The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute has a free booklet, Aim for a Healthy Weight that you can download. It starts with the definitions of overweight (with a body mass index chart) and the risks of being overweight.
There's a section for daily food amounts (similar to the food pyramid but in chart format).
The food replacement section is really helpful. You can see how to swap your usual (more fattening) foods for healthier options. For example, whole eggs can be swapped for egg whites or egg substitute. Another example is to swap ice cream for frozen yogurt.
The next section deals with portion control - which is really important. They even show pictures of what a portion for a particular food group should look like. For example, one medium fruit is about the size of a baseball. One cup of cereal flakes is the size of your fist. Then you can visualize if your portions are too big.
There's a section on eating healthy while dining out and one for eating healthier ethnic foods.
Toward the end is a discussion on physical activity and suggestions on sneaking in some activities. I like the sample walking plan - something that requires no equipment and only a minimal amount of time.
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