Lindarella

I think the "best" diet is one you're going to be able to stick to 6 months, 2 years, 5 years down the road. Believe it or not, losing the weight is easier than trying to maintain the loss over a period of time. More than 90% of people gain the weight back within 5 years.

Hehe. That sounds discouraging. I'm not trying to be discouraging, I'm just trying to lend a little insight to pick a way of eating that you can maintain with a limited amount of thought and effort.

I've managed to keep my 35 pound loss off for about a year and half now. Still, though, here I am on the boards because if I stop thinking about it, I'll just go back to the "old me" who ate too much every day. I do calorie restriction. I studied the eating habits of people who have successfully lost weight and kept it off.

Brown Medical School (Colorado) has a research study known as the National Weight Control Registry. In the registry's database is information about the weight-control behaviors of more than 3,000 American adults who have lost an average of 60 pounds and have kept it off for an average of six years.
These successful losers report four common behaviors.
1)They eat a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet.
2)They monitor themselves by weighing in frequently.
3)They are very physically active.
4)They eat breakfast. (78% did compared to only 4% who didn't)

Six years after their weight loss, most of the registry's successful losers still report eating a low-calorie, low-fat diet, with about 24 percent of calories from fat. On average, registrants’ report consuming about 1400 kcal/day. Only 28 of the registrants used a low carbohydrate diet.

They also exercise for about an hour or more a day, expending about 2,800 calories per week on a variety of activities. This is equivalent to walking 28 miles a week, or four miles a day.

Good luck to you.