Height: 5' 10"
Weight: 180-185 lbs
Age: 24
General Activity Levels:
My job is entirely desk-based (computational chemistry PhD) and I commute by train, so the majority of my daily activity comes from the 15 minute walk to/from the station, plus any wandering around I do. Over the weekend, I tend to be slightly more active on average, but it's not guaranteed (depends on weather, girlfriends work shifts, etc.)
Planned Exercise:
I try to go to the gym (with a friend) 3 times per week, for around 45 mins per session. On average this tends to actually be closer to twice per week when work commitments, holidays and illness are included. A typical gym session includes 20 minutes of cardio (mostly cross-trainer, but with some treadmill recently), followed by a range of strength training sets - I tend to use the machines, as free weights are generally busier. I noticed recently I've reached a plateau in my weight settings, so I've started stepping up those. Me and the friend have been going to the gym following this pattern for close to 2 years now, and will continue to do so for the next 2, so I've got plenty of time to set and achieve reasonable goals.
Diet:
Very mixed - I live with my girlfriend and we usually have a reasonable diet, but with the occasional binge (the Dominos pizza we just ate, for example... but that's because our oven is broken

Breakfast tends to be fairly healthy, consisting of cereal with no milk (weird, I know) or muesli. Lunch at weekends varies a lot, during the week it tends to be whatever I buy (BLT sandwich, spicy pork curry, falafel wrap are fair examples). I have yet to come up with a make-at-home lunch which is reasonably priced, easy to make, and most importantly of all, still appetising by lunchtime after making it that morning. Dinner tends to be something like curry, pasta, beef stew - the vegetable/protein contents and calorie count vary.
Progress so far:
I've seen a definite improvement over the 2 years since starting going to the gym, both in my fitness levels and lack of waistline blubber. It's definitely a cyclic process - going to the gym made me feel a bit healthier, making me more conscious of my eating habits, making me healthier, making me feel that the gym was worth the time, so I kept it up...and so on. Making the gym a habit was the hardest part, which was made a lot easier by having a friend to go with who was in basically the same position.
Goals:
Losing fat. The main problem I'm having with this one so far is consistency - the fat tends to come off reasonably easily at first when I'm in a period of regular gym sessions, but it promptly comes back whenever I have to have a break. I either need to get to a higher level of baseline activity, or improve my diet, but preferably both. Cutting out the last few sugary drinks should help a bit, but other than that it'll probably have to be my breakfast/lunch which changes, as meals in the evening have to be something my girlfriend will eat, and she's a much fussier eater than me. I have no idea how to improve my regular activity levels, as I'm out of the house 9am-8pm each day for work and commuting already.
Steadily improving cardio fitness and strength. I'd say I'm at a reasonable level in both areas, but have read that training them together (as I do at the moment) tends to be counter-productive. Any comments on maintaining a balance, without too much wasted effort?
Vanity muscle improvements

Thoughts:
I have no idea how useful special fitness food/drinks (weight loss pills, protein drinks and the like) are. The main reason I haven't tried weight loss pills (even the ones from a "reputable" seller, such as these) is simply that I'm sceptical as to their efficacy. The protein drinks seem to be backed up by plenty of user experiences here and elsewhere, but I'm concerned about how the quantity taken is balanced against the excercise done to avoid unwanted weight loss (would it always just be muscle mass, or is fat build-up likely?)
I always struggle to come up with a diet I can stick to which supports weight loss training - this is the area I'd most like help with. I read mixed messages about the best number of meals per day, but honestly would struggle to go for more than 4, including dinner as the most substantial portion.
Any comments you guys have would be appreciated. Next time I go to the gym I'll try to keep track of my exact activities, and will probably keep a record here to encourage myself not to stagnate again.