Some Dieting Questions

[IggyWH]

I've never had to worry about dieting before, but lately between a lot of drinking and a lot of dining out, I'm a little over-weight now. I need to lose about 10 pounds although I'd like to lose 20-25 as long as things work out well.

My daily routine right now is get up at around 10, do some situps and pushups and then go for a jog. That takes about an hour or so and then I make lunch. My lunch consists of steamed vegetables, either broccoli or cauliflower, and some fruit. I work normally from 1-5 so when I get home after, I make dinner. Dinner is some more steamed vegetables and I boil some chicken breast. Sometimes I'll go for an evening jog after dinner depending on how I feel. I usually get hungry again late at night so I'll eat some fruit or some sugar free Jello.

So far things have gone well. I've managed to cut out pretty much all sugar and almost all salt. I've ran into a few problems though and since I've never had to diet before, I need some advice.

1)I was told the best way to make chicken is to boil it. I'm wondering though is it okay to grill chicken? I'm thinking if I could marinate the chicken it would taste a lot better.

2)What else can I go with other than chicken? I love chicken but I have the feeling it's going to get old quick. I was told fish but I hate fish.

3)Snacking is probably the hardest thing to get over. Other than some Jello and fruit though I really haven't come across any snacking type foods that would be okay. I looked into rice cakes but they didn't seem all that great. Are there any snack foods I should look into?

4)This Thursday, I have to travel to Penn State for work. I am lost on what I'm going to do for dinner Thursday night and then breakfast/lunch Friday while I'm working. I can't remember if I had a microwave in my hotel room last time or not so let's assume that's not a possibility. Got some suggestions on what I can do for food? Thursday night I'm sure we'll be stopping at a restaurant for dinner on the way, so what should I probably eat? Is there a certain way I should request that it's prepared? Then for Friday it'll have to be something I can pack in my cooler while I'm out in the field.

I know it's only going to be 1 day, but I'm fully committed to not cheating on my diet. I'm afraid that if I make an exception, I'll just keep finding more reasons to make exceptions and soon be off my diet.

Any other advice you think a dieting n00b should know, please don't hesitate to share.

Thanks
Iggy!