Calorie counting is the one and only thing you need. Exercise, nutrition, less sugar or alcohol etc. are all good for you in their own ways but at the end of the day you need a caloric deficit. You can't trust yourself to do this without tracking, your body is a crazy lying conniver that wants you to perpetually stock up for a period of famine that is (probably) never coming. I lost my first hundred pounds mostly changing nothing but restricting calories with the Lose It app.