cream sauce but to be honest I usually just make it up as I go.
I eat almost no fruit, no pasta, no bread, no sugar, almost nothing processed (bacon is probably the biggest exception. I can actually taste the syrup in many brands now - watch out for excessive carmelization when you fry it and you'll start to notice too). Rice and potatoes - once in a great while, and not in great amounts. Like I'll throw some potatoes in the roasting tray along with the pork or beef and have some on the side. No french fries.
Never be scared of calories. If the appetite-regulating hormones in your body are not completely deranged by sugar and carbs, your body will do a pretty good job of regulating your calorie intake and usage all by itself. If your system is not awash in insulin, you won't store much fat. If you are going to train meaningfully, you need to fucking eat. And if you are going to be long-term healthy, you need to train somehow (unless you have an active job, which is of course increasingly rare).
If you want to get hardcore, I recommend:
1) a ketogenic diet for rapid fat loss (as close to zero carb as you can get, think steamed chicken and broccoli all day everyday)
2) Starting Strength for rapid strength gains
2) Crossfit for broadbased conditioning and strength
...or any of the increasingly common variants on those 3. All 3 require fairly serious commitment though.
